What is Universal Powerline Bus, UPB?

Home automation, UPB lighting control, Based on the X10 concept, Universal Powerline Bus (UPB) is considered to be one of the best Simply Automated UPB, home automation options in the lighting control market, due to its affordability, simplicity and transmission speed.

It is an improved and highly reliable powerline wiring solution to control your home automation devices. As with all powerline protocols, the technology requires no new wiring, as it’s designed to use your existing power wiring framework to signal messages.

In this respect, UPB is different from other wireless, radio frequency systems like Insteon and Z-Wave. The way that UPB uses the powerline is also different from how X10 works, and as a result, it has more than 99% reliability.

Powerline war

X10 currently dominates the majority of the home automation market, but UBP is carving out its own unique niche in powerline automation.

If you’re confused about which option to choose, it’s best to consider it in these terms: the primary difference between X10 and UPB is based on price and performance, and essentially, you get what you pay for.

If you’ve gone through the pros and cons of the X10 system and you think the system could be too limiting and unreliable for your tastes, then UPB might be the most appropriate powerline alternative.

X10 vs UPB

Reliability: Proven tests have revealed that the UPB communication system is 100 to 1000 times more reliable than X10. As a result, UPB offers a 99.9% reliability guarantee, in comparison to 70-80% for its predecessor.

Wiring: Both systems require no new wiring and are 100% powerline based.

Affordability: Naturally, X10 is cheaper to obtain and install than is UPB, but the newer technology can be less expensive in terms of whole-system cost.

Speed: UPB packs a signal speed 20-40 times greater than that of X10.

Simplicity: Both are very simple, smart home automation systems, using ‘off the shelf’ components and requiring no extra devices. The UPB system is very flexible, and may be used for numerous programmed applications.

Applications: UPB’s advanced technology enables it to perform higher-bandwidth operations than X10. This allows its application to extend to numerous tasks around the house, including temperature control, lighting, dimming, blinds, pool, spa and water feature controls, as well as entertainment system control.

Does UPB have any limitations?

The UPB system has overcome many of the signal and reliability problems that plague X10. However, it because it remains a 100% based powerline carrier technology, it can be affected by various powerline devices, and it remains susceptible to problems encountered in the noisy powerline environment.

Because it is a newer and more developed technology, UPB performs better overall than X10. Click here for a more in-depth summary of UPB’s pros and cons.

Article Source: http://www.homeautomationgeek.com/signal-relay/upb/