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Is Ultra-Wideband (UWB) the next big wireless technology for smart homes?

LinkSmart Application Client

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Figure 4: Software Framework for the UWB Temperature Monitoring Application. Credit: Khajenasiri et al. (2014)

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caregivers to track patient movements within their homes through a Real-Time Locating System (RTLS). This application is possible due to the capability of UWB to deliver centimetre- level location accuracy, ultra-low latency, and robustness in harsh environments. Users can also track personal items by incorporating a UWB tag into them (see application section). This technology offers higher accuracy, directional, and lower latency positioning than other alternatives, such as the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) solution, which has a significant dominance in this space. Moreover, designers can integrate UWB and BLE solutions into a single personal tracking device for initial pairing and handover.

provide accurate positioning within buildings and exceptional performance in non-line-of-sight scenarios makes it ideal for indoor smart home navigation. Although voice-activated commands are the de-facto standard for simple tasks, several home automation and control tasks are hard to describe. However, with the high accuracy and direction capabilities of UWB signals, users can use smartphones to detect the specific

smart home device or appliance and perform specific operations using the relevant control panel in the smartphone display. This ‘point-and-trigger’ functionality is ideal for turning off and on a TV, changing radio stations, turning up the thermostat, casting audio or video from a smartphone to the TV or speaker, selecting the colour or brightness of a smart light bulb, etc.

Figure 5: UWB for Point- and-Trigger Control. Credit: NXP

The capability of UWB to