MANHASSET, N.Y. — The International Telecommunications Union's radio branch will likely endorse the XtremeSpectrum/Motorola direct-sequence CDMA ultrawideband proposal now before the IEEE 802.15.3a study group.
The news does not bode well for the competing Multiband-OFDM Alliance (MBOA) as it prepares to battle for the final few percentage points needed to have its proposal endorsed by the group, meaning it would serve as the basis for a standard for 480-Mbits/s data communications over a distance of up to 1 meter.
As the last two proposals now before the .15.3a study group, the MBOA and the XtremeSpectrum/Motorola (since joined by Oki Semiconductor and ParthusCeva) have been immersed in both public and behind-the-scenes positioning in the run up to the IEEE plenary meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., this week.
For many, this is a crucial point in the process since the inability to reach a consensus may well compel one or both of the groups to initiate proprietary standards development. That possibility has been openly expressed by Stephen Woods, strategic marketing manager with Intel's R&D division.
According to Gary Anderson, chairman, founder and chief scientist at Uraxs Communications Inc. (Haverhill, Mass.), MBOA may have another obstacle in its path besides FCC compliance and intellectual property licensing issues. Aside from his role at Uraxs, Anderson is also representing the U.S. industry and the FCC within ITU-R task group 18, a subdivision of the ITU-R study group.
According to Anderson, Study group 1, was formed to examine UWB versus other radio schemes, and so far, he said, does not view the MBOA favorably.
"The MBOA proposal is basically a 'compatibility workaround' scheme," he said, "whereby it achieves regulatory compliance from country to country by knocking out bands that might cause problems." This, he said, is not a viable method in terms of preventing cross-border interference in regions such as Europe, where spectral regulations vary from nation to nation.
"On the other hand, DS-CDMA avoids interference altogether, and so the ITU sees that as being the better option."
The implications for MBOA are serious, said Anderson, and will only further prevent it from acquiring the 75 percent vote it needs this week.
