Ultra-Wideband is a radio modulation technique that primarily gets noted for its potential to offer blazing speeds at very short ranges (consumer gear is expected in 2005). But the technology's full application is far broader, from increasing the bandwidth of coaxial networks to new forms of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

By using UWB over coaxial, a company named Pulse~LINK recently demonstrated how they can offer cable providers more bandwidth (1 gigabit downstream, 580 megabits upstream per node). This week a company named Ubisense announced they're using UWB to detect movement and track objects in three dimensional space.

Long has Uncle Sam been slammed for moving slowly with the technology, concerned with its potential to interfere with global positioning systems in particular (see 2002 Nasa pdf report). A recent study out of the UK also raised questions about whether or not UWB could have a negative impact on third generation UMTS wireless networks.

These concerns and standards disputes have kept the technology somewhat grounded until just recently. Despite these concerns, analysts argue the technology is probably as promising as much more hyped new technologies (Wimax) will ever be - though obviously for different applications.

The most immediate application will be as a competitor for Bluetooth; UWB's emergence part of the reason the Bluetooth Special Interest Group recently released a three year blueprint claiming they'd be tripling the technology's bandwidth.

According to execs at the recent Intel Developer forum, products using Wireless USB and Ultra-Wideband are expected in 2005, offering consumers between 480Mbps and 1Gbps short-range speeds to the desktop.