1. “Smart Home”: The future of living The Future of Smart Homes
Danny Levons Stephen Vickers-Griffiths James Haralambides PhD
Introduction
Materials & Methods
When we hear the term “smart home” most people immediately think about the Jetsons. The “smart home” concept can be traced to the early 1980s and that, more generally, of a technologically-enhanced “home of the future” much farther back in time. Alongside the evolution of these unrealistic domestic visions, our understandings of ourselves as inhabitants of such futuristic, “smart” homes – and of technology’s role in our lives – has changed over time as well. Smart home is a house that uses information technology to monitor the environment, control the electric appliance and communicates with the outer world. Smart home is a complex technology, at the same time it is still under major development. A majority of smart home systems are based on embedded systems that can easily act as a security guard of the home. The system can monitor the temperature, humidity, gas density, water immersion of the house and have infrared sensor that guarantees the family security. The system also has network and telephone connection to receive the owner's command and send the alert to the owner. The whole system includes a main control unit and input/output unit. Main system controls are accessed via local area touch screen interfaces or remotely through any PC/MAC computer. The input unit includes many sensors and its circuit, the information from the input unit is a base of the main control unit. The output is the action part of the main control unit it drives the alert and the switch of the electric appliance. Smart home systems are embedded with authentication and verification mechanisms that provide secure end-to-end processing. The system is scalable through a flexible architecture that easily expands the portfolio of devices to be monitored and controlled. Smart home systems are emerging rapidly as an exciting new paradigm including ubiquitous, grid, and peer-to-peer computing to provide computing and communication services anytime and anywhere. But in order to realize their advantages, it requires extreme security measures in order for families to remain safe within their homes.
The cutting edge of smart home technology lies within Radio Frequency signals (RF). Here are a few of the common RF technologies that are used to make smart homes a reality.
INSTEON is designed to enable simple devices to be networked together using the power line and/or radio frequency (RF). All INSTEON devices are peers, meaning each device can transmit, receive, and repeat any message of the INSTEON protocol, without requiring a master controller or complex routing software
Wi-Fi is used most commonly in home networks, Wi-Fi can provide public access at Wi-Fi hotspots provided either free of charge or to subscribers to various commercial services.
ZigBee is a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on the IEEE standard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), such as wireless headphones connecting with cell phones via short-range radio.
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances (using short length radio waves) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs).
Smart homes are equipped with sensors, actuators, and/or biomedical monitors. The devices operate in a network connected to a remote centre for data collection and processing. The remote centre diagnoses the ongoing situation and initiates assistance procedures as required. These devices and technologies will continue to blossom from where modern society portrays it to be now. Here are a few more examples of cool smart home tricks:
Light a path for nighttime bathroom trips
Instantly create mood lighting for time with that special someone
Program your television so that your children can watch only at certain times
Access all your favorite DVDs from any television in the home
Have your thermostat start warming the bedroom before you get out of bed so that it's nice and toasty when you get up
Turn on the coffee maker from bed 
Methods (TECHNICAL)
There are three ways of being connected with VoIP technology services commonly used today:
Centralized Architecture: a centralized controller receives information of multiple sensors and, once processed, generates the opportune orders for the actuators.
Distributed Architecture: all the intelligence of the system is distributed by all the modules that are sensors or actuators. Usually it is typical of the systems of wiring in bus.
Mixed Architecture: systems with decentralized architecture as far as which they have several small devices able to acquire and to process the information of multiple sensors and to transmit them to the rest of devices distributed by the house.
Rationale
Smart homes connect all the devices and appliances in your home so they can communicate with each other and with you
Discussion
Smart homes obviously have the ability to make life easier and more convenient. Who wouldn't love being able to control lighting, entertainment and temperature from their couch? Home networking can also provide peace of mind. Whether you're at work or on vacation, the smart home will alert you to what's going on, and security systems can be built to provide an immense amount of help in an emergency. For example, not only would a resident be woken with notification of a fire alarm, the smart home would also unlock doors, dial the fire department and light the path to safety.
References
The Future of Smart Homes
Conclusion
In an ageing world, maintaining good health and independence for as long as possible is essential. Instead of hospitalization or institutionalization, the elderly and disabled can be assisted in their own environment 24h a day with numerous ‘smart’ devices. The concept of the smart home is a promising and cost-effective ways of improving home care for the elderly and the disabled in a non-obtrusive way, allowing greater independence, maintaining good health and preventing social isolation.
Smart Homes are a reality and most definitely have a chance of becoming a mass phenomenon. The necessary technologies are becoming of age and available on the market.