Abstract—Smart home is a prime research interest among researchers around the globe due to the fact that it offers ample features to make people’s life effortless and efficient.
People can lead their life smartly through the use of smart home technology [17]. There are numerous communication systems in both wired and wireless media exist that are used in smart home technology. However, not a single communication system itself can satisfy all the demands of secure, comfort and intelligent smart home system. Wireless communication is flexible, requires negligible number of instruments, cheap and easy to install but the key concerning issue for wireless communication system in smart home technology is the slow data rate. In contrast, wired communication provides better performance through the provision of higher data rate and uninterrupted connectivity; however, consumers have to pay substantial amount of payment for smart home services [3].
Therefore, it is essential for researchers to analyze both wired and wireless communication system in terms of data rate and area of coverage in order to find out the right communication system for right feature of smart home system. In this paper, authors reviewed and analyzed both wired and wireless communication methods that are commonly used in smart home technology. It can be seen after careful analysis that for majority of the services of smart home system can get better result through the use of wireless communication system even though wired communication system offers better data rate and greater coverage.
Index Terms—Data Rate, Smart Home, Wired Communication, Wireless Communication.
I. INTRODUCTION
A Smart Home is an automation system which can be accessed remotely [1]. All appliances and electrical and electronic components of the home can be monitored and controlled by smart home technology. In general, homes are controlled in conventional way as such when inhabitants are out of the house they are unaware about the status of household devices. Therefore, controlling and monitoring of smart home appliances cannot be possible in absence of inhabitants. The key criteria for establishing smart home is to make people life easy and secure and these requirements can be fulfilled by the implementation of power efficiency gain, eco-friendliness, ideal home management, safety and security assurance and artificial intelligence [4].
Published on May 21, 2020.
M. R. Ahmed, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
(e-mail: razu17 iiuc.ac.bd).
M. O. Rahman, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
(e-mail: osiur_rahman yahoo.com).
M. J. Hoque, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
(e-mail: jia99cse yahoo.com).
Smart Home Technology has some cabbalistic aspects, which can be divided into several parts such as new powerful features integration, instruction methods, communication systems between the device to device or device to the internet, security improvement, artificial intelligence, and development of the mobile application etc [7].
A. Background
One of the most important elements of smart home is the central hardware unit that control rest of the appliances using available information and command. It is programmable and connected to the user instruction method.
Most researchers have proposed to develop the unit by using
“Arduino” Microcontroller as it has well resource in the different online platforms and easy to provide instruction.
Many projects on the smart home have been done by using the processor. It enables us to communicate via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LAN, sensors and so on [4][5][10].
Smart Home technology gives the facility to access the home appliance remotely, and inhabitants can take immediate steps in an emergency [1][8]. Adjusting the home weather with the outside environment can be controlled by smart home technology. The room light is automatically on at evening or windows shutter is open in the morning sunlight. If any unwanted gas leakage is detected, an alarm is on and a notification will send to house inhabitant's mobile as well as to the nearest fire station.
Power management can be observed and taking the decision efficiently. A home user can minimize power consumption easily by implementing Artificial intelligence that will operate the system by using previous user information [9].
Adjustment of the home environment with the outside is essential to keep inhabitants healthy. The sensors of the smart home collect the information about the outside environment and users get the update through their mobile application [3]. So, air, temperature and other associated weather can be moderated correctly.
Voice recognition input method helps to control the home system remotely from a near distance, such as user works in a room, but the light of other rooms should be turned off [4].
In such situation, the user calls the smart home system and command to off the light, and then it works accordingly. All appliances can be operated in the same way as well.
Smart Home Technology alleviates physical interaction with the home appliance. Because of that, accidents related to electricity can be reduced drastically as negligible electrical set up is required for implementing smart home [12].
Non-inhabitants identify it is one of the most challenging issues for smart home technology, and it is directly related
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Smart Home: An Empirical Analysis of Communication Technological Challenges
Md. Razu Ahmed, Mohammad Osiur Rahman, and Md. Jiabul Hoque
to the success of smart home technology in terms of security [19]. The security system of the smart home can provide the facility. House inhabitants monitor the house by using CCTV and control the door lock system remotely. Artificial intelligence identifies the presence of non-inhabitants.
Moreover, in order to automate the system, artificial intelligence can be integrated with smart home technology for example, in case of emergency (i.e. fire) when operation must be taken but inhabitant is unable to send a command, smart home system must take the right decision with the help of artificial intelligence in case of such emergency.
