Why is UWB indoor positioning, which is mainly aimed at shopping malls and underground garages, not being utilized?
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What is the difference between UWB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and RFID?
UWB and Bluetooth
At first, UWB and Bluetooth may sound very similar. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a low-power radio system that has been used in beacons for ranging and measuring location, or at least that’s the promise many beacon manufacturers are trying to sell.
BLE technology is relatively inexpensive and easy to implement. The problem is that with Bluetooth you can't really measure location or distance. What you can do is detect if a device like a smartphone is within range of another device (like a beacon).
Why is this? With Bluetooth, you can only distinguish whether the signal is weak or strong and translate that into being close or far away from the device.
This is really not the same as measuring exact distance or tracking location. Some solutions promise to convert that signal strength into a distance estimate, but the problem with this approach is that signal strength is a poor indicator of distance.
If the signal strength is low, it does not necessarily mean that the phone is far away from the beacon, but that there are obstacles between the beacon and the phone.
Bluetooth and Wifi operate at the same 2.4GHz frequency, so their signals are highly susceptible to noise interference, and they can be easily reflected or absorbed, resulting in inaccurate data and slow response speeds.
You can try to create a roamer and use a grid of beacons at fixed locations to take signal measurements every few meters to mitigate interference issues and improve accuracy. But these measurements are expensive, time-consuming to implement, and imprecise.
In contrast, UWB offers much higher accuracy (up to a few centimeters). In contrast to Bluetooth LE, it measures distance not based on signal strength, but rather the time it takes for the signal to travel from point A (smartphone) to point B (UWB tag).
Compared to Bluetooth, UWB has a shorter range.
Since UWB frequencies are 3.1–10.6GHz, there is limited potential for any signal interference, which is typically the case with BLE.
However, in some cases, BLE beacons are still the preferred solution. They have been on the market since 2013 and are readily available.
BLE-based solutions are also cheap and easy to integrate with any existing system. All smartphones have Bluetooth technology integrated, but UWB does not yet.
| # |
Ultra Wideband |
Bluetooth (BLE Beacons) |
| Battery |
Low consumption |
Low consumption |
| scope |
Up to 200 meters |
Up to 70 meters |
| accuracy |
10cm |
Up to 1 meter |
| cost |
Low |
Low |
| Best for |
Proximity marketing, customer analytics, indoor navigation, smart home, factory automation, asset tracking, logistics |
Proximity marketing, customer analytics, loyalty, indoor positioning |
Ultra-wideband and geo-fencing
Geofencing uses GPS signals from satellites and cell towers to determine your exact location.
GPS accuracy is limited to 5 meters in the best case.
This accuracy is even worse if you are inside a building, as GPS signals are weaker inside enclosed buildings.
Using GPS has a big impact on the battery life of mobile devices. Geofencing doesn't work indoors, which is where ultra-wideband comes in.
UWB is currently the most accurate way to establish location indoors.
UWB is not only more accurate than GPS, but also faster.
| # |
Ultra Wideband |
Geofencing (GPS) |
| Battery |
Low consumption |
Moderate consumption |
| scope |
Up to 200 m (656 ft) |
Unlimited (outdoor) |
| accuracy |
10 cm (3.9 in) |
5 m (16 ft) |
| cost |
Low |
Low (no infrastructure) |
| Best for |
Proximity marketing, customer analytics, indoor navigation, smart home, factory automation, asset tracking, logistics |
Outdoor activities, outdoor locations, customer analysis |
UWB and NFC (RFID)
NFC is a relatively inexpensive RFID technology that operates in the 13.56MHz frequency band and is becoming increasingly popular due to its low cost and small size.
NFC has a range of only 4 centimeters (less than 2 inches), so it can only be used in certain scenarios, rather than establishing a precise location.
RFID cannot estimate distance, which is one of the most important advantages of UWB over other technologies.
All it can do is tell you that two objects are within 4 centimeters of each other, and that's it.
Passive NFC tags do not require any batteries and are usually integrated into key fobs, payment cards or devices.
One of the most popular use cases for NFC is using it for contactless payments with smartphones.
The NFC tag created in the smartphone is then read by the NFC reader in the POS to establish a secure connection and pay for the product.
UWB will likely outperform NFC in many use cases because it has all of the benefits of NFC.
The only drawback is that UWB signals must be broadcast, so UWB tags are more expensive than passive RFID tags.
| # |
Ultra Wideband |
Near Field Communication (RFID) |
| Battery |
Low consumption |
No battery |
| scope |
Up to 200 m (656 ft) |
A few centimeters |
| accuracy |
10 cm (3.9 in) |
How many centimeters? |
| cost |
Low |
Low |
| Best for |
Proximity marketing, customer analytics, indoor navigation, smart home, factory automation, asset tracking, logistics |
Loyalty, one-click messaging, security checkpoints |
UWB and Wifi
Before Apple announced the iBeacon protocol in 2013, Wifi was the most common indoor positioning technology.
The main advantage of Wifi over UWB technology is its availability in public and private places around the world.
All smartphones are Wifi-enabled, making it a fairly easy option for many companies.
The main disadvantage of Wifi compared to UWB is the common method of estimating distance or location by measuring signal strength alone.
As mentioned above, with Bluetooth, signal strength is a poor indicator of distance.
Wifi’s accuracy is limited to a few meters, which makes it unusable in many use cases.
You can determine which room a worker is in in a factory building, but you cannot determine his exact location.
WiFi requires more power than UWB which is why all routers need to be plugged into a power outlet at all times.
Today, Wifi routers are also much more expensive than cheap UWB tags.
While Wi-Fi has made great strides in locating other devices and reducing costs, UWB is more accurate, uses less power, and is cheaper.
| # |
Ultra Wideband |
Wifi |
| Battery |
Low consumption |
AC power (not using batteries) |
| scope |
Up to 200 m (656 ft) |
Up to 100 m (330 ft) |
| accuracy |
10 cm (3.9 in) |
Jimmy |
| cost |
Low |
High |
| Best for |
Proximity marketing, customer analytics, indoor navigation, smart home, factory automation, asset tracking, logistics |
Proximity marketing, loyalty, basic customer analytics |
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