Introduction To Smart Home Technologies

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Abstract

The concept of Smart Home Technology has been here for a while; the main idea is to introduce networking devices and equipments in the house. "According to the Smart Homes Association the best definition of smart home technology is: the integration of technology and services through home networking for a better quality of living." (Rosslin John Robles, 2010) . Many tools of computer systems are also integrated in Smart Home Systems.

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Table of Contents

Introduction to Smart Home Technologies

Smart Home is collaboration of technology and services through a network for better quality living. A smart home allows the entire home to be automated and therefore provide ease and convenience to everyday activities in the home. This technology is used to make all electronic devices to act ‘smart’. In the near future almost all the electronic devices will take advantage of this technology through home networks and the internet. Many people think this technology as pure networking. Others think this technology will reduce their work load, but smart home technology is combination of both and much more. Smart home technology is currently being implemented for entire house in particularly kitchen and living room. Basically, smart home facilitates users with security, comfortable living and energy management features as well as added benefits for disabled individuals.

This technology might sound new but it just uses the existing technologies. A smart device is a common appliance with a much more complex computer equipped to give it more functionality. These functions are the ones which makes it so different. Cable broadband, DSL, Bluetooth and wireless technologies provide a way to have a home networked for devices to communicate amongst themselves as well as internet. These technologies either wired or wireless provide foundation on which smart home will operate.

The research standards have already anticipated a smart, connected home where multiple devices cooperate to pamper to users wishes with little or no effort. For example, in a home with remotely controllable lights, cameras and locks, it should be easy to automatically alter lights based on the weather and time of day as well as remotely view who is at the door before unlocking it. But such straight forward home-wide tasks are remarkably unavailable from the mainstream despite the fact that the needed hardware devices (such as wireless light switches, door locks, and cameras) are reasonably priced. Many analysts predict that the smart home of the future is likely to contain 15 to 30 connected devices and sensors, all linked via a home area network and connected to the Internet. The collective revenue generated from home automation and home energy management (HEM) segments will be worth more than $44bn in 2016, according to the predication made from market analyst companies ABI and Berg Insight. The comprehensive revenue possible of the smart home, however, will be somewhat on a higher side as devices from the entertainment, health and home security sectors will also become connected.

Evolution of smart homes:

For now, fixed connectivity is a kind of innovation only in a few high-end homes. In the near future, connectivity will be widespread and a feature of virtually all household devices. The evolution of smart home technologies will go through these phases:

Phase 1 - Connected but independent Devices

Phase 2 - Connected Service via Dedicated Hubs

Phase 3 - Compact Smart Home

It’s not mandatory that all these phases go in same sequence. Some suppliers are straight away switching phase 2 because they have build the necessary hubs/gateways suitable with particular devices. Few suppliers are trying for phase three but it’s in research phase for the moment as not all home devices come with smart features. New and potential market entrants can nevertheless map their strategies to several notable characteristics of each stage.

Phase 1 – Connected but independent Devices

The main features of this phase include:

Connectivity of various independent devices to the service provider’s back-end systems and the Internet;

A separate control and interface function for different devices.

This phase can be associated with early 2000’s, devices are smart enough, but are not connected with each other as every other manufacturing companies have their own standards, which is causing the problem. There are no common standard norms for now, because several companies are not interested in interconnection of their devices with other devices of some different manufacturing company. But a majority of smart home vertical solutions would benefit from being inter-connected.

Phase 2 - Connected Service via Dedicated Hubs

The main features of this phase include:

Devices are interrelated and data management via dedicated control hubs, separate for each vertical;

A relatively-complicated range of service capabilities, due to data sharing and limited point-to-point connectivity between devices.

