Pulse~LINK, a start-up based in San Diego, is developing an Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology for cable television networks. The company said its UWB innovations are capable of providing up to 1 Gigabit of new bandwidth downstream and up to hundreds of megabits of new bandwidth upstream without changes to the existing cable network infrastructure. A demonstration for cable operators is being conducted this week at the annual CableLabs Summer Conference in Keystone, Colorado.
Pulse~LINK’s UWB cable demonstration replicates an entire Hybrid Fiber Coax infrastructure featuring multiple streams of standard cable television feeds operating simultaneously in the presence of UWB enabled HDTV content. The demo uses off-the-shelf CATV equipment beginning at the cable head-end, where the UWB signal is injected into a standard RF combiner, then modulated onto a fiber optic cable for transmission to a “fiber field node” where the RF content is demodulated for transmission through more than 1000 feet of coax cable and two “field amplifiers.” The signal is then sent through multiple RF splitters and into a “digital living room” where both the UWB HDTV broadcasts and standard cable broadcasts are displayed simultaneously. Demonstrations of UWB HDTV content over existing power lines are also being conducted at the event.
Pulse~LINK’s wireless UWB technology could also be used for in-home networks. The company is demonstrating the simultaneous transmissions of two HDTV programs from one UWB wireless radio into separate HDTVs.
A virtual demonstration of Pulse~LINK’s UWB cable, power line, and wireless communications can be viewed on the company’s website. http://www.pulselink.net
- In Septermber 2003, Pulse~LINK and Fujitsu Microelectronics America will jointly develop a digital baseband processor for Ultra Wideband (UWB) WLAN applications using Fujitsu’s 0.11-micron CMOS SoC ASIC technology. Pulse~LINK has demonstrated 400 Mbps UWB transmission and is developing an FCC-compliant solution with about a 100-meter range. Under the agreement, Fujitsu Microelectronics will provide design and manufacturing services for the digital baseband processor, one of two SoC ASICs that form Pulse~LINK’s high-speed secure WLAN solution.
- Pulse~LINK was founded in June 2000. It claims almost eighty issued and pending patents pertaining to Ultra Wideband wired and wireless communications technology. In May, 2001, Pulse~LINK acquired the assets and intellectual property of another Ultra Wideband technology company, Fantasma Networks, which was located in Silicon Valley.
- Ultra-wideband operates without using an RF Carrier for its signal. Instead, data is transmitted using time and amplitude modulated pulses of less than one nanosecond in duration. Proponents argue that UWB can peacefully co-exist with carrier frequency uses without interference.