State Of The Art Smart health homes

In this article we present a review of the state of the art of smart health homes.

THE DOMESTIC NETWORK

Within a home, the home network can be divided into four “subnets” among which are the electrical, health smart home, multimedia and communication networks. It should be noted that this home network is here simplified and concentrated on the “electrical and electronic technological part of this network”. Indeed, to be truly exhaustive, this domestic network also includes the water network, the heating network, air circulation network, waste network etc. The electrical and communication networks are interconnected with the operators’ distribution infrastructure.

Figure 3 – Description of a home network

 ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

An essential installation for the proper functioning of a home, it is on the one hand the external infrastructure for the electrical supply of the home but also the internal electrical wiring of all the parts grouped together on the electrical panel.

In this internal electrical network, we find both the power circuit (that is to say the power supply to the installation) and the control circuit (switches, dimmers, etc.). To summarize, the link between the switches and the circuits to be controlled is wired once and for all in the walls, with no possibility of evolution (unless work is started).

This type of installation is perfectly mastered by electricians.

THE COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE

This is the communication infrastructure that will “connect” the home with the outside world, so this includes both access to telephony (fixed and mobile) and access to broadband Internet.

 THE BROADBAND NETWORK

When ADSL (2Mbit / s, 256Kbit / s) is available, it is currently the best compromise compared to low speed PSTN (56Kbit / s, 33.6Kbit / s) or Numeris (128Kbit / s, 128Kbit / s) and those by cable (2Mbit / s, 256Kbit / s) or satellite (512Kbit / s, 128Kbit / s).

ADSL is available in three different versions depending on the location of the accommodation (ADSL, Re-ADSL and ADSL2 +). With unbundling, it is possible to turn to the ISP of your choice and benefit from ADSL offers combining Internet access, unlimited telephony and television over IP thanks to “ISP-Boxes”.

ADSL can only provide high speed to households near a telephone exchange. Optical fiber (or FTTH) overcomes this limitation and offers even higher data rates over long distances (around 100Mbits / s). This therefore opens the way to HD TV type services on one or more workstations, instant download (even on large files), remote health smart home supervision.

However, this type of infrastructure requires bringing fiber optics to the door of our homes, which requires huge investments on the part of operators and explains the rather slow deployment of this type of offer, however, 2019 and 2010 should be the real boom in this technology, which would pave the way for a multitude of new services.

The so-called 3rd generation (or 3G and 3G +) mobile telephony technologies allow access to the Internet from your mobile phone or laptop. At a time when many give up their fixed line in favor of a subscription to mobile telephony, these types of 3G / 3G + technologies are interesting solutions, alternatives to ADSL, to access the Internet, provided however covered by this type of network!

THE TELEPHONE NETWORK

The conventional telephone installation therefore relies on the wired connection of the accommodation to the operator’s network. We often talk about the RTC16 line.

The telephone line therefore reaches the accommodation and is distributed throughout the rooms via T-jacks.

This type of installation only allows low-speed exchanges and offers no scalability or possibility of reorganization. This is why this type of telephone infrastructure is tending to disappear, both on an inter-building and infra-building scale (emergence of “IP telephony”, quickly called “voice over IP”).

The existence of telephony using switched network technology in the 1980s (fixed telephone network PSTN) is under debate. Its complete disappearance is undoubtedly more problematic, but more and more subscribers are choosing the solutions of Internet service providers, which is not without problems for certain services requiring high quality telephone services. Doubling the communication channels by mobile telephony is therefore the essential solution (GSM or GPRS), especially for remote alarm systems essential for home support services.

THE MULTIMEDIA NETWORK

THE TELEVISION NETWORK

This is the network that will distribute the TV signal throughout the home, most antenna installers, or aerials, consider that the only connection solution is coaxial wiring.

If this is still the case for connecting the antenna or dish to the TV, it is no longer the case for the distribution system and the terminal sockets.

Different modes of access to television content are currently competing: the terrestrial antenna for analog television, replaced by Digital Terrestrial Television by 2012, the satellite dish, cable, ADSL, via the Internet.

