The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) said it would publish a notice in the Friday (June 30) Federal Register announcing a testing program to evaluate ultra-wideband systems.

Ultra-wideband devices transmit very low power radio signals with very short pulses, often in the picosecond range, using very wide signal bandwidths.

"Because of that combination of characteristics, ultra-wideband has shown promise for many commercial applications, including wireless communications within buildings and the locations of objects on the other side of walls or other barriers," said NTIA chief Gregory Rohde. "UWB will be using the same spectrum that is presently being used by conventional radio-communication devices, including emergency services. Therefore, it will be important to ensure that there are no adverse effects from UWB to these critical radio-communication services."

The study will be overseen by NTIA's Office of Spectrum Management, based here, and by the Institute of Telecommunications Sciences (Boulder, Colo.).

The NTIA testing plan has been posted on NTIA's Web site.

NTIA also said it is developing a measurement and analysis plan to address the potential of interference from ultra-wideband devices to the Global Positioning System. The agency will seek comments on the plan by late July.