- Enabling high-speed wireless transmission of large volumes of
data -
Tokyo and London, February 8, 2006 --- NEC Corporation today
announced that it hassucceeded in developing the world’s first
reliable signal creation andprocessing technology in the wireless
3- to 9-gigahertz (GHz) wide bandwidthrange, enabling high-speed
wireless transmission of data from computers anddigital home
appliances. NEC will present the results of this research
onFebruary 6 at IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference
(ISSCC) 2006, being held from February 5-9 in San Francisco,
California, U.S.A.
Features of the ultra wideband (UWB) transceiver technology:
1. Development of ultra-wide range compensation circuit
technology,which is capable of stable signal creation and
processing across a widespectrum of frequencies (3-9 GHz)
2. Development of ultra low-power supply voltage amplifier
technology
3. Development of new technology to compensate for
characteristicvariation in transistors that use low power
4. Use of a 90-nanometer (nm) advanced CMOS process for
high-frequency operation (note 1*)
To realize the wide spectrum of frequencies, NEC developed an
oscillatorthat can generate signals in the 3-9 GHz range. In
addition, anultra-high-speed gain amplifier and band-pass filter
have been added intothe oscillator to change the gain in accordance
with fast band hopping,achieving a flat characteristic output in
the 3-9 GHz band. Low-supplyvoltage amp requires especially high
signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. This newdevelopment introduces a new
amp that achieves high performance for bothlarge amplitude and
noise rejection simultaneously. To date,variation-compensation
circuits have had a voltage-adjustment circuit tocompensate for
distortion in each individual circuit. This new developmentinstead
places one voltage-adjustment circuit on a chip and uses a bus
todistribute compensation voltages, drastically reducing the amount
of powerneeded for variation correction.
UWB is capable of wireless transmission at speeds faster than
that offiber-optic transmission by achieving a maximum speed of 480
megabits persecond (Mbps) (note 2*). Due to this ability to send
and receive largevolumes of information at high speeds, UWB is
expected to play a role in thewireless connection of DVD recorders
and TVs, transmission of downloadedmusic to audio players and
connection of computers to nearby wirelessappliances. By
eliminating the need for cumbersome cables, UWB willguarantee ease
of use in all kinds of situations and allow freedom of connectivity
and interaction among a wide variety of devices.
Recently, with an increase in the number of offices and homes
that are usingwireless LAN, users are looking to further increase
the speed of theirwireless connections. However, present wireless
LAN connections can onlyachieve a maximum of 54 Mbps (note 3*),
creating the need for even fastercommunication speeds to enable the
transmission of large volumes of datasuch as images and music. UWB
is expected to improve wireless transmissionspeeds up to 480 Mbps;
however, existing UWB transceivers are only capableof being used in
the 3-5 GHz spectrum, which causes performance degradationof actual
speed if many UWB appliances operate simultaneously. In responseto
these needs, NEC has developed a UWB transceiver that can operate
athigher frequencies to bring UWB into mainstream use and
accommodate a future increase in users.
NEC is certain that its technology will significantly contribute
to therealization of high speed wireless networks at home and in
the office, andplans to strengthen its research toward the early
commercialization of UWBproducts.
Notes*
(1) Using ASPLA (Advanced SoC Platform) 90-nm CMOS shuttle
service(currently Star Shuttle)
(2) Maximum data throughput of 480 Mbps is achieved when the
wireless transmission distance is within 3 meters. Wireless
transmission is possiblefor distances of up to 10 meters, and data
throughput at 10 meters isapproximately 110 Mbps.
(3) Development of the IEEE 802.11n wireless LAN communications
standardto provide faster transmission speeds is currently being
discussed.
(4) This UWB transceiver operates under the multi-band OFDM
specification proposed by WiMedia (http://www.wimedia.org/).
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) is one of the world's leading
providers ofInternet, broadband network and enterprise business
solutions dedicated tomeeting the specialized needs of its diverse
and global base of customers.NEC delivers tailored solutions in the
key fields of computer, networkingand electron devices, by
integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by
providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics
Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000
peopleworldwide and had net sales of 4,855 billion yen (approx.
$45.4 billion) inthe fiscal year ended March 2005.
For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at:
http://www.nec.com *Newsroom: http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/