UWB came on the scene with much fanfare, but the words "rousing success" would not be the first ones to leap to mind when trying to describe the technology's market success to date. Still, there is movement on the UWB front. Staccato Communications is introducing its Ripcord family of products. Ripcord is the industry's first true single-chip, all-CMOS solution based on the WiMedia Alliance's UWB common radio platform and the Certified Wireless USB specification from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). Ripcord is implemented in a complete System-In-Package (SiP) using 110nm digital CMOS process technology.

The Ripcord products include specific devices targeted for Host Wire Adapter (HWA), Device Wire Adapter (DWA), Native SDIO, a PHY-only solution, and three production-ready reference designs. The cost catches our eye: The company says that Ripcord provides a complete, fully integrated solution for the first commercial applications of high-speed UWB at 480 Mbps at less than $10 per node in volume. Ripcord consolidates all hardware and software components necessary to implement a solution based on Certified Wireless USB into a single 12x14.5mm package in a 120 LGA Pb-free SiP. In most product designs, customers would not need more than an external antenna for a complete node based on Certified Wireless USB.

"Staccato's choice of a single-chip, all CMOS-based design is important because, as history has shown, lowering cost and increasing levels of integration can significantly accelerate the adoption curve of new technologies," says In-Stat's Brian O'Rourke. "We expect the Certified Wireless USB market to begin in late 2006 with significant growth in 2007 and 2008. Overall, we anticipate the shipment of Wireless USB-enabled products will grow 193% annually from 2006 through 2009. We expect Staccato to be well-positioned in the market for Certified Wireless USB products."

Read more about Staccato's new design:
- in this press release

ALSO: At Macworld this week, Belkin, Gefen and Delphi show products based on UWB. Report