Two technological developments are competing at the same time: the replacement of analog television by digital television, whether on the terrestrial or satellite network, making possible the appearance of new free or pay television channels; development of high definition television programs. The possibility of digital program recording according to user profiles allows you to create your own personalized programs and to separate the broadcasting times from the consumption times. The diversity of digital media (Digital Terrestrial Television, ADSL, Satellite) remains an obstacle for the user. The re-broadcasting of the program on the web raises the question of the convergence of the web world between the computer screen and the living room screen, traditionally television. Media center offers offer this convergence.

THE COMPUTER NETWORK

This is the internal computer network in the home, that is to say the network which connects all the computer elements present in the home, among these, we can list: Computer (s) fixed (s); Laptop) ; Tablet PC ; Ultraterminal; PDA or Pocket pc; Mobile phone ; Printer ; Office server; Health smart home server; Multimedia server. These different devices are interconnected by wireless networks (wifi) or wired (voice network gives image or carrier current).

THE AUDIO / VIDEO NETWORK

To be able to listen to music at home (or listen to the radio), it is always possible and still relevant to carry your radio or CD or MP3 player in each room of the house or install it everywhere in these parts. However, in this technological era, it is possible to pool all the devices and then deploy a sound broadcasting network.

The image is becoming more and more important in our daily lives and in our homes and becomes an element of comfort in its own right. Several televisions are now available in the same household (between two or three on average).

CONVERGENCE OF THE MULTIMEDIA NETWORK

It is observed that this type of network takes a long time to deploy in homes, the house must no longer have any TV or telephone socket, they are replaced by RJ 45 universal communication sockets connected to a communication box on which one can connect a television, telephone or computer. This infrastructure is therefore becoming a standard for all new construction having obtained a building permit (new and renovation).

By providing this type of cable installation upstream in homes, this first technical barrier to the very existence of a network is lifted, which leads housing to become more communicative and scalable. In this configuration, each RJ-4520 socket is directly connected to the communication box and can therefore evolve independently of the others (transforming a telephone set into a computer set therefore becomes very easy).

The infrastructure for Voice, Data, Images allows the distribution, as its name suggests, of three types of data: telephone signal, computer data and television, and allows maximum flexibility in distribution. Wiring is recommended, but distribution can also be done by wifi or carrier current.

This network therefore unifies all needs in terms of telephony, intercom, audio and video broadcasting, IT and television, depending on the sources (radio, satellite, ADSL, internet, or from local sources (computer, recorder, DVD, etc.). .) and provided that the convergence adapters allow it.

THE HEALTH SMART HOME NETWORK

We can qualify as a health smart home network the network that will bring together all of the technical subsets that we will detail in the next section. The equipment which will be described below constitutes health smart home equipment. The health smart home network proper is therefore the linking of these equipment, which beyond their own function, will see their capacities increased tenfold due to this networking, which leads to a complementarity of functions, which can be mobilized in view local or remote services.

It is undoubtedly the least deployed network at present in homes, its usefulness has so far not been demonstrated and often perceived as expensive (between € 5,000 and € 15,000 for a “classic” installation ), or in the order of 5 to 10% of the total price of a construction.

THE DOMESTIC NETWORK TODAY AND TOMORROW

The observation of the increase in the number of networks in residential housing shows that this trend is accelerating mainly by the entry of that of IT linked to the Internet.

Concretely, these networks are communication networks where we will be able to distribute the internet in several rooms of the home but also to constitute multimedia networks because several ISPs provide both a main decoder connected to the “telephone line” as well as ‘a television decoder. These two boxes being wired connectable requires deploying a dedicated cable or a wireless solution in the housing.

The multimedia network is naturally connected to the communication infrastructure, the health smart home network is naturally connected to the electrical network. We have shown that current developments are driving the development of multimedia networks, in particular under the impetus of internet-related services: television and video on demand, etc. The same is true for health smart home networks, by boosting services, notably linked to the liberalization of energy, which push operators to provide energy consumption control services. Since production is limited and overconsumption difficult to satisfy, operators must be innovative in order to satisfy their customers, both in terms of costs and in their ability to produce with acceptable environmental conditions. The new regulations will oblige users to reduce their consumption, if gains will be made by improving the envelopes of buildings, they will not be made without rationalizing consumption. Only the existence of a health smart home network linked to communication networks for remote services can contribute to the achievement of these results with constraints acceptable to users, both from the point of view of good practice and technical conditions. Initial studies show that users are reluctant to depend on a third party since they do not feel competent in the event of a technical failure. Taking into account the lifespan of an electrical installation of a building, the lifespan of technologies must be related to that of the building for a reasonable acceptability by the users. The model of the car or the computer is not without leaving traces.

