What Is a Smart Home?

Smart home (home automation) is based on the house, using integrated wiring technology, network communication technology, security technology, automatic control technology, audio and video technology to integrate facilities related to home life to build efficient residential facilities and homes The management system of schedule affairs improves the safety, convenience, comfort, and artistry of the home, and realizes the environmental protection and energy saving living environment ^[1] .

Smart home (home automation) is based on the house, using integrated wiring technology, network communication technology, security technology, automatic control technology, audio and video technology to integrate facilities related to home life to build efficient residential facilities and homes The management system of schedule affairs improves the safety, convenience, comfort, and artistry of the home, and realizes an environment-friendly and energy-saving living environment ^[1] .

Chinese name: Smart home
Foreign name: Smart Home
Technology: Integrated wiring technology, network communication technology.

Concept: Home automation, etc.
Features: Wireless connectivity and Getcom smart home
aims: Convenient for household appliances

Smart home development background

Smart home is the embodiment of the Internet of Things under the influence of the Internet. Smart home connects various devices in the home (such as audio and video equipment, lighting systems, curtain control, air conditioning control, security systems, digital cinema systems, audio and video servers, cabinet systems, network appliances, etc.) through the Internet of Things technology Home appliances control, lighting control, telephone remote control, indoor and outdoor remote control, burglar alarm, environmental monitoring, HVAC control, infrared forwarding, and programmable timing control and other functions and methods. Compared with ordinary homes, smart homes not only have traditional living functions, but also have construction, network communication, information appliances, and equipment automation, provide a full range of information interaction functions, and even save money for various energy costs ^[2] .

The concept of smart home originated very early, but no specific construction case appeared. Until 1984, United Technologies Building System applied the concept of information and integration of construction equipment to Hart, Connecticut The first "intelligent building" appeared only in CityPlaceBuilding in Hartford, which has opened the prelude to the scramble to build smart homes around the world ^[2] .

Basic classification of smart home

Smart home home automation

Home automation refers to the use of micro-processing electronics technology to integrate or control electrical and electronic products or systems in the home, such as: lamps, coffee makers, computer equipment, security systems, heating and cooling systems, video and audio systems, etc. The home automation system mainly uses a central microprocessor to receive information from related electronic and electrical products (changes in external environmental factors, such as changes in light caused by the rising sun or the west setting, etc.), and then sends appropriate information in a predetermined procedure Information to other electrical and electronic products. The central microprocessor must control electrical appliances in the home through many interfaces. These interfaces can be keyboards, touch screens, buttons, computers, telephones, remote controls, etc .; consumers can send signals to the central microprocessor. Or receive signals from a central microprocessor ^[3] .

Home automation is an important system of smart home. When smart home first appeared, home automation was even equivalent to smart home. It is still one of the cores of smart home. / The maturity of information appliances, many product functions of home automation will be integrated into these new products, so that pure home automation products are becoming less and less in system design, and its core position will also be replaced by home network / home information system . It will play a role in the smart home as a control network part of the home network ^[3] .

Smart Home Home Network

First of all, this home network must be separated from the pure "home LAN". It refers to the network system that connects the PC in the home, various peripherals, and the Internet. It is only a component of the home network. A home network is a new technology that connects PCs, home appliances, security systems, lighting systems, and wide area networks within the home (expandable to neighbors, cells). The connection technologies currently used in home networks can be divided into two categories: "wired" and "wireless". The wired solution mainly includes: twisted pair or coaxial cable connection, telephone line connection, power line connection, etc .; the wireless solution mainly includes: infrared connection, radio connection, RF technology-based connection and PC-based wireless connection, etc. ^[4] .

Compared with the traditional office network, the home network adds many home application products and systems, such as home appliances and lighting systems, so the corresponding technical standards are also complicated ^[4] .

Smart Home Network Appliance

Network home appliances are new home appliances designed to improve the use of digital, network, and intelligent control technologies for common home appliances. Network appliances can be interconnected to form a home internal network, and at the same time this home network can be connected to the external Internet. It can be seen that the network appliance technology includes two levels: the first is the interconnection between appliances, that is, enabling different appliances to recognize each other and work together. The second level is to solve the communication between the home appliance network and the external network, so that the home appliance network in the home truly becomes an extension of the external network ^[5] .

