Intel Corp. quietly ended a five-year research effort in ultrawideband. The news is another blow for the emerging technology for which support is tightening in the face of an expected recession.

UWB startup WiQuest Communications (Allen, Texas) closed its doors on Friday (Oct. 31). On Monday (Nov. 3) startup Alereon Inc. (Austin) bought the UWB assets of Stonestreet One, a software developer, adding less than ten people to Alereon's 60-person staff.

To date, ultrawideband technology has been plagued by problems seemingly on every front-- performance, power, price and global regulatory conflicts with significant market penetration still at least a year away, according to some observers. In the meantime, analysts and participants alike said they expect more closures and consolidation moves.

Intel launched an internal UWB design effort about five years ago under its new business initiatives group. About a month ago, Intel decided to scrap the effort after a regularly scheduled review by the company's product groups failed to find a sponsor for the design team.

"It was a typical make-versus-buy decision," said Stephen Wood, a technology strategist in Intel's corporate technology group who also serves as president of the WiMedia Alliance that promotes and sets compliance standards for UWB products.