The power of ultra-wideband: reshaping the automotive, mobile and industrial IoT experience

Ultra-wideband, commonly referred to as UWB, is a powerful wireless communication technology that has a wide range of uses and can perform a variety of tasks that are difficult to categorize.

For example, UWB is often used as a ranging technology to pinpoint the location of an object, making it easy to find something that might be misplaced or lost, such as a wallet. On the other hand, UWB is also a positioning technology used to measure distance and determine the direction of movement for navigation in large indoor spaces such as airports and shopping malls. In addition, UWB positioning technology can also allow other devices to sense the presence of a smartphone or smartwatch. For example, you can automatically lock or unlock the front door based on your location; when you approach the car, it automatically unlocks the driver's side door and starts the engine, and when you leave, it closes the door and engine.

UWB can also be used as a radar technology to sense presence and motion, making it easier to detect if someone leaves a room or track objects in a production facility. UWB radar can even be used to save lives, detecting signs of life in emergency situations, or in everyday life as part of a child detection system in a car. If a child is detected in the back seat of a parked car, the system alerts the driver.

By combining these capabilities, UWB can make everyday systems smarter, safer, and more autonomous. For example, in homes, on the road, in medical facilities, and in industrial environments, UWB-equipped systems can enable new spatial perception capabilities through different combinations of ranging and radar. They can use presence, location, and motion information to save energy, increase automation, keep people safe, or make familiar experiences more intuitive and enjoyable.

Additionally, because UWB can be easily combined with other established wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and near-field communication (NFC), developers are exploring ways to optimize power consumption, simplify user interactions, and improve accuracy by combining UWB with other wireless protocols.

Industry Support

Standardization is critical for technologies like UWB. UWB is designed to enable a variety of user experiences and services, including device-to-device and device-to-infrastructure applications. The availability of chipsets has facilitated the promotion of the technology and increased its adoption across verticals, from consumer mobile devices and IoT devices to automotive. This has also led to the establishment of multiple different ecosystems to support the development of standards for interoperable UWB solutions for different sectors. Here are some of the key organizations guiding the development of UWB:

• The FiRa Alliance is a non-profit organization founded in 2019 with the help of NXP to promote the use of UWB technology in scenarios such as access control, location-based services, and device-to-device communication. The FiRa Alliance has created a certification program based on the test specifications and tools it has developed, mainly for consumer-oriented devices, demonstrating the interoperability of devices using UWB for ranging and positioning.

• The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) is a standards organization of which NXP is one of the founding members. Since 2011, CCC has been focusing on the connection between cars and smartphones. The CCC Digital Key Specification was first released in 2018, aiming to create a UWB-based smart electronics ecosystem that enables mobile devices to securely store, authenticate and share digital keys for smart cars. The specification is supported by a certification program to confirm security and ensure interoperability of car access solutions.

• The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) was founded with the help of NXP and was originally called the ZigBee Alliance. It is now known for its Matter standard. Matter is an interoperability standard for smart home and IoT technologies. In 2023, CSA launched a new standard, Aliro, which changes the way users unlock doors and other entrances using mobile devices or wearable devices. The Aliro protocol is supported by nearly 200 member companies including NXP and covers definitions of technologies such as NFC, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and UWB. Like Matter, CSA will establish a certification program for Aliro to ensure a secure, convenient and consistent experience across devices.

In order for users to use UWB devices to interact with any other UWB device, whether it is the air conditioner at home or the car access control, an ecosystem is needed to develop secure and interoperable solutions. To achieve this seamless interaction, industry stakeholders including FiRa, CCC and CSA often collaborate. Although they may each focus on different aspects of UWB, they work hand in hand to promote interoperability, scale up and promote the next generation of UWB use cases.

UWB in Smartphones

Another reason UWB technology is growing so quickly across such a wide range of use cases is that it is now a standard feature in the latest flagship smartphones from Apple, Google, Samsung, and others.

This created a ready-made infrastructure for UWB functionality, and developers quickly took advantage, especially in consumer-facing applications. For example, asset trackers, digital keys, and a variety of smart home devices such as fans, lights, and smart speakers can all interact with and respond to UWB-enabled smartphones.

Currently, there are more than 1 billion devices supporting UWB technology worldwide. ABI Research predicts that annual shipments of UWB devices will exceed 500 million by 2025. As more smartphones, smart watches and other wearable/portable devices include UWB as a standard feature, consumers will become more familiar with the technology, which in turn will drive demand for UWB application scenarios.

UWB technology is widely used in automotive, mobile, industrial and IoT devices. Learn how Trimension UWB products enable multiple application scenarios through secure ranging and radar functions.

Current and future application scenarios

Driven by standards organizations, UWB technology continues to advance and become widely available on mainstream consumer electronic devices. We expect UWB to become a standard feature of systems that seamlessly integrate into everyday life. Here are some examples of what’s happening:

Automotive: As mentioned earlier, UWB is already part of the CCC Digital Key specification, which allows drivers to automate car access using their smartphones. Users can open and start their cars without having to show their smartphones or smartwatches. To protect the touchless digital key, the UWB-enabled mobile device and the car authenticate each other, and the car verifies that the mobile device's CCC Digital Key authorizes the requested action. In addition, secure ranging with high-precision time-of-flight measurements prevents relay attacks, which use signal amplification to trick the vehicle into thinking that the mobile device is nearby, even if it is not.

One of the key growth trends for UWB technology in cars is rear occupant alert (ROA) systems, also known as child left behind detection (CPD) systems. These in-car systems prevent children from being left behind in overheated cars – another major UWB trend in cars. UWB radar is reliable and very accurate, and can detect even very small body movements, including the rise and fall of a baby’s chest as it breathes. This makes UWB radar an ideal choice for ROA/CPD systems. Another reason why automakers choose UWB technology for ROA/CPD systems is that the car’s existing UWB ranging solutions can be expanded to include the UWB radar required for ROA/CPD systems. This allows UWB ranging and radar functions to be combined for a variety of uses. UWB radar has other applications in cars. For example, it can be used in seatbelt reminder systems that combine the status of the seatbelt with the seat occupancy. If the system detects that someone is not wearing a seatbelt in the seat, the car will sound a continuous alarm until the seatbelt is fastened.

Smart Home and Smart Building: UWB-enabled smartphones and remote controls enable peer-to-peer control and “find my” functionality. UWB-enabled speakers are able to optimize sound rendering based on room occupancy and listener location (and movement). Living rooms can automatically adjust settings based on occupancy, optimizing the operation and energy efficiency of HVAC systems, lighting networks, and entertainment systems. In addition, UWB technology can be used for features such as secure authentication, peer-to-peer control, secure access, obstacle sensing, presence detection, and mapping. These features increase the level of automation, making home appliances safer, more efficient, and more intuitive to use.

Industrial Internet of Things: Applications of UWB technology in production facilities and other industrial environments include tracking work-in-progress (WIP) goods, tools, and heavy equipment to improve production efficiency. Recently, UWB has also been used to manage employee access control, locate workers in emergency situations, and support geo-fencing capabilities to ensure that only authorized personnel can enter restricted areas. Geofencing can also be used in conjunction with autonomous vehicles to avoid entering dangerous environments. In addition, robots equipped with UWB devices can continuously sense the presence of people or moving objects and automatically stop operating when it detects that the target enters a designated area. Combining UWB technology with cameras for computer vision can enhance autonomy, improve energy efficiency, and enhance safety.

NXP helps you explore UWB application scenarios