The main difference between UWB and Wi-Fi lies in the fact that ultra-wideband technology has a higher accuracy, which significantly widens the possibilities of its application for indoor positioning. Ultra-wideband accuracy resulted from the system’s ability to perform updates about 10 times per second and locate objects within 5mm, which is much more than 1m in the case of location-based WiFi.
UWB can track a bigger number of assets at large distances. It can detect with high accuracy where in the room the object is, while Wi-Fi-based RTLS provides information only about the presence or absence of the asset in the required room.
Ultra WideBand RTLS sensor gives less interference. While using Wi-Fi, similar tags make noise and deteriorate the quality of data transmission, which reduces possibilities for localization.
What concerns the cost of technology implementation into the infrastructure, Wi-Fi is cheaper. The tags, which are used for realizing the UWB-based navigation, have a higher cost in comparison with the tags used for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or RFID. Because of this, the system is preferred when it’s necessary to track expensive objects whose safety is placed above navigation costs.
| Parameters |
Technology |
| Wi-Fi |
UWB |
| Object identification accuracy |
1–5 m |
0.1–0.5 m |
| Spheres of application |
Industry, medical institutions, transport, trading, offices, etc. |
Industry |
| Implementation costs |
Medium |
High |
| Energy consumption of the smartphone without recharging |
1–2 days |
5–6 hours |
