Chip giants are flocking to UWB.

In recent years, many companies have been eyeing the UWB market: In 2019, Apple's iPhone 11 was equipped with a UWB chip, and the popular AirDrop feature brought "spatial awareness," leading the way for commercial use of UWB in the consumer electronics field. In March 2022, a Huawei Hisilicon job posting for a UWB technology engineer also attracted industry attention, seen as a signal of Huawei Hisilicon's entry into the UWB technology field. BMW and NIO announced plans to integrate UWB chips in their cars, followed by Volkswagen, Ford, Xiaopeng, BYD Company Limited, and other car models. In addition, Xiaomi's "One-Touch Connection" and Huawei's "Magic-Point Remote Control" have entered the smart home field one after another. The market's willingness to pay for this high-cost but non-essential function remains uncertain, with strong uncertainty. A series of industry developments seem to herald that UWB applications can be ubiquitous. UWB technology has great opportunities in the automotive, wearable technology, and industrial markets. But looking at the series of subsequent market reactions, lukewarm reception may be the most appropriate description for the UWB industry. The scale of the UWB market is fundamentally different from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RFID; and there is a significant gap in market size compared to niche wireless communication technologies such as Lora and Zigbee. The reason is that UWB lacks successful applications with a certain amount of ground coverage. The long-dormant UWB still needs to wait for an opportunity to achieve redemption. UWB chips usher in a new turning point Recently, the briefly peaceful UWB market received heavy news - at the 2024 MWC, Qualcomm unveiled a host of new products at once. Among them, the UWB chip also made new progress. It is understood that Qualcomm released a chip model called FastConnect 7900, using 6nm process technology, a chip that integrates multiple LAN communication technologies such as "Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth + UWB". Of note, this chip can be paired with Qualcomm's latest 5G chip "Snapdragon X80" to form a new generation of high-end mobile chipsets, to be used in smartphones, PCs, cars, IoT, and other customers. This may become a crucial link in boosting the development of the UWB industry. The launch of Qualcomm's "Snapdragon X80" + "FastConnect 7900" chip combination means that Qualcomm's UWB entry into smartphones is coming soon. It is expected that commercial terminals equipped with this platform will be released in the second half of 2024, and domestic Android phone manufacturers will simultaneously incorporate UWB features. Once a large number of Android phone manufacturers start using UWB chips, other phone manufacturers will quickly follow suit. At that time, UWB may usher in a new market demand situation. With this opportunity, let us take a closer look at the technical characteristics and advantages of UWB, as well as the current application progress and corporate layout, to gain a deeper understanding of the development status, challenges, and future trends of UWB technology. UWB, from military to commercial use UWB, short for Ultra Wide Band, is a type of ultra-wideband wireless carrier communication technology. Unlike traditional communication technologies, UWB achieves wireless transmission by sending and receiving extremely narrow pulses with nanosecond or microsecond levels. Because the pulse width is extremely short, it can achieve ultra-wideband on the spectrum, from 3.1GHz to 10.6GHz, with a total available spectrum bandwidth of 7.5GHz and an RF bandwidth of over 500MHz. This wideband pulse signal characteristic allows UWB chips to transmit more data at relatively low power. Compared to common positioning technologies like Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), WiFi, and Bluetooth, UWB technology has advantages such as high positioning accuracy, strong resistance to interference, good security, fast transmission speed, and low power consumption, making it especially suitable for high-speed wireless access in densely populated multipath environments like indoors. In fact, UWB is not a new technology. It was proposed around the 1960s, mainly for military radar systems as an auxiliary system with limited quantity. It wasn't until February 2002 that UWB received approval from the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and began to be used in civil and commercial communication fields. In March 2007, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) officially approved the MB-OFDM standard submitted by the WiMedia Alliance, marking the birth of the first international standard for UWB technology and its transition to large-scale commercial use. Starting in 2013, UWB gradually found applications in various vertical sectors such as public safety systems, warehousing, logistics, hospitals, factories, mines, construction sites, exhibition halls, shopping malls, tunnels, data centers, airports, and sports facilities. UWB gained more recognition when Apple equipped it on the iPhone 11 series in 2019, leading to its gradual adoption by more devices. During this period, some companies began to introduce UWB chips for high-speed short-range wireless communication and high-precision positioning. Initially positioned as a data transmission technology similar to Wi-Fi, UWB did not achieve commercial success for various reasons, including power limitations. When the technology was repositioned, it mainly evolved toward pulse radio-based secure ranging and positioning technologies based on the IEEE 802.15.4a standard, giving UWB the ability to provide secure, reliable, centimeter-level precise distance and location measurements. In simple terms, UWB is not inherently a data communication service; its advantage lies in ranging and positioning. The main appeal of UWB lies in its extremely high position and direction accuracy, allowing for precise object location positioning with errors of only a few centimeters, much greater than Bluetooth, GPS, and