Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio signals are characterized as having a ‘wide’ bandwidth in the frequency spectrum, typically greater than 500MHz. To achieve wide bandwidth in the frequency spectrum the signals are transmitted as a sharp pulse in the time-domain. It is this characteristic that makes UWB signals ideal for systems where accurate timing of transmissions and receptions is desired.

In the image the difference between a typical narrow band radio transmission and an UWB radio transmission can be seen. Using UWB transmissions it becomes possible to time transmissions with enough precision that the distance between devices can be determined with well known algorithms such as Two-way Ranging. The CUWB system is capable of determining the range between devices with precision of approximately 3.0cm or better standard deviation.

UWB transmission technology can also be used to encode data by sending multiple pulses and modulating the position of the pulses in time. The CUWB system uses this data carrying capability to transmit information between devices. Ciholas tags and anchors are designed with built in sensors, such as accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. The data from these sensors can be broadcast over UWB for the CUWB server to receive and forward for use in multiple applications.