At this phase, a wide variety of devices, belonging to entertainment, energy management and security in the household will include some level of IT capability designed to support smart services. Some of these devices will have additional functions, making possible for the convergence of smart home services. As they use a growing number of connected services, consumers will put all the connected devices in a same place like a mobile app or a remote control and view their performance and control all the devices. More proper integration will even create way for enhanced functionality. The information gathered by security appliances is integrated with information gathered by lighting appliances for enhanced energy management. Similarly this kind of integration can be applied on other appliances to get an enhanced user experience. Historically customers are a bit hesitant regarding the amount required to implement a smart home technology services. It will be important to get a service provider who comes out with a solution in order to provide the service in a reasonable amount as soon as possible.

Phase 3 - Compact Smart Home

The main features of this phase include:

Distribution of data between different smart home devices and systems

Enabling of a single mobile-enabled home gateway/hub or integration point as a platform for supporting different smart home applications.

The main feature of this phase is development of an environment where data from different application areas can be combined to bring out a richer set of smart home services. These may be application-oriented services such as security management. They may also be support services, such as comprehensive energy management. It is possible that fully-compact smart home services can deliver a lot of value to consumers and businesses alike. They help deliver a higher quality of life for the former and make business operations more efficient for the latter. Alongside the many favorable circumstances however, there also remain several tests to the emergence of a compact smart home. New business models and cross-industry associations need to be developed and executed; consumer benefits in the form of cost savings and personal confidentiality need to be expressed clearly in a manner that gains their trust; and, standard norms need to be designed to encourage diverse organization to work together and its ability to be enlarged to accommodate growth.

Many of these approaches can be taken care by organizations in the mobile sector working with companies from each of four key close industries: utilities, home security, mobile health and entertainment. Mobile connectivity has a crucial role to play in connecting the devices and sensors within a home to the more complicated data analytics systems and intelligent applications that service providers will create through cloud- or back-end systems.

Smart Homes Get Effective as Utilities co-operate

The move toward smart homes that are effectively networked and microprocessor-controlled got a small but important push in the U.K. recently. British Gas, one of the country's biggest gas suppliers, declared an alliance with AlertMe, a startup that into remote home monitoring and energy management. AlertMe and its allies offer customers a way to control their home's energy consumption on the Web or from Smartphone and tablet apps. 

The need to manage energy consumption more efficiently is growing, and networked technology is particularly equipped to help. AlertMe is partnering especially with British Gas for its Remote Heating Control service, which will be available to all of the utility company's 10 million customers. The new agreement demonstrates that the smart home concept is reaching beyond forward-thinking startups and catching on with utility companies. 

For consumers, the most irresistible advantage of this type of technology is the cost savings. Under the old system, homes were cooled and warmed unproductively and at inappropriate times, leading to wasted energy and money. Automated systems like those provided by AlertMe, Control4 and smart thermostat manufacturers like Nest allow residents to program their temperature-control process in advance or do so automatically based on their previous habits. This has an critical impact on home energy bills. If adopted on a large scale, it could have a large environmental impact. 

Utility companies and tech startups aren't the only ones jumping into this space. Tech giants are getting in on the scene as well. Google aims to incorporate Internet connectivity into a variety of household appliances with its Android@Home enterprise. Meanwhile, Comcast's XFinity Home enterprise is in collaboration with Verizon to offer home automation services.  

Various Applications

Environment Based Application:

Future needs on the electrical grid will strengthen minute by minute home appliance management to give importance to energy services while delivering automatic savings to owners.Lights are programmed in such a way that if nobody is at room it will switch of the lights automatically. And also can be used for special settings such as it creates an environment of theatre while watching a movie on the television and if it’s party time light will set to dim and creates an ambience for the particular situation just by a click of button. And if you forgot switch off the lights it will send a message to your cellular phone so that you can turn it off just by a click on your phone. Windows/Curtains are programmed in such a way that they close or open depending on the light/weather condition. This in turn helps in saving a lot of energy as in if sun is shining bright outside curtains opens and the lamps are turned off automatically. In order to maintain a particular temperature of water, heating of water is done automatically based on the needs as for taps, sinks and bathtubs etc a different temperature is maintained. Hands free taps so that no need to close the taps as well if forgot to close the there is no wastage as it turns off automatically if not in use. Even for air-conditioning temperature is set automatically based on the need as in how many people, room temperature etc. Smarter homes increases consumer’s access to information, which in turn allows better decision making, while raising overall societal benefit.