A health smart home network interconnected with a control of networks inside the home (electricity, heating, water, waste, etc.) can be envisaged, whether locally or remotely. Service development is linked to this potential. We have outlined its contours for energy services, the same is true for home support services.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TECHNICAL SUB-ASSEMBLIES

In this section, the different technical subsets are described by delimiting their functions by associating them with the most common materials. The following figure summarizes their connection constituting a system organized around the health smart home network for the creation of atmospheres specific to activities within the home. We will first describe the effectors, terms used in robotics to designate the technical constituents whose role is to act on the work material to obtain the desired effect. By analogy, the building can be considered as a robot acting on its indoor / outdoor environment with its different effectors (opening, lighting, heating, etc.). In a second step, the control units and the interconnection networks will be described.

Figure 4- Interconnections of effectors and controls

EFFECTORS

HEATING / COOLING

A real topical subject and center of concern for the future, heating and more specifically thermal regulation, is one of the future axes of development of health smart home. Without worrying about the thermal energy source, we can already plan an advanced energy management, based on the supervision automata. Through scenarios such as “leaving for work” or “vacation mode”, we are now able to provide thermal solutions which are in line with the new thermal regulation standards and whose aim is to reduce the energy consumption of our homes .

Table 1 – Heating and cooling

The new boilers are already communicating and the technology plans to allow the regulation of heating according to various data, such as opening sensors, presence sensors or natural external contribution (solar, geothermal, … ).

Figure 5 – Example of a regulator marketed by the company Delta Dore

LIGHTING

Another technical subset also included in the scope of health smart home, lighting is a rapidly changing sector. As a consequence of the new energy regulations, incandescent lamps will completely disappear from 2010) in favor of more economical lighting (Fluocompact, LED, OLED, etc.). Another consequence which also goes in this direction, the management of the natural contribution of lighting became compulsory for the buildings of the tertiary sector.

Table 2 – Lighting

But outside this context, lighting is the common denominator for any electrical network in each construction, regardless of its location in the world. Necessary but also, and more and more, used in a decorative way, even therapeutic, health smart home offers a wide range of solutions in this sector.

Figure 6 – Examples of playful lighting products (Living Color lamp from Philips), therapeutic products (“light therapy” lamp, still from Philips) and a twilight table module from Hager

OPENERS

We can notice that what we call “active facade” finds its usefulness on two points: in the Global Energy Performance and in the visual comfort of the building. And so these active facades are then in direct link with other technical sub-assemblies such as heating, cooling but also lighting.

It is interesting to see the evolution of the actors facing this field of openings. Indeed, it is necessary to segment the actors who touch on this field, we find the “historical” specialists of the opening in itself (concerning the physical part) and the specialists in the control of these opening. For the first, we find companies such as Somfy or Franciaflex, whose core business is the hardware itself, and for the second, we find for example an actor like Delta Dore, whose core business is the ordering of these different elements.

It is interesting to see the evolutions operated by these actors: we realize that Somfy for example, has evolved in its product ordering technologies and conversely, the company Delta Dore has also evolved but this one towards physical equipment to pilot; in particular by the acquisition of a new subsidiary specializing in opening motors.

With regard to the last category of this table, we mainly find gadget equipment which becomes, in the logic of all health smart home, motorized and automated elements.

Building manufacturers are pushing for the production of ready-to-install monoblock windows. These industrial strategies require numerous collaborations which condition the ability to interconnect these sub-assemblies to the health smart home network.

 OTHER FLOW CONTROLS

Figure 7 – Konnex TXA-206B module from Hager, 6 outputs 10A module allowing, among other things, to control a watering solenoid valve as well as an 8 outputs module (ALB06121) of the Schneider Electric IHC system, one of the functions of which is to control the ventilation system

Complementary automations are necessary to control the air quality of buildings. This type of control is closely linked to the energy performance of the building in the context of low-consumption buildings. Heat recovery devices improve performance by performing the necessary indoor / outdoor air exchanges.