To realize the interconnection and information exchange between home appliances, we need to solve: 1. Product models that describe the working characteristics of home appliances, so that data exchange has a specific meaning; 2. Network media for information transmission. In solving the difficulty of network media, the options are: power line, radio frequency, twisted pair, coaxial cable, infrared, and optical fiber. Network appliances that are considered feasible include network refrigerators, network air conditioners, network washing machines, network water heaters, network microwave ovens, and network cookers. The future direction of network appliances is also fully integrated into the home network ^[5] .

Smart Home Information Appliance

Information appliances should be a kind of low-cost, easy-to-use, practical, home appliances with PC main functions. An innovative product that combines computers, telecommunications, and electronic technologies with traditional appliances (including white goods: refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, and black appliances: televisions, video recorders, stereos, VCDs, DVDs, etc.) is a digital and network technology New household appliances designed for a deeper family life. Information appliances include PCs, set-top boxes, HPC, Super VCD, wireless data communications equipment, WEBTV, Internet phones, etc. All household appliances that can exchange information through a network system can Called information appliances. Audio, video and communication equipment are the main components of information appliances. On the other hand, on the basis of traditional home appliances, information technology is integrated into traditional home appliances to make them more powerful, simpler, more convenient and practical to use, and create a higher quality living environment for family life. For example, analog TV has developed into digital TV, VCD has become DVD, and refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, etc. will also become digital, networked, and intelligent information appliances ^[6] .

From a broad classification, information appliances actually include network appliances, but if defined from a narrow definition, we can do a simple classification: information appliances more refers to small household appliances with embedded processors (Personal) Information equipment. Its basic feature is that it is connected to the network (mainly the Internet) and has some specific functions. It can be a complete set of products or an auxiliary accessory. The network home appliance refers to a home appliance product with network operation function. This home appliance can be understood as an upgrade of our original ordinary home appliance products ^[6] .

Smart home technology features

Smart home networks continue to improve with the implementation of integrated technologies, communication technologies, interoperability and wiring standards. It involves the operation, management and integration of all intelligent furniture, equipment and systems within the home network ^[7] . Its technical characteristics are as follows:

1. Building a smart home platform system through a home gateway and its system software

The home gateway is the core part of the smart home LAN. It mainly completes the conversion and information sharing between various communication protocols in the home internal network, and the data exchange function with external communication networks. At the same time, the gateway is also responsible for the management and Control ^[8] .

2. Unified platform

Using computer technology, microelectronics technology, and communication technology, the home intelligent terminal integrates all the functions of home intelligence, so that the smart home is built on a unified platform. Firstly, the data exchange between the internal network of the home and the external network should be realized; secondly, it is necessary to ensure that the instructions transmitted through the network can be recognized as legitimate instructions, not illegal intrusion by "hackers". Therefore, the home intelligent terminal is not only a transportation hub for family information, but also a "protector" for information families. ^[9]

3 Interconnection with home appliances through external expansion modules

In order to achieve the centralized control and remote control functions of home appliances, the home intelligent gateway controls the home appliances or lighting equipment by means of external expansion modules in a wired or wireless manner according to a specific communication protocol ^[10] .

4 Application of embedded system

In the past, most of the home intelligent terminals were controlled by single-chip computers. With the increase of new functions and the enhancement of performance, the embedded operating system with network functions and the control software program of single-chip microcomputers with greatly enhanced processing capabilities have been adjusted accordingly to organically integrate them into a complete embedded system ^{[11 ]} .

Smart Home Development History

As a new industry, smart home is at a critical point of the introduction period and growth period, and the market consumption concept has not yet formed. However, with the further implementation of the smart home market promotion and popularization, it has cultivated consumer habits and consumption in the smart home market. The potential is bound to be huge and the industry has a bright future. The four stages of the development of smart homes in China are the germination stage, the pioneering stage, the wandering stage, and the integration and evolution stage ^[12] .

Smart home sprout

(1994-1999) This is the first stage of development of the smart home. The entire industry is still in a stage of familiar concepts and product awareness. At this time, there are no professional smart home manufacturers, only one or two in Shenzhen are engaged in the United States. X-10 smart home agent sales companies are engaged in import retail business, and their products are mostly sold to European and American users living in China ^[12] .

Pioneering period of smart home

(2000-2005) More than 50 smart home R & D and production enterprises have been established, mainly in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, Hangzhou, Xiamen and other places. The marketing and technical training system of smart home is gradually improved. At this stage, foreign smart home products have basically not entered the domestic market ^[12] .