Security Based Application:

In a traditional home Fire/smoke detector are activated as soon as a fire is detected, but Smart home can do much better than the regular fire alarm system. It not only activates the alarm but also turns on light only in the safest route and guides the residents of house out, it will unlock the doors and windows for smoke ventilation, turn off all the appliances and dial to the nearest fire service station. Other than this video (CCTV) of the areas surrounding the house, window breakage alarms, when the last person of the house leaves it automatically locks all the doors and the windows.

Many companies now offer discounts for existing centralized alarm services using sensors and cameras. The ability to set up home sensors that can instantly notify the homeowner, selected neighbors, or the police and fire departments can improve home security and provide peace of mind.

Entertainment based applications:

The richness of the Internet is now available through the TV, which basically shifts the definition of ‘content.’ Now consumer electronics companies can create a stage for new lines of flat panel televisions that feature a portal which personalizes entertainment content from various broadcasters and movie studios. Over time, such devices might be subsidized by better designed advertising, with a probability to share profits with other TV manufacturers with similar potentiality. This can lead to a win–win–win situation: reducing the number of commercials viewers have to watch, enabling broadcasters and advertisers to give more personalized entertainment options through targeted advertisements and allowing TV manufacturers differentiate their products.

Health based applications:

A medical device maker created embedded software that helps healthcare providers to regularly monitor patients with fixed medical devices without having hospitalization or office visits. Smarter home scales and sensors monitor fitness, well-being and uniform activities. These home health electronic devices can collect critical information about current health condition for disease prevention and overall wellness.

Structure and elements

In general the elements are divided into these parts (Toril Laberg, 2005):

• Sensors:

Sensors are used for checking continuously and giving the messages to central unit in case of changes in the surrounding area. For example movement of human or an object, heat sensors, humidity sensors, thermometers and smoke detectors etc.

• Actuators:

Actuators perform a physical action. Examples are doors, windows, window curtains, garage door openers, automatic light switches etc. And many other components of environment control systems are actuators.

• Controllers:

Controller takes decisions based on predefined rules. Controllers are microprocessor consisting of both sensors and actuators. For example certain values are recorded by the sensors, on which some calculations are done and the result of which is in turn given to the actuators, which in turn performs certain action to achieve a desired result.

• Central unit:

All units using decentralized bus system have their own microcontroller. So basically there is not much need of a central unit but however it is useful for rendering possible programming of units in the system. Some unit have their own central units rest others use a PC with some additional software.

• Networks:

Networks are used as the communication channel which is either wired or wireless which is used for interaction between two devices or with the surroundings. In Bus based networks all the devices in home can receive the message transmitted by a single device. As the message contains the address of the receiver, as soon as device comes to know that the message is for it, it reacts to the content of the message.

Bus norms:

The units in the system must "speak the same language" in order to communicate. This denotes the same standards regarding physical interfaces, cabling, contacts, electrical current levels and in the structure of messages to be changed internally. There are many standards both on the physical and the logical level. Companies of smart home equipment must select the standards their product is to follow. Some companies have made their own standards, where one or a few suppliers own the rights and are the sole suppliers of equipment for that bus standard. Such standards are called proprietary. By choosing such systems the customer might be abased of the supplier for management, extensions and repairs of the system. Other standards are developed through co-operation between the industry and interested parties within the framework of public standardization bodies. These standards are available for all and are called open standards. Systems based on open standards avail the customers with greater freedom of selection in relation to suppliers, or in selecting another supplier or service company.

By choosing equipment with proprietary solutions, one must either associate to the sole supplier or "translate" between the standard used by the bus system and the signaling system of the product. This usually suggests that the installation of additional equipment to convert the signals. This might be extra cost, imply loss of functionality and delay maintenance. Systems based on open standards are the most favorable, because one is in a better position to select freely among equipment and service suppliers.