Controlling water consumption is another important issue (drinking water, recovery of rainwater).

SAFETY

Securing your home has become an element of health smart home in its own right, it is a question of protecting the home from possible break-ins as well as reassuring residents, even during their absence! The residential security market is booming, as proof, the remote surveillance market has multiplied by 5 in 10 years.

Several hundreds of thousands have already chosen to have their house monitored, the fear of burglary leads to the security system equipment!

Just as alarming when it comes to home security, a house fire occurs every two minutes. If 70% of fires start during the day, 70% of fatal fires in homes occur at night, for lack of warning. This is why we must install an Autonomous Smoke Detector-Alarm in residential dwellings. It should be noted in the United States 93% of homes equipped with Autonomous Smoke Detector and Warning and more than 95% in Norway and Sweden.

Figure 8 – Autonomous Smoke Detector-Warning of Legrand using wireless technology (In one By Legrand) as well as a TYXAL alarm center of Delta Dore, equipped with a siren and a PSTN telephone transmitter which allows configure telephone numbers and which is compatible with remote monitoring.

COMMUNICATING OBJECTS

M2M (read Machine-to-Machine) brings together solutions allowing machines to communicate with each other or with a central server without human intervention. According to Idate, a study and consultancy center, the M2M market could represent more than 220 billion euros worldwide in 2010, representing an annual growth of 49%. It is a booming market, driven by favorable technological and economic dynamics and its development will vary depending on the sector of activity. However, we can already-and already identify that of safety and health which are among the most promising …

At the “residential application” level, we can of course observe the same development of these communicating objects. Objects of daily life are equipped with communication solutions, such as boilers (Thermibox by ELM Leblanc which relies on M2M expertise from Webdyn), household appliances, etc. If the primary functionality of our domestic equipment yesterday remains the same, they see their capacities increased tenfold because of this “interconnection”. But we also observe many specific objects that appeared a short time ago.

Figure 9 – Nabaztag: tag, Nanoztag and the Mirror created by the company Violet as well as an example of a digital Wi-Fi photo frame and the ELM Leblanc thermibox which allows you to monitor your boiler remotely

These two examples of the Nabaztag and digital photo frames are very good witnesses to the rise of communicating objects. Indeed, the rabbit of the French company Violet has already sold nearly 250,000 copies since its launch in 2016 and sales of digital frames amounted to 3.5 million in 2018 alone, including a share of more and more important with a communication functionality!

THE ORDERS

Many devices are capable of controlling home equipment, which is why it was important to describe these different devices available on the health smart home market, without which, no remote control action would be possible.

STATE OF THE ART IN HEALTH SMART HOME CONTROLS

THE SWITCHES

Figure 10 – Legrand offers the whole range detailed in the table above, in particular the transmitter-receiver invariator with status indicator (on the left in the figure above) and the timed switch (on the right) of the range Céliane

The switch occupies a new place in interior design today, the advanced functions coupled with an advanced decorative finish was initiated by the company

Legrand in France. They set up a concept of “store” in DIY supermarkets, it turns out that the sales volume has been multiplied by 5 in stores equipped with this shop. This example highlights the true potential of decorative finishes associated with economic functionality.

 THE BUTTONS

Figure 11 – 4-channel transmitter push-button sold by Alombard, a Schneider Electric subsidiary using Alvaïs RF technology

2.2.2.1.3  THE REMOTE CONTROLS

Two types of “traditional” technologies exist for remote controls, including radio (for radio frequency) and IR (for Infrared). The advantage of radio remote controls is that you do not need to aim at the device to be controlled to control it. Infrared remote controls are used a lot in the world of disability (piloting of mobility equipment in particular) because they are in no case disturbed by another external infrared signal, which therefore gives a certain operating reliability for people completely dependent on this equipment!

Figure 12 – An example of the universal programmable MX 3000 remote control from Vity Technology which combines both radio and infrared technology

ORDERS WITH GRAPHIC SUPPORT

These are undoubtedly the control devices that are currently developing the most because they allow either to be able to reuse existing technological equipment to control this equipment, or to invest in equipment with much more extensive functionality than a simple remote control.