Smart home wandering period

(2006-2010) Since 2005, due to the brutal growth and vicious competition of smart home companies in the previous stage, it has brought great negative impacts to the smart home industry: including over-exaggerating the functions of smart homes and actually failing to achieve this. Effect, the manufacturer only cares about the development of the agent, but ignores the training and support of the agent, which leads to the difficulty in operating the agent, and the unstable product leads to a high user complaint rate. Industry users and the media have begun to question the actual effect of smart homes. From the original advocacy, they have become cautious. The market sales have also slowed down in recent years, and even some regions have experienced a decline in sales. From 2005 to 2007, more than 20 smart home manufacturing companies withdrew from this market, and many local agents have switched to other industries. Many smart home companies that have persisted have also experienced the pain of downsizing in recent years. During this period, foreign smart home brands have secretly entered the Chinese market, while major foreign smart home brands active in the market entered the Chinese market during this period, such as Legrand, Honeywell, Schneider , Control4, etc. Some domestic surviving companies have gradually found their own development direction, such as Tianjin Ruilang, Qingdao Erhaus, Haier, Kedao, etc., using X10, Shenzhen Socote to do remote control of air conditioners, becoming industrial intelligent control manufacturers ^[12] .

The evolution of smart home fusion

(2011-2020) Since entering 2011, the market has clearly seen growth momentum, and the big industry background is that real estate is regulated. The increase in the volume of smart homes indicates that the smart home industry has entered an inflection point, from a hovering period to a new round of integration and evolution. The next three to five years, on the one hand, smart homes have entered a relatively rapid development stage, on the other hand, protocols and technical standards have started to actively communicate and merge, and the phenomenon of industry mergers and acquisitions has begun to emerge and even become mainstream.

The next five to ten years will be a very rapid development of the smart home industry, but it is also the most elusive period. Since residential homes have become the focus market for various industries, smart home as a supporting platform has become the first target for all parties to compete. . But no matter how it develops, there will be many smart home companies with annual sales of tens of billions in China at this stage ^[12] .

Smart home outbreak

(After 2020) Major manufacturers have begun to deploy smart homes intensively. Although the industry has not been particularly successful and is particularly representative of the entire industry, this indicates that the development of the industry is still in the exploration stage, but more and more The beginning of the involvement and participation of manufacturers has made the outside world aware that the future of smart homes is irreversible. How smart home companies develop their own advantages and the integration of resources in other areas has become a "steady" factor for enterprises and even the industry ^[12] .

Smart home design principles

Measuring the success of a smart home system depends not only on the number of intelligent systems, the advancedness or integration of the system, but on whether the design and configuration of the system is economical and reasonable and the system can run successfully. The use of the system Whether management and maintenance are convenient, and whether the technology of the system or product is mature and applicable. In other words, it is how to use the least investment and the easiest way to achieve the maximum efficiency and achieve a convenient and high-quality life ^[13] . In order to achieve the above goals, the following principles should be followed when designing a smart home system:

Practical and convenient smart home

The most basic goal of smart home is to provide people with a comfortable, safe, convenient and efficient living environment. For smart home products, the most important thing is to use practicality as the core, abandon those flashy functions that can only be used as furnishings, and the products are mainly practical, easy to use, and humanized ^[14] .

When designing a smart home system, you should integrate the following most practical and basic home control functions according to the user's needs for smart home functions: including smart home appliance control, smart light control, electric curtain control, anti-theft alarm, access control intercom, and gas leakage Etc. At the same time, it can also expand the value-added functions of services such as three-table CC and video on demand. There are a variety of control methods for many personalized smart homes, such as: local control, remote control, centralized control, mobile phone remote control, induction control, network control, timing control, etc., which is intended to free people from tedious tasks and improve Efficiency, if the operation process and program settings are too tedious, it is easy for users to have a psychological rejection. Therefore, when designing a smart home, we must fully consider the user experience, pay attention to the convenience and intuitiveness of the operation, and it is best to use a graphical control interface to allow the operation what you see is what you get ^[14] .

