UWB in heterogeneous access networks

The objective of this paper is to provide the reader with a vision of the envisaged work to be performed in the short/long term to fully integrate the UWB (Ultra-WideBand) radio technology into the future heterogeneous networks. In a first stage, the target will be the integration of the available commercial UWB devices with the state-of-the-art network technologies (HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability For Microwave Access), ADSL2+ (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line 2+)), whereas in a second step, the focus will be on the inclusion of the advanced UWB radios in future wireless networks. The integration process will be carried out on four different fields: user devices, access network equipment, location awareness services and coexistence. Some pre-existing results concerning interworking and coexistence will also be presented. Additionally, the foreseen business benefits, mainly focused on the interests of the operators and the service providers, will be described.