Home Automation using Universal Powerline Bus Technology

Terry Bolinger

and Gary Koenig

Web Mountain Technologies

Introducing Web Mountain Technologies

Manufacturer of home automation products

Original product was a Linux and IP based intelligent home automation controller for X10

First residential licensee of the new UPB technology – powerline carrier technology that WORKS!

New intelligent Linux and IP based controller that now includes UPB control

6 Reasons for Home Control

Comfort

(HVAC automation, control blinds, etc.)

Convenience

(Control all lights from anywhere in house, timed hair curlers, timed coffee, etc.)

Entertainment

(Set scenes, control all CE from anywhere, etc.)

Safety

(Light path in house, make house look lived in, automatically close garage door, etc.)

Savings

(Turn off unused lights, smarter HVAC control, utilize variable utility rates, etc.)

Ego

(Impress neighbors and co-workers, etc.)

Powerline Carrier

Powerline carrier technologies send signals over the existing AC 120V powerline within your home

No new wires needed

Replace wall switches and outlets, or plug-in controllable modules

Homeplug is a powerline carrier technology to send ethernet over powerline

X10 is a common powerline carrier home automation technology

X10 History

Originally developed and patented by the X10 company

Original patent expired over 3 years ago

Millions of devices sold over the years

Used commonly by hobbyists

Many different devices available (switches, outlets, etc)

Better X10 devices require a neutral wire in the box

Professional installers try to avoid it

Suffers from attenuation problems, noise interference problems, crosstalking between homes

Signals sent on the zero crossing of the 60 Hz sine wave at a frequency of 120 Khz

Protocol doesn’t deal with two way transmission well

Examples of problem situations

X10 Protocol

UPB

Open standard PLC technology invented by Powerline Control Systems (PCS) of Northridge, CA

In use in commercial environments since 2001

PCS was originally a high end X10 manufacturer

PCS is licensing the technology – WMT one of the first licensees

Stumbled upon the idea by accident – but had been looking for a highly reliable alternative to X10

Overcomes the four major X10 problems: reliability, security, flexibility, expandability

UPB is digital technology – X10 is analog

More expensive than X10, but prices are coming down

Invention of UPB

DIMMER PULSES

60V PEAK

1000W DIMMER

120VAC LINE VOLTAGE

What Is The UPB Method?

Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)

A series of controlled pulses, rather than a 120 KHz tone like X10

Data is encoded into the position of these pulses

Position determined by time between pulses

T1

T5

T2

T3

T4

UPB Pulse Train

Typical UPB Pulse

UPB Characteristics

Exceptionally High Reliability

High Signal Strength

1/5 sec Response Time

Low cost Components

All Components Off-the-Shelf

No Transmitting Power Supply

Compact Design < 1 sq in

Complies with FCC Requirements

Better than other technologies for large homes, isolated devices (i.e. switch in a detached garage)

Can peacefully coexist with X10, intercom, baby monitors, speakers etc.

Why Does UPB Work So Well?

Large Signal Strength

Low Frequency Content

Spread Spectrum-Like Frequency Range

UPB Has Large Signal Levels

UPB Contains Low Frequencies

X-10 120KHz

4

40

400

UPB RANGE 4 - 40 KHZ

CEBUS RANGE 100 – 400 KHZ

ATTENUATION

<GOOD BAD>

Average House Attenuation

UPB Covers A Wide Frequency Range

NARROW BAND

4

40

400

UPB RANGE 4 - 40 KHZ

CEBUS RANGE 100 – 400 KHZ

UPB Reliability Studies

Tests from Sep ~ Nov 2002

No Noise Correction – No Retrys

101 Different Houses – 296 UPB Receivers

Tests in AZ, CA, TX, OH, PA

24 hours per test

>24 Million UPB Messages Receptions

>99.956% Error Free Messages Received

3 Modules Accounted for 75% Errors

Reliability - % Error Free Messages

Conditions – no coupling, no filters, no repeaters, no fixing environment

SEP-NOV 2002

101 HOUSES

296 MODULES

81,920 MESSAGES PER MODULE

24HR TEST

TM4 V2.17

Errors Per 10,000 Messages

<

(70%)

(95%)

(90%)

(99.9%)

(Probability = PN Example .9930 = .74)

Probability of 30 Nodes Working

*

*

UPB Protocol Features

256 House Addresses

256 Device Addresses

Variable (0-34 byte) packet size

Error Detection

Message Acknowledgement

4 Digit Password

Basic commands: on, off, level, set LED, report status etc.

Scenes are set up using “LINKS”

When controller activates a LINK, switches set up for that LINK go to a programmed level to set a scene

Alternatives to Powerline Carrier

Hard wired:

Vantage, Centralite, Lightolier, Lutron

Expensive – substantial additional wiring, non-standard wiring implementations

Hard to retrofit

Wireless:

Radio RA, Z-Wave, Zigbee

High reliability involves non-standard protocol, leading to more expense

Lower price units have interference issues

Distance limitations, don’t go through concrete or metal walls well

Mesh concerns, security issues, sys admin needs?

Application Implementations

Sportlite – Matadome Stadium

MD MFG - Central Vacuum

UPB Two-way

Vacuum Handle

UPB Central Vacuum

Power Unit

Web Mountain Technologies
Whole House Linux based server and UPB products

UPB Products

NOW

Variety of wall dimmers

Lamp modules

Appliance modules

Table top controllers

PC-UPB interface modules

6/8-button controllers

Output control module

Input control module

Doorbell module

Telephone control module

Intelligent controllers

Coming Soon

Combination input/output modules

8-input module

Sprinkler controller

Dimmer Fixtures

Relay Fixtures

Controlled outlet

Double/Triple/Quad wall dimmers

“IP Spoken Here”

Intelligent, Linux and IP based controller

Web server – all administration done through a web browser

NAT router, firewall, local DHCP server, NAS and file server, digital media content server, Intranet applications, and UPB controller

UPB controller allows for additional functionality:

Timers

Macros

Scenes

Demonstration

Web Mountain NetPlace server

UPB modules

Wall switches

Multi-button controllers

Computer interface modules

Lamp and appliance modules

Developer’s Program

Unstructured Developer’s Program

Some possibilities

Provide our UPB daemon

Provide our existing browser based UI

Provide our API on talking to daemon

Provide a developer’s kit consisting of above and several UPB modules at a discounted price

Possibly trade modules for development of desired features

Resources

UPB docs: http://www.webmtn.com/webUniversity/upbDocs.php

Slide 1

Terry Bolinger

2004-12-12T17:20:22