Artificial Intelligence offers so many functions such as Device Management, Energy Management, Intelligent Interaction, Healthcare, Security and Others for successful implementation of smart home [24].
B. Communication System and Smart Home
Communication is also an important aspect of Smart Home Technology. Device to device or device to user communication can be happened both in a wired or wireless communication system. Wired communication systems are preferable for robust bandwidth and sustainability [1].
Optical Fiber, Power Line Communication, Ethernet, HomePNA, LoRaWAN are wired communication that are frequently used in smart home system. However, those are not cost-friendly and the installation process is not easy and quick [16]. On the other hand, some prefer wireless communication system in smart home due to the easy installation process and cost effectiveness. Wireless Mobile Communication (5G), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, GSM, WiMax, LTE are the candidates for wireless technology.
ZigBee is a low coverage wireless system; it consumes less power than other wireless technologies [2][6]. But the data rate is very poor in ZigBee and it needs a new set up to communicate the devices [11]. Bluetooth uses the unlicensed frequency band and it covers the house area. But the range of Bluetooth is limited and remote access can’t possible by it [1]. In Bluetooth technology, the security issue is a most concerning issue, even though, it doesn’t operate remotely. On the other hand, GSM provides the opportunity of accessing the home remotely, however, the time delay is more than others [1]. It takes a low data rate, and able to pass data in a harsh environment. 5G will be coming with a huge opportunity in smart home technology. It will offer a high data rate, so homes will able to communicate in real time. Home to home communication is an important issue in smart home technology. It ensures the home safety and security more. H2H communication can be done in two methods as centralized or distributed. Centralized communication with proper clustering is better than distributed [13].
A sensor-based communication system in a smart home has been proposed in [15], where ZigBee is the main communication scheme to reduce power consumption. But the communication system has coverage and data rate limitations [22]. Wi-Fi can play a big role to connect the sensors. The sensors send the random data to the smart home controlling within a short duration. Sensors will apply for every scheme in a smart home such as measuring environment situation, energy management, healthcare, home security and so more. The applications of all possible
sensors for smart home have been described in [2]. Some real projects have already been done on this purpose. Elder people healthcare has been noticed in [14]. In this paper, researchers have proposed ZigBee based wireless sensor network which will provide the inhabitants' health measuring by sensors. It will also monitor the environment and influence to take proper in this regard. The collecting data from the sensor will be sent to the central database which will take notify the user or take a decision as previous instruction in terms of user absence [13].
C. Networking and Smart Home
Networking and Data Security are the most concerning issues in Smart Home Technology because all smart homes will connect with the smart city. Various technologies are related to smart city communication networks such as smart grid, UAV, IoT, smart water system [18]. An efficient network model is proposed in [21]. To establish a redundant network, various types of network topologies have been proposed and HAN, NAN, WAN, WSN, BAN, WLAN are those [3]. Home Area Network (HAN) is for home connectivity and Neighboring Area Network (NAN) is for connecting smart homes in the smart city network [20].
NAN will connect with the City Area Network (CAN). The CAN will act as a regulator of the networking system.
Encryption methods and security protocols can be developed to secure user’s home data. To secure smart home data, security management should be improved. Sicher firewall is proposed to use as a data security protocol [2]. It saves the smart home systems from an unwanted person by giving a warning. Data can be secured by using a dual-layer encryption method where RSA and AES algorithms are included [7]. The double-layer encryption method has some features which make the protection system strong such as giving notification about normal and emergency events, inhabitants or non-inhabitants priority, opening door with secured QR code [7].
D. Smart Grid and Smart Home
Smart Grid concept is closely related to smart home technology. Because the smart grid contains energy management for all users and users also contribute renewable energy to the grid system [10]. Energy management in the smart home has some features such as smart metering, smart plug technology, and information sharing among NANO Grid users, energy currency, energy sharing and so more [23]. Smart Meter is one of the key elements of the smart grid system. It collects the energy consumption data of the appliance and the information is provided from smart plug [3][12]. To maintain the smart grid information system, the Game theory has been proposed in [12] for smart grid communication.
E. Cloud Computing and Smart Home
Cloud computing is a new trend in data storage technology. Basically, six types of computing systems are available as Main Farm Computing, PC Computing, Network Computing, Internet Computing, Grid Computing, Cloud Computing and most of them are the offline basis.
