Secure wireless communication a possibility

A team of Virginia Tech researchers is attempting to push ultra-wide-band (UWB) technology into the next phase - where military communications can elude detection and all manner of home electronics systems can be operated wirelessly.

They are trying to determine how UWB pulses are propagated and how those pulses can be recognised by potential receivers. A UWB transmission - from a radar device, for example - uses ultra-short pulses that distribute power over a wide range of the radio frequency spectrum. Because the power density is dispersed across the spectrum, UWB transmissions won't interfere with the signals on narrowband frequencies, such as AM or FM radio or mobile phone signals.

The bandwidth of UWB signals is so wide that signal energy is available for use at both high and low frequencies. "The low-frequency content of UWB devices can penetrate solid structures," one of the researchers, Mr Buehrer said. "Additionally, the high frequency content can detect the details of objects." These capabilities make UWB radar devices good surveillance tools. This also means that UWB has the potential to bring about advances in communications technologies. currently most home wireless devices, such as television remote controls, are quite limited in the amount of data they can send and receive. However, with the wide bandwidth available, UWB signals can achieve higher data rates.

Buehrer envisions wireless home computer systems, wireless downloads from digital cameras to computers and wireless connections to thin screen televisions mounted on walls.