other tracking methods. Thanks to its significant advantages, UWB quickly found applications in the B2B market mentioned above and gradually became commercialized. With the maturation of the technology, UWB began to explore advertising opportunities.Applications beyond point B, showing enormous potential in the consumer market. Various terminal devices are starting to integrate UWB communication functions, such as laptops, mobile phones, and smart cars, among other consumer electronics products.UWB, seeking a foothold So, what benefits can UWB really bring to users? The introduction of the advantages of UWB technology above may not be very intuitive. Taking application scenarios as an example, we can better understand the functions and values of UWB in practical applications, such as: Apple uses UWB technology's ultra-high precision positioning ability to improve the accuracy of the phone's location, able to sense the precise position of surrounding phones. Apple named it spatial awareness capability. Through the Airdrop feature, quick wireless connections are established to prepare for data transmission for users. In addition, Apple also applied UWB to the AirTag. Due to its support for centimeter-level positioning accuracy, it can achieve three-dimensional position tracking. Not only is it fast, but it also has lower power consumption, allowing AirTag to provide anti-loss function for all devices, making the user's search process more convenient. Apart from AirTag, devices like Apple Watch and HomePod also benefit from UWB, enabling precise positioning. Apple is one of the few manufacturers that have applied UWB on a large scale in their devices. Samsung has also actively introduced UWB applications in its products. Starting from the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold2, this technology has been incorporated. For example, in the "Point to Share" feature, UWB can also establish wireless connections quickly through precise positioning for data transmission. Samsung has also released the SmartTag+ smart tracker. Apart from end products, Samsung also offers support for UWB through the Exynos Connect U100 chip, targeting smart home, smart factory, and smart car industries. In the smart home sector, Xiaomi has introduced the "One Tap Connect" feature with UWB technology, as well as the derived "One Tap Control" and "One Tap Cast" functions. With the precise positioning and quick connection features of UWB, the "One Tap Connect" feature achieves centimeter-level and 3 angle measurement accuracy, enabling directional control with a single tap. Under the Xiaomi ecological chain, the application of UWB has also brought more convenience to users. Last year, Huawei released the first touchless control TV, innovatively incorporating the globally launched Huawei Lingxi pointing remote interaction method, achieving phone-like control experiences such as sliding, dragging, and circling on large-screen TVs. This absolute pointing remote technology, through UWB technology, achieves a touchless control effect of "what you point to is what you get." Huawei stated that the introduction of this new TV interaction method will usher the TV industry into a new era of "giant phone"... From consumer electronics to smart cars, is UWB's "second foothold"? The consumer market is becoming the stepping stone for UWB technology, allowing consumers to experience the wonder of UWB. As UWB continues to seek a way out in the consumer market, it now seems to be making early breakthroughs in the automotive market instead. In 2019, the Car Connectivity Consortium listed UWB as the next-generation vehicle safety access technology, promoting the widespread availability of mobile devices. Subsequently, multiple car brands began to introduce UWB digital car keys. Although there are various forms of keyless entry technology available, the use of UWB allows vehicles to measure the exact position of the remote key in real-time within a few centimeters, greatly enhancing the safety of vehicles compared to other wireless standards. In the future, you can unlock your vehicle using a UWB-enabled device (such as a smartphone) or a wearable device using its digital key platform, without having to carry a separate remote key. This approach also supports high-precision car finding. Industry insiders have pointed out that the most extensive and promising application scenario for UWB at present is digital car keys. With the promotion of mass-produced models by major automakers such as NIO, Great Wall, Land Rover, and BMW, 2022 is being hailed as the "year of mass production for UWB digital car keys." In 2023, the industry witnessed several iconic events. Whether it's Apple's game-changing move, Honeywell's entry into the cellular module market, or the launch of new products by chipmakers like ChiXin Semiconductor and North Star Semiconductor, UWB is proving to have a significant impact on the application of digital car keys. However, UWB has more than just one application scenario in vehicles. UWB radar can also help perceive the surrounding environment because of its high precision. Internal monitoring undoubtedly benefits from legislative requirements as one of the first sub-markets. Using UWB technology to detect human breathing to sense if there are living organisms inside the car after the door is closed. For example, the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is the first region to incorporate child protection into its evaluation system, preventing situations where adults accidentally close the door while a child is still inside, which could pose a safety risk. With UWB technology, the system can detect if there are living organisms inside the car after the door is closed, alert the car owner, or prevent them from closing the door. Additionally, UWB radar can also enable kicking to open the trunk. These applications will promote the application of UWB in the automotive market. In response, car users will interact with the car's UWB chip using the UWB chip in their smartphones, which will, in turn, drive the widespread use of UWB technology in other