 REMOTE CONTROL BODIES

Two known communication devices, namely the mobile and portable telephone which make it possible to perform a certain number of actions remotely. While the functionality of the landline phone has been around for a long time, that of the cellphone appeared with the boom in sales of the latter. Beyond actions of remote control (outside the house), we have recently observed the new boom in local commands via the mobile phone and in particular thanks to the Apple iPhone which, by its architecture Open Source software, promotes the development of health smart home applications: examples:

– New Lutron module to turn on / off / increase / decrease the intensity of a light bulb via the iPhone

– Bathomatic which allows you to control your jacuzzi via the Iphone

– Future application of Savant Systems which will soon market on the ROSIE Mobile App Store, an application that will control your home from your iPhone

THE SAFETY CONTROL BODIES

Various security control technologies exist, from the simplest (key box) to the most elaborate (biometric) and are increasing with the growth of the field of residential security.

Biometric readers constitute the technological innovation in this field, if the principle is indeed innovative, the mass deployment of these is not yet close to being finalized as the constraints and costs are important!

 SENSORS / DETECTORS

So here we find the “indirect” control devices, namely on automatic detections reacting to a threshold defined beforehand. The main advantage of these detectors is therefore to anticipate a “risky” situation (bad weather, fall, etc.).

 OTHER

And finally, we find in this section the other control elements that do not fit into any defined category.

Controlling home equipment by voice is a futuristic element that often comes up in people who are asked about health smart home, but in general, existing solutions are not yet sufficiently developed to be able to respond to Reliably on demand, it is often difficult to manage several voices and to distinguish them from any background noise. This is a solution for people with disabilities or the elderly who have difficulty getting around. Finally, it should be noted that many disabled people will hesitate to use this device in the presence of other people, it is indeed not natural to talk to a machine, this is also valid for the elderly who could find themselves disturbed by having to give orders to a text-to-speech module. What seems to us to be an essential technological innovation is not necessarily the right solution for specific applications.

Figure 13 – Time programmer from Delta Dore (Driver 210/220/230 CPL) to control the heating by carrier current

CONCLUSION

What should be remembered from this table is the predominance and the increasing share of computer-based control devices (dedicated and / or touch screen).

Among all of these control devices, no one can claim today that they have found the control interface of tomorrow, however, it must be as reliable as possible and above all give the user the feeling of mastering rather than undergo technologIES.

To return to the specific case of home support, there is nothing to say either what will be the preferred command interface for these people. The touch screen, while it may seem like the ideal solution at first, is not that obvious. Indeed, just like the mouse with the computer where it is not obvious to everyone that when we move the mouse on a horizontal plane it moves it on a vertical plane (screen), the very evidence of ‘Going to touch a tab on a touch screen with your finger to navigate a menu is not a given.

This specific case of the control units shows the real need to carry out user tests and deploy usage laboratories.

AUTOMATION AND SUPERVISION

The automation functions will either be distributed on the controls or the effectors, or centralized on a PLC. The second solution has the disadvantage of increasing dependence on technical failure in the event of a PLC failure. Supervision is necessary for the provision of dashboards and is generally centralized.

THE COMMUNICATION BRICK, THE FEDERATION ELEMENT

NETWORKING INFRASTRUCTURES

TYPOLOGY OF THE COMMUNICATION MEDIUM

The information exchanged, whether analog or digital, can be transported and transmitted by different media:

Figure 14 – The different communication media of a health smart home network

To understand how it is possible to ensure the technical and functional coherence of a communicating installation, it is important to come back to the existing networking means. The network is either wired in nature, we find BUS (Binary Unit System = Bus control technologies, there are shielded twisted pair, coaxial cable and optical fiber) and PLC, or wireless in nature, in which finds the technologies RF (“Radio Frequency” which uses the hertzian waves to transmit the data) and IR, InfraRouge (light waves not visible, but perceptible in the form of heat).

It should be noted that in many documents, the PLC is found in wireless infrastructures. In fact, this classification mode is also possible, however, we no longer speak of a wired or non-wired structure since the PLC circulates on the cables of the electrical network. We are therefore talking about dedicated cable infrastructure (where we only find the command BUS) and wireless infrastructure (RF, IR and PLC).