Nowadays, users are mostly interested to access data remotely. For that reason, cloud computing has been becoming popular among all. Smart home technology will
become IoT based [4][6] and cloud computing is a part of IoT. Because a vast amount of data will need to store and the user will access the service within a short time. In this regard, cloud computing is very responsible to fulfill the users' demand. However, Fog computing has been also demanding in recent years. It can also define as a sub-cell of cloud storage. When cloud storage will have more data then it will transfer some of the data to fog to release load [26].
In the Fog computing method, the users or devices can’t send the data to the cloud directly. The data send to fog storage and the Cloud monitors the data and its security.
F. Command Methods and Smart Home
Inserting command in the smart home has variety.
Android-based application is most preferable command method because it provides a user interface, everybody can use by taking permission from inhabitants, remote access facility [23]. However, the security issue is a threat to mobile applications such as losing devices, hacking possibilities. Network disrupting is another problem to provide a command. Another flexible command method of smart home technology is voice. People don’t need to take the hassle of any extra parts with him at home [25]. The technology uses the human voice as input then converts into a digital signal which acts as instructions in a smart home device [5]. But voice recognition is not compatible with all, especially for speech-impaired people. On the other hand, this technology isn’t developed as expected in terms of recognizing all types of vocal or language accent. The motion sensor is another input command method in a smart home, but it should be developed more.
Smart Home Technology incorporate various relevant technologies discussed above, so the development of an ideal smart home requires extensive research on which technology or technologies best suited for particular service offered by smart home. There are a plethora of chances to implement more features of IoT in a smart home. On the other hand, the communication system has not been fixed and still researching to find out the best one. In this paper, an overview of both wired and wireless communication systems is reviewed. Rest of the paper is formatted as section II gives a description of all possible communication system, section III shows a comparative analysis of the communication systems, and the last section IV is the conclusion.
II. WIRED AND WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES FOR SMART HOME
A good number of communication technologies are a candidate as a communication method in a smart home system. These are basically categorized into two parts, such as wired communication and wireless communication [2].
Nowadays, wireless communication is more popular because of its handy and mobility features. On the other hand, wired communication has the bulk infrastructure, but it is more reliable and secure than wired communication.
In the next portion, a brief discussion about different communication systems and a comparative analysis of them are discussed.
A. Wired Communication System 1) IEEE 802.3 Ethernet
IEEE 802.3 Ethernet is a local area network (LAN) protocol. It contains the data rates from 10Mbps to 100Gbps [2]. The schedule of the progress in the data rate of Ethernet is up to Gbps within 2021. Ethernet is a method of packet- based physical communication in a local area network. The coverage area of 802.3 standards is maximum 100m. Packet dropping is very less in Ethernet, so a reliable transmission is ensured. But the distance limitations are remarkable.
Ethernet is actually comfortable for computer networking.
2) ITU-TG.hn
ITU-TG.hn is also a wired communication system which was developed by the International Telecommunication Union. It is a home area network which has two layers as physical layer 1 and link-layer 2 [2]. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is used in G.hn with a 128-bit key length.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation has been used in the networking system. The data rate of ITU-T G.hn is up to 1 Gbps theoretically.
3) Power Line Communication
Power Line Communication (PLC) is a wired communication system which passes the internet through the conventional electrical wire. Medium and low voltage electric line can be a carrier of PLC signal. High voltage electrical line has robust noise so that the PLC signal can't propagate properly. The signal coverage area of PLC is 300m, and after the distance, the signal should be boated.
PLC technology was started from 1905, and Home plug AV 2 is upgrade phenomena of PLC. Data speed in Home Plug AV2 is up to 500 Mbps theoretically. The Home Plug AV2 technology is operated in 30-86 MHz frequency [17]. AT&T declared that they would serve gigabit-speed via PLC within2020.
4) HomePNA
HomePNA is another wired communication system. This is mostly similar to Power Line Communication, but the medium of the system is telephone wiring or coaxial cable so, any extra cabling does not require making the networking infrastructure [2]. It is effective for connecting IPTV with the internet because of the good quality of service can be provided. The data rate of HomePNA is almost 250Mbps, and coverage area is almost 300m [2].
5) MoCA
The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) is a home networking standard which is used for IPTV. Data rate over MoCA is almost 1 Gbps, and reliability is very high [7].
Operating frequency of the scheme is 50 or 100MHz and the channel located at the spectrum of 775-1525MHz or 475- 1675MHz. MoCA is compatible with a wireless connection.
So, IoT can interact with the smart TV via the communication system [2].