consumer electronics. Recent years have seen UWB technology transition from a niche technology primarily targeting industry applications to becoming a popular technology embraced in the consumer market through the joint efforts of major players such as Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung, and automotive manufacturers, making it an area of focus for the capital market. Currently, UWB technology is mainly applied in the fields of smartphones, cars, smart homes, wearable devices, and consumer electronics tags. Among them, the large shipment volumes of mid-to-high-end smartphones will continue to drive the growth of various UWB devices such as consumer smartwatches, smart wearables, and smart home devices. It is worth noting that there are two main approaches to incorporating UWB chips in smartphones: one is like what Apple is currently doing, adding a dedicated "U1" chip, which...The function of the chip is not just for positioning and ranging, it has other functions as well, which will enrich the functions of smartphones even more; The second option is to add UWB function into the main control chip of the phone, just like how 4G, 5G, WiFi, and Bluetooth are all directly integrated into one chip now.For the first option, emerging chip manufacturers still have a chance, while the second option is highly likely to be directly absorbed by mobile chip companies such as Qualcomm, MTK, and Huawei. According to the latest report from Techno Systems Research, the global shipments of UWB will exceed 1.2 billion in 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of over 30%. Under the dual driving force of the "mobile ecology + automotive ecology," UWB will have a broad blue ocean market in the future. In terms of application areas, by 2027, smartphones will still be the largest application market, followed by smart cars, smart homes, wearable devices, electronic tags, etc. The current situation and challenges of the UWB chip industry In the global market, major players in the UWB chip industry include Apple, NXP, Qorvo, etc. Qorvo entered the UWB chip field in 2020 by acquiring Decawave for $400 million, and currently dominates the B-side UWB market for industries such as factories, coal mines, and semiconductor companies that require positioning, with its main product being the DW series. In the mobile phone sector, NXP and Qorvo are the main suppliers of UWB, while Apple is self-developed and used. In the automotive-grade UWB chip sector, NXP is dominant with the Trimension series. In addition, traditional automotive giants like STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and Renesas have also increased their layout in UWB and have made some progress in recent years. In the Chinese market, although the UWB chip design field started late, it is accelerating its rise due to its good market and industrial chain advantages. Major players in the domestic UWB chip market include Haoyun Technologies, Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Lianrui Electronics, Tangen Technology, Jingwei Technology, NewRay Chip, Qorvo, Easyband, Hanwei Microelectronics, Youzhilian, Chixin Semiconductor, Jieyang Micro, Qingyan Communication, etc., and many domestic manufacturers have made new progress in the UWB chip field. Overall, whether domestically or internationally, UWB technology is constantly developing and improving. However, there are still some gaps in core technology and upstream industrial chains in China. With the further maturity of technology and the growth of market demand, it is expected that UWB technology will be more widely applied and promoted in the future. Cost challenge UWB technology can be seen in the market, but why isn't UWB as popular as imagined? Ultimately, most applications are currently trivial and belong to the category of experience improvement, and some improvements are even relatively insignificant and cannot solve unprecedented problems. Furthermore, the practical cost of UWB is still relatively high, and further efforts are needed in terms of downward compatibility in mid-range and high-end products. Industry insiders point out that the main reason for the high price of UWB at present is that the industry chain has not yet developed. With the continuous evolution of semiconductor process technology and the rising of domestic UWB manufacturers, the shipment volume of UWB will continue to increase. The rapid growth of shipment volume will greatly drive down costs, thereby promoting the popularization of UWB in mid-range and low-end devices. Slow standardization process of UWB Another reason is that every new technology ecosystem establishment requires a process. The industry standards for UWB are currently in a relatively "loose" stage overall. After all, the application of this technology spans different scenes such as consumer, industrial, and automotive, and the standards for each scene urgently need to be clarified further. Therefore, the establishment of relatively unified standards is an inevitable hurdle to overcome. There are two international standardization organizations for UWB: one is the UWB Alliance and the other is the FiRa Alliance. The UWB Alliance targets the B-side RTLS market, which is the regional/indoor positioning market: by real-time sensing the positions of people, vehicles, and objects indoors, the goal is to achieve management automation. The RTLS market uses TDOA/TOF triangulation positioning as the positioning algorithm technology route, and each company's product has different UWB link layer communication protocols and RTLS positioning algorithms, so there is no possibility of product compatibility between manufacturers. The FiRa Alliance's members include leading companies such as Apple, Sony, Samsung, Qualcomm, Xiaomi, and OPPO, and are dedicated to developing UWB applications based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard across vertical business fields. Their goal is to establish interoperability standards for the UWB indoor positioning industry and break the limitations of different standards and formats to promote the formation of a global