Home Automation stands currently at a crossroads of rapidly emerging technologies such as internet, mobile communication and transformation of renewable energy. All these technologies have in recent years continually improved and become a standard in the households.
The development of these technologies is mainly related to the following aspects of smart home:
Until now, home automation primarily concentrated on installing a remote power management for electrical outlets or lighting through install a wired or IR (infrared) control within the apartment. The used infrastructure has been slow, insecure and expensive. Also during the construction or reconstruction it was necessary to design a system in advance.
The rapid development in mobile communications meant for home automation creation of entirely new options, flexibility and prices. Wireless technologies such as 3G, 4G, WiFi and wireless communication interfaces such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Wifi moved this field forward significantly. Instead of simple controlling on/off status the new functionalities have opened up like data communication between controlled devices, intelligent networking in case of a power or signal loss during transmission.
A significant development was achieved in the graphical user interface (GUI). The time of smartphones and tablets finally brought universal control device. The revolution in operating systems and the deployment options of many applications knocked out stationary solutions dedicated control panels and control units. It’s possible very easily to upgrade and update all applications. Application developers and companies involved in this field were given the opportunity to expand possibilities in the areas of power management, the security that is related not only to protection of property but also people moving in the area monitored by sensors (i.e. assisted living or elderly care).
Home automation or smart home system can be divided into following main areas:
Smart Home Entertainment includes control devices and applications for audio and video devices such as TV, set-top boxes, DVD players for multimedia content (DVD, BluRay), game consoles as well as digital cameras or home data storage.
Smart Home Computing includes mainly communication devices, such as smartphones, tablets and PCs, which enable within the home to share and stream data, the most common photo, music or video. These devices are applied also in the next field.
Smart Home Monitoring and Control is segment including in particular the smart metering and home automation systems, supervising and controlling the house lighting, heating or cooling and also safety. The most popular functionalities currently in use are from the safety area. It covers installing CCTV cameras, door lock control, together with lighting and control room temperature.
Smart Home Health covers mainly the area of assisted living, which addresses issues of patient care or the elderly, or children in domestic conditions, by monitoring vital functions, detection and ensuring of the comfortable communications with related parties in emergency or routine situations.
The evolution of the smart home with respect to each area is shown in the following figure (Fig. 1.1). The trend is to provide universal access point to the user that also can connect all devices and also play the role of controller [1].