Smart home standard

The design of smart home system solutions should be carried out in accordance with relevant national and regional standards to ensure the scalability and expandability of the system. The standard TCP / IP protocol network technology is used in the system transmission to ensure that the systems of different manufacturers can be compatible and interconnected. . The front-end equipment of the system is a multifunctional, open, and extensible device. For example, the system host, terminal and module adopt standardized interface design to provide an integrated platform for external manufacturers of home intelligent systems, and its functions can be expanded. When additional functions are needed, there is no need to dig a pipe network, which is simple, reliable, convenient and economical. The selected systems and products are designed to enable this system to interconnect with third-party controlled devices that are constantly developing in the future ^[15] .

Smart home convenience

A significant feature of home intelligence is that the workload of installation, commissioning, and maintenance is very large, requiring a large amount of human and material input, which has become a bottleneck restricting the development of the industry. In view of this problem, when designing the system, the convenience of installation and maintenance should be considered, for example, the system can be remotely debugged and maintained through the Internet. Through the network, not only enables residents to realize the control function of the home intelligent system, but also allows engineers to remotely check the system's working conditions and diagnose system failures. In this way, system settings and version updates can be performed in different locations, which greatly facilitates the application and maintenance of the system, improves response speed, and reduces maintenance costs ^[15] .

Smart home lightweight

The "lightweight" smart home product, as the name suggests, is a lightweight smart home system. "Simple", "practical", and "dexterous" are its main characteristics and the biggest difference from traditional smart home systems. Therefore, we generally refer to smart home products that require no construction and deployment, can be freely matched and combined with functions, and are relatively inexpensive and can be directly sold to end consumers ^[16] .

Problems with smart home

(1) Develop standards for smart homes. The contention for standards is essentially a contention for the market. Many years ago, developed countries had the concept and standard of smart home. At that time, standards were focused on security. With the development of communication technology and network technology, the traditional construction industry and IT industry have deepened Integration, the concept of smart home can really develop. China's living environment is different from developed countries. China's smart community concept and its implementation standards have strong Chinese characteristics. After joining the WTO, China's industry management is in line with international standards. Taking industry associations as the leader to promote the standardization process, strengthening industry management will be the focus of the future ^[17] .

(2) Product standardization-the only way for industry development.

At present, there are many home intelligent control system products in China. It is estimated that there are hundreds of varieties, small companies ranging from three to five people, and state-owned enterprises with thousands of people involved in the development and production of intelligent home products. As a result, China has produced hundreds of mutually incompatible standards. To date, there is no home intelligent control system product that can occupy 10% of the domestic market. As market competition intensifies, most small and medium-sized enterprises will be forced to withdraw from this market, but the products they have installed in the districts will have no spare parts available for repair. Of course, the victims are owners or users. This will be a very scary scenario. It can be seen that advancing the standardization process is the only way for the intelligent industry, and it is also a top priority ^[17] .

(3) Personalization-the life of the home intelligent control system.

In the mode of public life, home life is the most personal. You cannot use a standard program to agree on your family life, but you can only adapt to it. This determines that personalization is the life of the home intelligent control system ^[17] .

(4) Home appliances-the development direction of home intelligent control systems.

Some home intelligent control products have become home appliances, and some are becoming home appliances. The "network appliances" launched by IT manufacturers and home appliance manufacturers are the products of the combination of network and home appliances ^[17] .

Smart home development trends

Smart home environmental control and safety specifications

The purpose of the construction of the smart home itself is to provide people with a safe and comfortable living environment, but because the current smart home system shows many deficiencies in this aspect, because the development of the future smart home will certainly carry out perfection work in this area, And this concept runs through various systems in home life, such as audio and video equipment, temperature control, safety control, etc. In this regard, it is also necessary to complete the tasks of remote and centralized control in parallel to ensure that the entire home life reflects a more humane character. ^[18] .

Application of new technologies and new fields in smart home

In order to adapt to the current development situation of smart home in the future, it will inevitably merge with new technologies that have not been combined with it. The development of new communication technologies such as IPv6 will play an important role in promoting the development of smart home control. It will trigger a new trend in the development of the IT industry. In addition, after the smart home system has been improved, it can be applied in a commercial atmosphere, thereby expanding its application scope. This situation will make the smart home market appear. Large-scale expansion ^[18] .

Combining smart home and smart grid

In China, the construction of smart grids has its fundamental needs. It will provide services for various intelligent facilities throughout the house. In the process of servicing electricity, it can also penetrate the smart home network. Users using smart grids If he is also enjoying the services of smart home at the same time, his demand is that he can establish an effective close communication between the two, be able to coordinate the various information of the combination of smart home and smart grid, and then carry out practical and effective Management ^[18] .