About FiRa Consortium
In 2019, HID, NXP Semiconductors, Samsung Electronics, and Bosch were looking for a way to ensure interoperability in the expanding world of ultra-wideband technology (UWB). The outcome became the FiRa™ Consortium, a nonprofit whose goal is to transform the way people experience interconnectivity and to advocate the widespread adoption of UWB-driven applications. Today, the FiRa Consortium has more than 120 member companies including Allegion, Apple, Cisco Google, Qorvo, Qualcomm, and Thales.
What Does FiRa Mean?
FiRa comes from the term “fine-ranging” which underscores UWB’s unique ability to provide unparalleled accuracy and security when measuring distance or determining the position of an object or individual. The consortium is building on the IEEE 802.15.4/4z standard for low-data range wireless connectivity and enhanced ranging.
Why Does FiRa Need a Consortium?
So, why a consortium, and why now? The technology industry is at an inflection point where numerous companies are developing UWB products and services. FiRa is looking to grow the ecosystem so new UWB use cases can thrive while addressing interoperability challenges for combined future success.
What Does FiRa Do?
FiRa Consortium has three main goals:
- We support the development of compelling use cases across a variety of industries.
The goal is to make UWB technology relevant to end users and provide developers with powerful reasons to embrace it. - We define specifications and certify products to work towards interoperability.
FiRa collaborates with the UWB industry to develop specifications and our certification program aims to make every device, chipset, and solution interoperable. - We promote a strong UWB ecosystem to allow rapid technology deployment.
FiRa strives to provide a strong UWB infrastructure to support rapid expansion. This includes working with industry players, standards bodies, and related consortia to promote the UWB ecosystem and enable UWB use cases. We also advocate for UWB with government and regulatory agencies.
What Organizations Does FiRa Collaborate With?
FiRa collaborates with other consortia and organizations to further develop a complete ecosystem. They include the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), EMVCo, and ETSI. We also build on the IEEE foundation by leveraging its standards 802.15.4 and 802.15.4z Amendment 1. This allows us to develop service-specific protocols for various verticals and define parameters for a wide range of applications.
How Does FiRa Membership Work?
We offer seven levels of membership: Sponsor, Contributor, Associate, Adopter, Test Lab, Academic and Educational, and Affiliate. You can view the perks of the different membership levels here. FiRa encourages stakeholders from all relevant industries to join and contribute to the Consortium. Many of our current members come from industry-leading technology companies. As a FiRa member, your company can collaborate with UWB market leaders, build a network of UWB ecosystem connections, explore UWB interoperability, and get your products certified.