Apple’s UWB Support to Help Propel the Technology into the Mainstream

Though much of the talk about the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro has centered on their new “ultra-wide” camera, perhaps the most exciting and innovative development was their inclusion of the U1 Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chipset, making the iPhone 11 first smartphone to market with UWB technology. Apple has stated that the new Apple-designed UWB U1 chip will leverage the technology to determine an iPhone’s precise location in relation to other UWB-equipped Apple devices. In terms of use cases, to date, Apple has only explicitly announced that its AirDrop feature on U1-capable devices will take advantage of this additional precision to determine if another U1 device is nearby, allowing an iPhone user to point at another iPhone to put it at the top of the AirDrop list. However, Apple is also heavily rumored to be developing its own personal tracking tags leveraging UWB technology. It is not yet clear whether Apple’s UWB capabilities will be locked in to Apple’s own devices, features, and apps, or if the technology will be able to operate alongside UWB-capable Android devices that are likely to emerge over the next 12 months. However, Apple’s decision to incorporate UWB capabilities follows a resurgence in interest and new technical enhancements for UWB technology over the last couple of years, and UWB technology itself has tremendous potential for a wide range of applications and could transform the way we interact with our environments and devices in the coming years.

In addition to Apple’s support for the technology, a number of other developments over the last few years have been pushing UWB into the spotlight:

• In December 2018, the UWB Alliance was formed, with founding members including Hyundai, Kia, Zebra, Decawave, Alteros, Novelda, and Ubisense. The organization seeks to promote large-scale deployments of UWB technology while protecting existing devices from encroaching radio technologies in the same band, continue geographic expansion into new regions, and support growth of End-to-End (E2E), vendor-agnostic interoperability programs.  
• From a technical perspective, UWB is also continuing to evolve thanks to the efforts of the IEEE 802.15.4z Enhanced Impulse Radio (EiR) Task Group. Formed in January 2018, this group is backed by the likes of Apple, Samsung, Huawei, NXP, and Decawave. The new IEEE 802.15.4z standard is being developed as a complement to the existing 802.15.4a standard and supports secure ranging alongside data-rate modes supporting up to 27 Mbps with long range support. Key areas of enhancement include additional coding and preamble options, improvements to existing modulations to increase the integrity and accuracy of the ranging measurements, and additional information element definitions to facilitate ranging information exchange.
• In February 2019, UWB chipset leader Decawave announced the roadmap for its latest generation of 802.15.4z UWB chipsets, which were aimed at providing increased mobile transaction security.
• In September 2019, NXP introduced its Secure UWB Fine Ranging Chipset based on 802.15.4z. This SR100T solution is the first all-in-one solution that combines a Secure Element (SE), Near Field Communications (NFC) and UWB fine-ranging technology. According to the announcement, this chipset will allow mobile devices to communicate with connected doors, points of entry, and cars so that they open on approach. In addition, connected lights, speakers, and other devices with UWB capabilities will be able to follow users between rooms, activating or deactivating in relation to their position.
• In August 2019, the Fine Ranging (FiRa) Consortium was established. The FiRa Consortium seeks to develop and enable the widespread adoption of secure fine ranging and positioning capabilities of interoperable UWB across a number of different applications. Key members of this organization include NXP, Samsung, ASSA ABLOY, HID Global, Bosch, Sony, Hyundai, and Tile, among others.

To date, UWB has carved out some success within Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) applications. Companies such as Decawave have shipped over 7 million UWB chipsets to the market. However, the wider potential of UWB and 802.15.4z is enormous. The technology could help to transform the way in which smartphones, wearables, and other devices interact with objects around us, enabling more seamless and secure access control, much more accurate indoor positioning, and more accurate point-to-point services for personal trackers or smart home interaction. The figure below highlights some of the key potential use cases for UWB as defined by the FiRa Consortium.

UWB leverages Time of Flight (ToF) to calculate the distance between two devices. As UWB utilizes large channel bandwidths of 500 MHz and short pulses, it can achieve cm-level accuracy—and at very high speeds. This real-time high accuracy positioning means that it can determine whether a device is moving toward or away from an object, such as a door or car. This means that false triggers can be avoided. For example, if you were close to a car but moving away from it, the car would remain locked. Conversely, if you are heading toward a car, it would unlock ahead of time for seamless secure entry. When driving the car home, the garage door could automatically unlock upon arrival, and your front door would automatically open when you leave the car and walk toward the home. UWB also provides secure ranging. Unlike conventional positioning methods that rely on signal strength to determine proximity, which can be tricked via signal amplifiers, UWB calculates the precise physical distance between two devices and cannot be tricked in the same way. As a result, this can provide better security for access applications. Companies such as Decawave also envisage UWB being leveraged for secure and seamless payments and ticketing within transport or retail applications.

With Apple early to market, and 802.15.4z already backed by Samsung and NXP, ABI Research believes it is only a matter of time before other mobile devices support UWB technology. The integration in Apple alone will boost UWB shipments considerably in 2019 and 2020. Companies such as Decawave are also bullish about UWB becoming a mainstream technology over the next five years as it begins to proliferate in mobile accessories, tracking tags, door locks, smart home, and other consumer applications. However, UWB still faces a number of challenges. Firstly, the ecosystem will take time to build out on both the chipset and device levels, so valuable use cases may take a while to hit the mainstream. Secondly, much will need to be done on the branding side to ensure consumer awareness is built around the technology and avoid confusion. It is not yet clear if UWB or FiRa or another title will be given to the new secure ranging technology in order to boost wider awareness of it and its capabilities. The extent to which Apple will open this technology for interoperability purposes or keep its features tied down to the Apple ecosystem is also not yet clear. In addition, UWB integration may be reserved for flagship smartphones until costs fall and compelling UWB use cases and accessories come to the market in considerable volumes. NFC has built success through mobile payments, and UWB will need to develop similarly compelling use cases in order to justify its inclusion in mainstream smartphones.