unified standard. However, overall, there is much talk but little action in the UWB field, and in recent years, terminal manufacturers have not been doing as well as before. Compared to WiFi, BLE, and 5G, enthusiasm for integrating UWB technology is not high. Many major manufacturers are taking a wait-and-see attitude and are mostly nurturing and seeking market opportunities, rather than making significant strategic investments. Trends in UWB technology Based on the current development status, application progress, and technological challenges of the UWB industry, IoT Media has observed several major trends in UWB development, which the author has summarized succinctly: 1. Chinese UWB chip players are rising rapidly: Chinese UWB chip players began to lay out around 2019, and a few fast-paced domestic chip players have now achieved mass production. It is expected that more products will be mass-produced within a year or two. The rise of Chinese chip players will inject more vitality into the market, as many application scenarios or products require customized functionality in some aspects and have extremely low cost requirements, which will be opportunities for Chinese UWB chip players. 2. Android smartphones will rapidly popularize UWB chips: iPhones have already popularized UWB chips, and there have been occasional news about Android smartphones using UWB chips, but progress has been slow. However, with Qualcomm launching integrated 5G baseband chips with UWB functionality, selling a single chip that integrates multiple functions directly to smartphone manufacturers is the best solution for them, and it will directly drive the popularity of UWB in Android smartphone manufacturers.je t'aime plus que tout au monde3. Low cost is the industry's new need: Both B-end and C-end enterprises have consistently given feedback that current UWB products are too expensive and need to be reduced in price. This is actually a form of demand transmission, with one common belief among demanders being: UWB technology is good, but the products are too expensive. Based on this current demand situation, the most effective response strategy for upstream industries, whether chip manufacturers or product and solution providers, is to "lower the price." At least for now, this is not a malicious price war, but rather a move to meet industry demand. 4. Division of labor in the industry is becoming clear: Several years ago, the situation in the UWB industry was that there were very few chip companies, and then there were numerous solution providers, with each provider's products and business areas highly overlapping. However, currently, a trend towards division of labor in the industry is beginning to emerge, with some companies gradually focusing on producing modules or standard hardware products, some focusing only on positioning software, and some focusing on overall solutions for vertical industries. This is a positive signal of the industry's growth and development. 5. UWB manufacturers are focusing on specific industries: Several years ago, almost all solution providers would take on projects in any industry, but now, most domestic UWB solution providers are consciously narrowing down their focus, dedicating their energy to deepening their expertise in a few vertical industries and understanding the business logic and needs of these industries or users to create integrated information solutions. 6. Increased availability of UWB multi-mode fusion products: Whether for B-end products or C-end products, if positioning is needed, it will involve a fusion of indoor and outdoor, or with other technologies. For example, B-end products often need to integrate UWB with other transmission technologies such as Bluetooth, GNSS, and even LoRa, WiFi, etc. Based on this demand, in the future, there will gradually be multi-mode or co-packaged products in the upstream end of the chip industry. In conclusion, UWB ultra-wideband is a technology with tremendous potential. Industry insiders believe that in the future, UWB will become a wireless technology with a similar level of popularity and scale as Bluetooth and WiFi. Therefore, industry manufacturers are continuously deepening their focus in the UWB field and providing support from the underlying chip technology in multiple application scenarios. However, UWB is still in its early stages and faces fierce competition from technologies such as Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi. Although UWB has advantages in many aspects such as security, high bandwidth, and bi-directional communication, making it well-received in many applications, its high product prices due to low industry usage make market promotion difficult. Additionally, the barrier to entry for UWB technology is high. From research and development to implementation, it not only needs to meet regulatory and consistency requirements but also successfully pass FiRa PHY certification tests, as well as Time-of-Flight (ToF) and Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurements. It can be said that the characteristics and deployment of UWB technology do present significant challenges to testing. Although UWB's development currently faces many challenges, with the push from the consumer electronics market, especially with the introduction of high-quality UWB integrated chips from Qualcomm, and its accelerated entry into the automotive market, undoubtedly provides new momentum for the development of the UWB market. We have reason to believe that UWB technology will achieve greater breakthroughs in the coming years. However, it is not intended to replace WiFi, Bluetooth, or NFC, but rather to intelligently complement them. In conclusion, UWB is not yet a sought-after technology or a lifesaving straw, and requires active exploration and participation from all companies in the industry chain to address issues related to power consumption, cost, standardization, etc., and initiate a new chapter for UWB chip products. This article is reprinted from the WeChat public account "Observation of the Semiconductor Industry"; Edited by GMTEight: Wang Qiujia.