The most important regulations are:

EIB (European Installation Bus) is an open regulation most commonly used in

Europe.

LON (Local Operating Network) is a proprietary regulation, used for energy- supervision, steering machinery and access limitations in industry and larger buildings.

KNX is a new regulation resulting from a merger of three European bus standards, with EIB being one of them. KNX is expected to take over EIB in the future. Today we refer to "EIB / KNX" as a common term.

BACnet is a regulation developed in the USA for the control of functions in larger buildings, but has not been followed in European smart homes. BACnet is supposed to easily interact with the EIB.

X10 is a regulation for powerline signaling, widely used for management of homely electrical products, like lights and utility appliances. It is also used in environmental control systems in single houses. The protocol has a limited set of commands such as start and stop.

Internet protocol (IP) is not used as a bus system, but is important for communicating in and out of local networks during keeping. Networks based on the above given standards are able to communicate with other systems, but the functionality in the interconnected system will not be better than its weakest link. A standard called OPC (Open Connectivity) describes the interface for interaction between networks with different regulations.

• Interface:

The user’s communication with the system is either through computers or by a remotely device such as mobile phone or a tablet.

Importance of the mobile in Smart Home

Mobile networks will connect many devices from lights to televisions to security cameras in the home. Simultaneously, mobile devices and tablets will provide a user interface for accessing and controlling smart home devices from anywhere within mobile coverage network. Inside the smart home, mobile networks will synchronize with other wireless technologies. Moreover, suppliers from the mobile environment will also contribute practical functionality and service applications, building on their accepted consumer applications expertise.

In this part, we review the importance of mobile industry to the smart home, as well as the roles mobile operators could likely play in the future.

Mobile connectivity will play an important role for return of smart home technologies which in turn will get more number of business and technical capabilities. The exact role that will be played by mobile operators in the future smart home is yet to evolve, and will vary, depending on the evolution of smart home services and the strategy of each mobile operator.

The mobile industry delivers each of the following:

Ample coverage area which is much better than the one provided by satellite

A secure communications platform

Dependable brands are well known to consumers. For example phones, Smartphone and tablets.

Commercially-Feasible and reliable partners for companies in adjacent industries like utility, health and entertainment industries.

Related technologies can improve the functionality of smart home services. For example billing, security control, GPS location as they are readily available with Smartphone, phones or tablets.

A Home controlled by a Mobile App is now possible

In the recent past, our homes have become both more comfortable and sophisticated, but now we’re finally getting close to the point where comfort and complexity don’t have to go hand-in-hand. Many products are coming up every other day for consumers which are getting better and better day by day. Today we can control and automate our home right from our Smartphone without spending a much.

Below are some examples of systems for the home that are app-controlled, low-cost, and practical.

Philips Hue

This smart little lighting system has the ability to dim, brighten, and change the color of its bulbs on command. The bulbs are all managed by the bridge, a small, powered device that plugs right into the wireless router. It uses Zigbee’s Light Link to communicate so we don’t need to rely on Wi-Fi. After all the set up is done, we just need to download an app from app store for our mobile, and with that app we can control the light, and as well set some default settings to trigger at particular time for example at night light dims automatically.

Nest

One of the most-promoted mobile app operated appliances ever is the Nest thermostat. It not just only looks beautiful but also learns on its own without need of programming. Once all the installation is all done all you need to do is turn it on when needed and off when not needed and soon it will learn the pattern and later on you don’t need to turn it on/off it automatically does according to pattern and sets perfect temperature. This kind of innovative system is a huge step forward in the smart home.

Wemo

Another device for smart home is Wemo from Belkin. This product has three parts viz. switch, a motion sensor, and an iOS app. Once you have Wemo devices installed in your house, you can control any device you have plugged in right from your iPhone. Did you leave the light on downstairs? Just launch the Wemo app, and switch it off. Do you want the TV to be on for you when you come home from work? Put it on a timer. With the motion sensor, you can even have everything turn on when you enter a room, and turn off when you leave.

