For me, the UWB side of short-range radios was quite unfamiliar. I did some research into both Novelda and UWB technology itself. Here are some observations:
UWB
- ~6-9GHz frequency range depending on the country and standard. In other words, truly high. Compare this to 2.4GHz for BT, for example.
- Correspondingly, the channel bandwidth is very wide, >500MHz. Again, for comparison: BT’s 2MHz and WLAN’s 20MHz (or multiples of 40/80 depending on the standard).
- Tx times are very, very short. They depend on the standard. Thanks to the short duration and wide bandwidth, the power spectral density of a Tx event per Hz remains well below FCC/ETSI requirements. This means the certification process is easy and otherwise significantly less regulated compared to, for example, BT or WLAN.
- The most common applications for UWB are various radars, other types of sensing, and distance measurement based on ToF (Time of Flight). ToF in particular is significantly better to implement with UWB technology than BT, thanks to the higher frequency and short Tx bursts.
- UWB can also be used for communication. Even up to 1Gbps bandwidth. Significantly more than BT’s 1 or 2 Mbps.
- Other “basic” signaling techniques also apply to UWB, such as AoA (Angle of Arrival).
Novelda
Novelda’s portfolio consists entirely of sensor technology products. In contrast, NS’s (Nordic Semiconductor) portfolio has no sensor technology at all. The NS portfolio is specifically focused on communication. The question arises: what are NS’s plans for Novelda? Is NS intending to complement its own offering by adding integrated UWB sensing solutions to its products? Asset tracking is one major existing vertical for NS. In such a case, it would be clear that BT + UWB complement each other. BT carries further, and once the approximate location is obtained, precise positioning is done with UWB. I find it hard to believe they would make this into a separate “companion chip” solution. Historically, that is not like NS.
The other option is that Novelda was acquired for its brain power and IP. Personally, I see it as most likely that NS sees a low-power future where UWB technology complements BT. In this scenario, NS is targeting IEEE 802.15-style data transfer techniques running on top of UWB, and this was an easy way to quickly acquire professionals in the field. And a patent portfolio. Novelda has an academic background, meaning they have developed a lot in-house. I personally see a future where bulk or premium products would have both a BT/WLAN/Cellular radio and a secondary UWB radio, and that there would be a dedicated product series solely for UWB solutions. Specifically as an integrated MCU, not as a companion chip. From Novelda’s perspective, this is also a win. Novelda has a new X7 processor with a UWB radio + MCU. However, NS has been doing ARM MCU + radio integration for twenty years, and through previous acquisitions, they have world-class low-power memory technology in their pocket. For this reason, I think the synergy benefit from Novelda’s perspective is greater than from NS’s.
I believe that over some period of time, NS will also offer sensor technology as a side product. Once the UWB radio is on the chip, it doesn’t require much more for radar/other sensing to be possible.
The UWB market is interesting, and by Googling, it’s clear that Apple’s AirTag and other clones are what people are talking about. On the sensor side, person identification, presence detection in a room, and, for example, a digital twin of a car cabin are also the most popular application areas.