B. Wireless Communication System 1) Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is the most popular communication system in the wireless section because it's easy to access. The communication scheme operates at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and serves almost 600 Mbps data speed [18]. The main
limitation of Wi-Fi is the range of coverage area. The last update of Wi-Fi is IEEE 802.11n which has highest 50m coverage area [19].
2) ZigBee
ZigBee is a wireless private home networking system.
Operating frequency of ZigBee is also 2.4 GHz, and Bandwidth is up to 250 Kbps [5]. The popular ISM band in Wi-Fi and ZigBee can be made interference in the same home. The wireless technology is based on the IEEE802.15.4 standard [2]. ZigBee is prominent for its long-term battery life that is up to ten years. The 2.4GHz ISM band is divided into ten channels with 915 MHz each [5]. The communication system is organized by three major components, such as Co- Coordinator, Router, and End Device. End device refers to the appliance of the home, which delivers information to the nearest router. Co- Coordinator has the duty to coordinate the information.
3) IEEE 802.15.3a
IEEE 802.15.3a is known as Ultra-Wide Band. A large amount of bandwidth from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz is allocated for ultra-wideband. Multi-Band OFDM modulation technique is used in this communication to serve more channels for different user [17]. The data transmission rate of UWB is depended on distance such as 110 Mbps speed has been achieved in 10 meters, 220 Mbps in 4-meter area and 480 Mbps speed near to 1 meter [17].
4) Bluetooth
Bluetooth maintains a personal area network and stands on the IEEE 802.15.1 standard [2]. Bandwidth flexibility is provided in this scheme, but the data rate is poor so that it is practically impossible to manage the communication among all the appliances in a smart home using only Bluetooth technology [1]. Bluetooth is operated in ISM band 2.4- 2.4835 GHz. The main limitation of Bluetooth is coverage range which is up to 100 meter which is practically less remarkably. Bluetooth 4.0 can serve up to 25 Mbps data rate; in another direction, Wi-Fi has already provided 250 Mbps data speed theoretically [26].
III. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR SMART HOME
A summary of all compatible Communication Systems for Smart Home Technologies is shown in the following Table I and Table II. It can be seen from those tables that data speed of wired communication is 2 to 5 times better than wireless communication technologies. Ethernet, ITU-T G hn, and MoCA can serve about 1 Gbps data speed. Even though this data speed is very suitable for smart home, the cost incorporated to implement this technology is relatively higher than wireless technology as well as this technology is bulky for home. In contrast, in wireless communication, it can be seen that Wi-Fi serves almost 600 Mbps which is prominent for smart home with less cost and fewer instruments to implement. However, data reliability can be compromised with the change of environment.
TABLEI:COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPATIBLE WIRED COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR SMART HOME
Technology Operating Frequency Data Rate Coverage (m) ITU-T G hn
Co-axial 195.31KHz
1 Gbps N/A [2]
Phone line 46.82KHz Power line 24.41KHz
PLC 30 – 86 MHz 500 Mbps 300 [17]
HomePNA 9.5 MHz 250 Mbps 300 [2]
MoCA 775 – 1525 MHz 1 Gbps 300 [26]
Ethernet 250 MHz 1 Gbps 100 [2]
TABLEII:COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPATIBLE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR SMART HOME
Technology Operating Frequency Data Rate Coverage (m)
Wi-Fi 2.4 – 5 GHz 600 Mbps 50[2]
ZigBee 2.4 GHz 250 Mbps 100 [5]
IEEE 802.15.3a 3.1 – 10.6 GHz 480 Mbps 4 [27]
Bluetooth 2.4 – 2.4855 GHz 25 Mbps 100 [14]
The following figures depict the comparative analysis of various wired and wireless communication system in term of data rate and coverage area.
Fig. 1. Comparative analysis of various communication technologies in terms of data rate
Fig. 2. Comparative analysis of various communication technologies in terms of coverage area
IV. CONCLUSION
By using the smart home technology, people can make life easier, dynamic and disciplined. It offers efficiency in daily works. On the other hand, home can be saved from unexpected situation such as presence of non-inhabitants, fire or gas explosion etc. In this paper, In order to develop an ideal smart home, smart home related technologies such as IoT, Cloud Computing, wired and wireless communication technologies, and smart grid technology etc have been discussed. The authors also discussed and analyzed various wired and wireless communication technologies that are extensively used in smart home. It has been observed that majority of the services of smart home system can get better result through the use of wireless
communication system even though wired communication system offers better data rate and greater coverage. Finally, authors suggested that a combination of both wired and wireless communication technology should be used for different services of smart home in order to get best performance in terms of data rate and coverage area.
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