Case Study

The Brown Box is project by Loxone Electronics; it’s a real home, a home which has all the aspects to be a smart home. And also it won the Smart Home 2012 award. There is much functionality, as per the owner’s needs. These functions are inexpensive, easy to set up, and improve the quality of living. The centerpiece of this project is the Miniserver which, controls all the devices smartly from the blinds and lighting to the sauna and home cinema, makes life in the home much more convenient, and meaningfully supports the owners.

Automatic blinds:

In the morning blinds open to capture the sun and warn the room. This event occurs as soon as there is enough light outside that you don’t need light inside. Around midday, according to room temperature and amount of sunlight coming in, the blinds will shade the house and then close in the evening according to the local sunset timing and not at the fixed timings. And also it can be accessed manually from a switch or a Smartphone.

'Good night' button:

In the evening when it’s time to bed just a quick press of the Good Night button does the entire trick. Everything (devices) is either put into standby mode or has its power cut. This not only saves money but also provides a radiation free home. The lights in the kitchen and living room goes off completely, lights in stairways are turned on (lightly dimmed). Apart from this it also includes security features such as all automatic doors close and lock, the alarm goes on for certain zones (garage, cellar) shutter blinds are all closed it they are not closed yet, and in case if any doors or windows are open, the light flashes for three times just to indicate that some door/window is still open. After about 10 to 15 minutes all lights in whole house turn off automatically.

Siren for alarm:

When nobody is at home, motion detectors act as the alarm sensors. If some unauthorized person gets into the house, the final level of alarm goes on i.e. all the lights in the house blinks randomly, the blinds opens and the music system plays Siren at full volume and also a call to home owner straight away and in case if it’s a false alarm it could be reset on the phone.

Easy Remote for Old People:

Now a day’s remotes are more complicated which the old peoples are unable to handle, so to avoid the hassles and make life easier for them by giving only one switch which does everything.

Varying Temperatures:

Different temperatures for different rooms as per the need are maintained. Irrelevant to the weather outside this function allows maintaining constant temperature for under floor. Thus the bedroom is always kept at a pleasing 18°C, whereas the bathroom and living room at a comfortable 23°C. When we know a guest is coming, a simple change to the schedule ensures the guest bedroom and bathroom is up to the perfect temperature when the guests arrive. Once the guests are gone these areas simply go back to "standby".

Central Lock:

Central lock is a feature where if the owner of the house leaves the house, all the lights and devices are automatically turned off and the alarm goes on. And also every switch in house turns into central off switch just by triple pressing.

Accessibility:

All you need is a firewall and a fixed IP address to access your home from anywhere in the world. So if we are back home from a tiring journey and want to take a sauna bath just to relax, all you need to do is press the button and get it ready. And if it’s too cold outside and want to feel warm as soon you reach home, then just turn on the heating before you are back home. And also allowing the delivery man in, for an important delivery even you are not at home.

Remote Access:

By bringing together garage door, front door and side entrance we can open or lock up remotely for example to let in a neighbor or a delivery man in through the door, without the need of going all the way to the doors, just by click of button on your Smartphone or any user interface.

Conclusion

Since last decade we have been hearing futuristic sounding predictions about smart homes, but now they have become an achievable reality. Smart home technologies are currently affordable only by high end homes only but in near future we will have it as standard features in each in every house. At present these technologies are vendor dependent but soon open standards will be available which will make it much easier for designers and manufacturers to design a system, which are cost effective, reliable and flexible. For now the maintenance charges are very high because all equipments are not largely available and not many companies manufacturing it so less services available. But in near future we will have zero maintenance, integrated solutions, and the technologies will be structured into modules and will be expandable. Increasingly, everyday appliances and objects are developed to act smart, opening up a world of new possibilities and further altering how we live our lives.