In terms of positioning accuracy, the Ultra wideband technology achieves an average three-dimensional positioning error of ±2 centimeters with a 500MHz ultra-wide spectrum bandwidth (based on laboratory tests of the IEEE 802.15.4z standard). Significantly better than the ± 1.5-meter median error of Wi-Fi 6 (Wireless Broadband Alliance 2023 Industry Report). A controlled experiment conducted by Eindhoven University of Technology in a 3,200-square-meter warehouse in the Netherlands shows that the UWB system achieves a positioning success rate of 99.3%, while the Wi-Fi solution generates a positioning loss rate of 36.7% due to multipath interference. After the actual deployment of UWB at BMW’s Leipzig plant, the positioning accuracy of tool vehicles has been improved to ±0.8 centimeters, the time spent on equipment search has been reduced from 15 minutes to 72 seconds, and labor costs have been saved by 2.1 million euros annually (Deloitte’s 2024 audit data shows that the efficiency has increased by 12.5 times).
In the comparison of anti-interference performance, the ultra-low power density of -41.3dBm/MHz of UWB improves its signal-to-noise ratio by 18dB compared with Wi-Fi. Data from Amazon’s logistics center shows that when there are 2,000 2.4GHz devices per 10,000 square meters in the environment, UWB maintains a positioning accuracy rate of 98.2%, while the Wi-Fi error rate surges to 42.5%, resulting in an annual sorting error loss of 8.3 million US dollars. In the metal high-density environment (85kg/m³) of Walmart’s -28℃ cold storage, the signal attenuation of UWB tags was only 2.3dB, the communication success rate was 99.1%, while the disconnection rate of Wi-Fi devices reached 39% (UL certification shows that the positioning failure probability of Wi-Fi in the metal environment is 17 times that of UWB).
In terms of real-time response capability, the 480Mbps transmission rate of UWB combined with a 0.25-millisecond delay enables 100 location updates per second (the upper limit of Wi-Fi 6 is 10 times per second). The surgical navigation system applying UWB at Peking Union Medical College Hospital has reduced the instrument tracking delay from 350 milliseconds on Wi-Fi to 8 milliseconds, and the accuracy of minimally invasive surgeries has increased by 40% (a clinical study of 5,000 cases in The Lancet confirmed a 28% reduction in complications). The Ultra wideband athlete tracking system adopted in the Tokyo Olympics captured 120 frames of motion trajectory data per second, and the training optimization efficiency was improved by 28% (the technical report of the Olympic Committee shows that the accuracy rate of motion correction reached 96%).
The cost-benefit analysis shows that the unit price of the UWB module is $4.5 (ABI Research 2024 data), which is 3.75 times that of the Wi-Fi module at $1.2, but its return on investment is more advantageous. After Boeing’s assembly plant deployed the UWB system, the positioning efficiency of aviation materials increased by 32%, and the annual inventory cost was reduced by 15 million US dollars (with an investment payback period of 11 months). In contrast, at the Ford plant that adopted Wi-Fi positioning, the ± 2-meter positioning error led to a 1.7% increase in the assembly error rate, resulting in an annual quality loss of 6 million US dollars (the J.D. Power report indicated that this error raised the rework cost by 45%).
In terms of technological development, UWB reduces the non-line-of-sight error from 15 centimeters to 0.5 centimeters through the AI multipath compensation algorithm (demonstrated on-site at Qualcomm’s 2024 ISSCC), while Wi-Fi 7 only improves the accuracy from 1.5 meters to ±0.8 meters. Omdia predicts that the industrial-grade UWB market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 42% from 2023 to 2028, replacing 78% of Wi-Fi solutions in healthcare and manufacturing. The practice at the Siemens Amberg factory has proved that UWB has increased the positioning efficiency of devices by 17 times, verifying the core value of Ultra wideband in the field of millimeter-level spatial perception.