Technology
How the Noccela system works
Tags send short ultra-wideband (UWB) radio messages. Base stations (UWB anchors) measure them. A positioning engine turns the measurements into positions, and the Location Intelligence Platform turns positions into alerts, KPIs and data for your own systems. Noccela designs every link in that chain.
- Positioning accuracy, up to
- 10 cm
- Coverage per base station, up to
- 500 m²
- Active tags at 1 Hz within radio range
- 1,000
- Configurable update rate
- 0.1–50 Hz
Capacity counts tags that are moving. Tags at rest sleep, thanks to the accelerometer, and do not use capacity.
Six parts, one system
Noccela designs the radio protocol, the hardware, the firmware and the software. Click any step to go deeper.
- Step 1 Tags Badges and asset tags send short UWB pulses
- Step 2 Base stations Measure the radio signals and calibrate themselves
- Step 3 Positioning engine Computes positions in the cloud or on your premises
- Step 4 Location Intelligence Platform Maps, dashboards, alerts and workflows
- Step 5 APIs Real-time stream, HTTP API and webhooks
- Step 6 Your systems WMS, MES, ERP, BI, safety and sports apps
Tags
Base stations
Positioning engine
IoT and workflow engine
Location Intelligence Platform
APIs and SDK
What it is built for
Precise, self-installing and open
-
Accuracy up to 10 cm
UWB measures distance from the flight time of very short radio pulses, so it keeps working in metal-heavy halls where signal-strength methods struggle. What you get on a site depends on line of sight and base station density.
UWB accuracy and range -
Installs itself
Measure the position of two base stations. The rest find their own positions by ranging with each other over UWB, and the result is validated before go-live.
Automatic calibration -
Scales with the site
Up to 1,000 active tags at 1 Hz within radio range. Tags that are not moving sleep, thanks to the accelerometer, and do not use capacity. Coverage is up to 500 m² per base station.
How HPR scales -
Years on one battery
Asset tags and buttons run on standard replaceable cells. Battery life is typically several years, depending on utilisation and update rate.
Tags -
Open by design
Every position, zone event and tag state is available through documented APIs, so location data can feed your WMS, MES, ERP, BI or safety software.
Developer hub -
Deploy your way
Run the platform as a cloud service, on a server inside your own network, or as a self-contained mobile kit for temporary zones.
Cloud, on-premise and security
Three ways to deploy
The same tags, base stations and software work in three topologies. Many customers combine them: a cloud or on-premise system for the site, and a mobile kit for temporary work zones.
Cloud service
- Base stations connect to the cloud over your site network, one PoE cable each for data and power.
- No public IP address, no static IP address and no access to your private network is required.
- The positioning engine and the Location Intelligence Platform are operated by Noccela.
- Suits multi-site roll-outs and pilots that should start quickly.
On-premise server
- The positioning engine and the platform run on a Noccela On-Premise Server inside your own network.
- Location data stays on site, and the system keeps running without an internet connection.
- Suits factories and safety applications with strict IT policies.
- You host the server in your own network and decide who can reach it.
Mobile kit
- Mobile Anchor with Flash puts a base station, a Signalling Flash, a battery and a 4G router in one case.
- Open it and switch it on: it creates a warning zone around itself, with no site network needed.
- Runs up to 20 hours on its battery.
- Sports Beacons with the Extension Box run from a power bank over Wi-Fi for training sessions and events.
Alerts on the tag, and tags that range each other
The tag is part of the alert
Noccela tags can receive as well as transmit. That makes the tag itself an output: the platform can make a tag buzz and flash its LED, the ID Badge sounds an 84 dB buzzer when its wearer enters a danger zone, and the Andon Button lights up to confirm that a call was received.
Alerts can also go to fixed devices. A Signalling Flash at a crossing or a test bench turns location events into light and sound, triggered by rules in the Workflow Manager.
Peer-to-peer ranging
In proximity mode, tags measure the distance to each other directly over UWB, without going through base stations. A badge can warn its wearer when another tag comes closer than a set distance, and the measurements are reported to the platform when a base station is in range.
Proximity warnings are an awareness and alerting function. They complement physical separation, training and the machine’s own safety functions; slowing or stopping a machine is the job of the machine builder or integrator, using safety-rated functions. Workplace safety · Forklift collision warning explained
Over-the-air updates and remote configuration
Because every tag has a two-way radio link, firmware and settings reach tags over the air through the base stations. You change a tag’s update rate, its sleep timeout or its mode from the platform, and new firmware is delivered without collecting tags or opening them.
Base stations are monitored and configured remotely in the same way, from the cloud or the on-premise server, so a site visit is needed for hardware work rather than for settings.
- Update rate: configurable from 0.1 to 50 Hz per tag
- Sleep: the ID Badge sleeps after 60 s without movement by default; the timeout is configurable
- Firmware: delivered to tags over the air, without collecting or opening them
- Status: battery, online state and firmware version of every device are visible in the platform and the APIs
What is standard and what is our own
Buyers ask this, and they should. Here is the honest split.
| Layer | What Noccela uses | Standard or proprietary |
|---|---|---|
| Radio | Ultra-wideband, IEEE 802.15.4 physical layer, channel 5 (6489.6 MHz centre, 499.2 MHz bandwidth), licence-exempt within regional UWB rules | Standard |
| Ranging protocol | High-Performance Ranging (HPR): how tags and base stations exchange messages and share airtime | Proprietary (Noccela) |
| Positioning and calibration | Positioning engine, filtering and automatic calibration algorithms | Proprietary (Noccela) |
| Hardware and firmware | Tags, base stations and accessories designed by Noccela | Proprietary (Noccela) |
| Network and power | Ethernet with Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af) to base stations; 4G or Wi-Fi in mobile kits | Standard |
| Integration | OAuth 2.0, HTTPS and JSON, OpenAPI 3 description, WebSocket, MessagePack, webhooks | Standard protocols; Noccela-defined messages |
Because HPR is not a public standard, an HPR network works with Noccela tags. Third-party UWB tags and smartphones do not join it as tags. Positions from other systems can still be shown alongside Noccela tags: the HTTP API lets you add external tags to a site and update their positions.
Standards bodies such as the FiRa Consortium and omlox define interoperable UWB positioning modes. In 2023 Noccela demonstrated positioning of UWB smartphones with a standards-based downlink mode, in which the phone computes its own position. That was a demonstration; smartphone positioning is not a Noccela product today. HPR and the standards
Frequently asked questions
What are the main parts of a Noccela system?
Do base stations need timing cables between them?
Does the system need an internet connection?
Which radio standard do Noccela devices use?
Can smartphones be tracked instead of tags?
Does UWB interfere with our Wi-Fi?
See how it would work on your site
Send us a floor plan and tell us what you want to track. A Noccela engineer will walk you through the system, the number of base stations and the integration.