| Wireless home automation wakes up |
Mar. 17, 2008
 ZigBee and other wireless home automation technologies have zigged and zagged in recent years as they've struggled to achieve success, but the future appears more straightforward, says an ABI Research study. Standard-based technologies such as ZigBee and Z-Wave are removing past market constraints, according to ABI.
(Click for larger view of Crestron's Windows XP Embedded-based TMPC-8L home automation panel)
Four years ago, ABI predicted huge success for the leading wireless home automation standard, ZigBee, calling the low-cost, mesh-based, low-bandwidth technology a "sleeping giant." The market has yet to awaken, however. The obstacles to success, says ABI, have included the expense of luxury custom-installed systems, and the unreliability of low-end DIY products using older technologies, such as powerline-based X10 set-ups.
According to ABI, two trends are sparking renewed interest in the technologies: reduced prices, and the debut of managed services offered by broadband and telco service providers.
Home automation vendors such as Crestron and AMX have been offering systems that cost over $60,000, says ABI. Crestron has employed Windows XP Embedded for some of its components, such as the TMPC-8L pictured above. This device features Windows XP Embedded, a fingerprint reader, and "everything needed to access most types of digital media ... while controlling your home or boardroom," according to Crestron.
Another Windows user in the home automation market is Lagotek. Founded by four former Microsoft employees, the company used Windows CE as long ago as 2006 to build a wireless home automation system that sold for about $10,000, an unusually low price at that time.
Now, says ABI, industry-wide prices are falling down to that level, in part due to lower pricing from companies using low- or no-cost operating systems such as embedded Linux. One such company, Control4, offers a ZigBee- and Linux-based home automation system and software development kit (SDK).
At the ultra-low end, Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP, or Vista are often the choice because of their familiarity to consumers. A recent case in point would be NEC's Lui, a Windows Vista-based system that is designed to work with both Windows CE and Windows XP client devices.
The second trend, managed services systems, refers to the arrival of automation systems that are remotely controlled by broadband providers. These systems often integrate home security and webcam monitoring as part of the home automation solution, says ABI. The research group mentions turnkey products for managed services from vendors such as 4HomeMedia, iControl Networks, Portus, uControl, and Xanboo.
More about ZigBee
ZigBee itself played a role in reducing the costs of the systems, says ABI's senior analyst Sam Lucero. Rival technologies such as Z-Wave have also made it possible to build lower cost systems that are more reliable and feature-rich than X10-based automation sytems. "The introduction of ZigBee, Z-Wave, and similar standards-based technologies has led to new systems for mainstream consumers," stated Lucero.
ZigBee is a low-duty wireless networking protocol designed for applications such as lighting controls, telemetry, security, and sensor networks for both home and commercial/industrial settings. It provides significantly lower data rates than other wireless standards such as WiFi, Bluetooth, or even GPRS/GSM, but, according to the ZigBee Alliance, a trade association formed to promote the standard, it also uses much less power. Recent ZigBee-compatible products include the Advantech UbiQ-350, a Windows CE-based device said to be the world's first to include both ZigBee and WiFi interfaces.
The slow market penetration of ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) may in part be due to competition and consumer confusion caused by a newer mesh-network technology called Z-Wave, which is being pushed by Zensys. The Z-Wave Alliance, which now boasts over 70 members, claims that because Z-Wave uses the 900MHz ISM frequency instead of ZigBee's more crowded 2.4GHz band, it offers less radio interference and lower power consumption. Z-Wave can be found in a variety of embedded Windows-based devices, such as ViewSonic's wireless tablet.
Stated Lucero, "Telcos and broadband service providers are uniquely positioned to roll managed home automation and monitoring services out on a large scale."
Availability
More details about the ABI study, "Home Automation and Security" may be available here.
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