Power-line Carrier Control Overview
Household electrical wiring such as Romex or BX is used to send digital data between UPB devices.
While in the X10 protocol this digital data is encoded onto a 120 kHz carrier which is transmitted as bursts during the relatively quiet zero crossings of the 50 or 60 Hz AC waveform, the UPB protocol works differently.
The UPB communication method consists of a series of precisely timed electrical pulses (called UPB Pulses) that are superimposed on top of the normal AC power waveform (sine wave). Receiving UPB devices can easily detect and analyze these UPB Pulses and pull out the encoded digital information from them.
UPB Pulses are generated by charging a capacitor to a high voltage and then discharging that capacitor’s voltage into the powerline at a precise time. This quick discharging of the capacitor creates a large “spike” (or pulse) on the powerline that is easily detectable by receiving UPB devices wired large distances away on the same powerline.
Read more about this topic: Universal Powerline Bus
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