Ultra Narrow Band (UNB): Advantages and Disadvantages

Introduction : Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) technology is a type of LPWAN communication optimized for long range and low power IoT applications. It supports large scale sensor networks with minimal bandwidth usage.

What is UNB Wireless by Telensa?

Telensa is a UK based company that specializes in wireless smart city applications, most notably smart street lighting. Their technology is a form of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), which is a category of wireless communication technology designed for long range, low power communication for IoT devices. The core of Telensa’s offering is its proprietary Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) radio system.

Following features of UNB systems are extracted from datasheet available on telensa.com website. Visit website for more detailed and precise information or Contact Telensa for more details.

• Supported Bands : 910 – 925MHz (International), 868.0 – 869.6MHz (EU)
• Coverage Range : Up to 16 Km or more
• Capacity : Up to 5000 devices per Base Station
• Transmit power (Maximum) : US 4 W EIRP, EU 500mW ERP
• Backhaul connectivity : 2G/3G/4G cellular and ethernet
• Security : AES-128, 32 bit CMAC
• Regulatory Standards : FCC/ETSI/international ISM standards

Advantages of Ultra Narrow Band (UNB)

Following are some of the benefits of UNB.

1. Long range & wide coverage : The UNB technology is designed for long range communication, making it suitable for covering large urban areas with a minimal number of base stations. This is a key advantage for city wide deployments like smart street lighting.
2. Low power : The technology is optimized for low power consumption, allowing for long battery life in battery powered sensors and reducing the energy footprint of mains powered devices.
3. Scalability : The UNB system is designed to handle a massive number of connected devices, which is essential for large scale IoT deployments in smart cities.
4. Unlike some other LPWAN technologies, Telensa’s UNB provides two way communication, allowing for both data collection from sensors and sending commands to devices (e.g., dimming a streetlight).
5. It acts as platform for additional sensors after installation which include smart city sensors, such as those for air quality monitoring, traffic counting and smart parking.

Disadvantages of UNB

Following are some of the limitations of Ultra Narrow Band.

1. Ultra Narrow Band, like other LPWAN technologies, is designed for transmitting small amounts of data. This makes it unsuitable for high bandwidth applications like video streaming or high resolution image transfer.
2. Telensa’s UNB is a proprietary system. This can lead to vendor lock-in, meaning customers may be dependent on Telensa for network expansion and maintenance.
3. Telensa’s primary focus is on smart street lighting and smart city applications. While the technology can be used for other purposes, the ecosystem of available sensors and solutions may not be as broad as for more open standards like LoRaWAN or NB-IoT.
4. Telensa’s proprietary technology faces competition from standardized cellular IoT technologies like NB-IoT and LTE-M, which are being rolled out by major mobile network operators.

Conclusion: UNB delivers excellent coverage, low energy consumption and cost effective connectivity, making it ideal for low data IoT use cases.