Smarthome Solutions Center, smarthome.com, Smarthome Forum, What is UPB? vs. Insteon zwave, x10, Simply Automated UPB, Home Automation Universal powerline bus (or UPB) lighting control is a Simply Automate UPB, Simply Automated Blog, protocol for communication among devices used for home automation. It uses power line wiring for signaling and control. Different from Insteon, a mix of low end X-10 and RF.
UPB was developed by Powerline Control Systems (PCS) of Northridge, California and released in 1999. Based on the concept of the ubiquitous X10 standard, UPB has an improved transmission rate and higher reliability.
UPB is a very technical and sophisticated system. Due to the power of the system, users may find the system to be confusing and difficult to setup at first, but after a little experience, the logic of the system’s design becomes evident. This document is meant to help the new user get started with UPB quickly.
The Basics
All UPB devices have to be set up with some fundamental information. The items that can be configured include:
- Unit ID
- Network ID
- Network Password
- Network Name
- Links
- Other information
UPB devices all work on a concept called “Links”. Many of you are familiar with scenes – links are very similar to scenes. Each UPB device can be associated with multiple links, meaning that the device can participate in multiple scenes. If a device receives a Link Activate UPB command, and the device is associated with that link, the device will take an action based upon its programming. While devices can be controlled via their Unit ID, the real power of UPB is in the Links. We’ll come back to links in a minute.
Each UPB device must be programmed with a Unit ID. The unit ID will have a value between 1 and 250. Units out of the box from the factory will have a Unit ID assigned that equals the manufacturer’s product ID. For example, all Web Mountain appliance modules out of the box will have a Unit ID of 5. Another example: all Web Mountain lamp modules out of the box will have a Unit ID of 1. In normal operation, a Unit ID will have little meaning, as the device will be used mainly to respond to Links. However, in the event that the user wants to program a specific device with configurations other than the default, the available programming tools (to be discussed later), will need unique Unit IDs. We will discuss programming shortly.
Each UPB product must also have a Network ID. When control signals are sent out on the powerline, part of the signal is the Network ID. Only devices that have that specific Network ID will respond to the signal and take the appropriate action. In real life, it is expected that a Network ID will correspond to one home. Adjacent homes should use different Network IDs, in order to prevent signals in one home from controlling devices in the next door house. The appropriate range for Network IDs is 1 – 250, with the default Network ID out of the box being FF (hex) or 255 decimal.
Each UPB product must also have a Network Password. In order to program a device or change its programming, you must know the appropriate Network ID, and then the appropriate Network Password. If two homes side by side have the same Network ID, but different passwords, then users in both homes will be able to control devices in each home, but they can’t program devices in the other home, only their own. Again, this highlights the importance of using different Network IDs for adjacent homes. The Network Password is a four character alpha-numeric password, with each character allowed to be in the range of 0 – F (hexadecimal). The default Network Password out of the box is 1234 (hex).
While the network name has little importance, it is a means of determining which network is being used, especially in the case of a multi-network system. The default network name out of the box is New Network Name. However, the Network Name is not used as a primary means of identification, and has little importance.
UPB devices are also programmed for a room name, and a device name. The room name is important within various controller environments, as it organizes all devices according to rooms. However, it is not important for manual setup. The device name merely gives the user the ability to name a device so that it is easily understood what the device does. For example, rather than being named New Lamp Module, the module can be named bedside table lamp.
About UPB Technology
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Highly Reliable — The UPB method of communication is 100 ~ 1000 times more reliable than current X-10 technology and 10 ~100 times more reliable than CEBUS or LONWORKS powerline technologies. UPB is 99.9% reliable versus 70%-80% reliability of X-10.* UPB transmits farther (over a mile), is less susceptible to powerline noise and capacitive attenuation (signal reduction) than other technologies for three reasons:
When put on one phase of a home’s two phase power line, the signals are so strong they go out to the street side transformer and are induced on the opposite phase, returning back to the home. Since UPB transmits at a low frequency, it does not affect other powerline devices or appliance/loads. No New Wires – UPB dimmer switches are installed exactly like regular dimmer switches. They connect to a home’s standard wiring. Since no new or special wiring is required, they work great in retrofit applications too. Affordable — UPB dimmer switches can be as affordable as high end non-communicating dimmers. When comparing costs of home upgrades (theater TV, remodeled bath or kitchen) adding lighting automation and control to a room or whole home provides a surprising improvement in quality of life at a comparably low cost. Simplicity – Adding lighting control can be as simple as plugging in dimming modules or replacing dimming switches Pre-Configured Series. Unlike radio frequency (RF) wireless switches, where reliability is proportional to the number of ‘mess-networked’ switches installed, UPB provides reliability and performance anywhere in the home without the need of repeaters. Peer to Peer – No host computer or central controller is necessary for single, point-to-point control or group (lighting scene) control. UPB is a no-host, peer to peer network. Interruption of power, or single point controller/repeater failure, will not affect a stand-alone UPB network. Two Way Communications – Hardware, software and protocol design allows for two-way communication in all products. Status can be confirmed with polling or automatically transmitted upon local/manual load changes. House Separation – Neighbors with UPB will not control each other’s lights. The UPB addressing scheme allows for 250 systems (houses) on each transformer and 250 devices on each system. It incorporates over 64,000 total addresses compared to 256 for conventional X-10. Interaction – UPB communication can be used in the presence of all X-10, CEBus, HomePlug or LonWorks compatible equipment with no interference between either. The UPB technology uses a completely different frequency range than any of the wide-band, narrow-band, or spread spectrum technologies. The physical method of UPB communication is entirely different than the modulation-demodulation techniques of all X-10, CEBus, or LonWorks. Higher Speed – 20 to 40 times the speed of X- 10 in terms of data transmitted. This is equivalent to over ten full commands per second. The average latency of command to action is less than 0.1 second.
* Reliability is defined as the percentage of transmitter/receiver pairs that correctly operate upon initial installation. The UPB test units are randomly installed in the environment typical of the target market. This market is defined as the single-family residential market in the US, homes with a median size of 2500 Sq, Ft. This environment is defined to be the existing base of homes, without any modifications, which means there should be no “fixing” the electrical system of the residence by adding couplers, repeaters or filtering. |
UPB technology provides an inexpensive and reliable solution for residential and commercial powerline communications applications. While other powerline communication technologies exist, none compare to UPB in cost per node, functionality and reliability.
Smarthome forum a great resource for home automation lighting control questions