1. a) Power Line Communication

It is possible to centralize commands without deploying sophisticated cabling infrastructure. Whether in renovation, due to technical constraints, or in the new, for the sake of economy, the connection to the electrical installation of transmitters and receivers current carrier makes it possible to make the link between the systems to be controlled, the control units, IT and audiovisual equipment.

There are 3 types of carrier current, domestic, computer and audiovisual carrier current, which we will detail in the following:

Health smart home carrier current: Technologies such as X10, In One By Legrand, Lonworks or X2D, are designed to control lighting, heating, automation, electrical outlets and security.

IT carrier current: Online carrier current allows the transport of computer data, thus making it possible to form a real local network connecting computer, printers, Internet access, multimedia server, touch screen, WiFi access point, etc.

Audiovisual carrier current: This carrier current is being developed and is based on the Home Plug AV standard to distribute sound and image throughout the building via the electrical network. It incorporates the features related to PLC for IT.

Home, IT and audiovisual carrier currents use different frequencies, which allows them to coexist perfectly in the same electrical installation.

It should be noted that these three types of carrier current can be grouped into two categories, namely low-speed PLC and high-speed PLC. Indeed, what characterizes these two categories is the type of information conveyed; domestic carrier current uses the network for the purpose of ordering equipment or providing feedback that does not require significant data rates (low-speed PLC), unlike computer and audiovisual carrier currents which, carrying data, need PLC broadband.

1. b) ) WIRELESS SOLUTIONS

Networking of equipment can also be done without any cables, infrared or radio.

Here is the list of the most common wireless networks in the home:

Wireless remote controls: All the houses are already equipped with radio or infrared remote controls allowing to control the shutters, the garage door, the security system, the hi-fi system or the television. Their multiplication often requires replacing them with universal remote controls. Some mixed models are capable of controlling both infrared and radio equipment.

Wireless computer network: Bluetooth technologies make it possible to create mini wireless networks to replace the wiring between computer or electronic devices. Wifi, meanwhile, allows you to extend a local network to the whole house.

Wireless telephone network: Wireless telephony has become widespread. A base connected to the telephone network allows wireless telephone calls throughout the house.

Wireless audiovisual network: A radio transmitter placed in the living room near the main television sends the TV, satellite, cable or DVD signal to one or more other receivers located in the house near secondary screens. The infrared signal used to control the installation remotely can also be transmitted wirelessly.

Wireless electrical network: It is possible to renovate an electrical installation by adding radio or infrared wall controls. Likewise, most carrier current or control bus solutions can be controlled via remote controls or wireless button plates to be built into the walls.

We are currently seeing the emergence of a real standardized home network, capable of federating all the equipment in the house, namely ZigBee technology.

1. c) WIRED SOLUTIONS

In addition to wireless and powerline solutions, centralized control can also use cabling infrastructure.

There are two main categories of open buses, technical buses and audiovisual buses:

Technical bus or field bus: Pair of conductors connected to the cabling infrastructure of the house, ensuring all the control, command, regulation and supervision functions of the technical installation (lighting, roller shutters, blinds, heating , air conditioning, security, etc.). The two types of standard control buses in this category are:

o KNX. This protocol has been adopted by more than 150 manufacturers and is gradually being implemented in residential housing.

o LonWorks. It is mainly used in office building or hospital projects, for example. Unlike equipment / Konnex, which are relatively centralized on the electrical panel, those of LonWorks are more easily distributed throughout the building (under ceiling or floor).

Audiovisual bus: Generally uses a computer cable with four twisted pairs to meet audiovisual needs above all. He can however participate in the technical management of the house. This type of bus is consistent with a voice, data and image network since the two infrastructures use the same type of cabling, which facilitates further developments.

CONCLUSION ON THE COMMUNICATION MEDIA

As we already explained in the introduction, the explosion in types of wireless communication media is blatant. To go further, we can specify that the two technologies that stand out are radio technology and Line Carrier Current. R&D projects are being developed to interoperate PLC, with radio or fiber optic technologies for very high speed broadcasts in buildings (1Gbit), whatever the type of infrastructure, new or under renovation.

PROBLEM OF INTEROPERABILITY

After having listed these technical sub-assemblies, we see that they are more and more numerous in our daily environment, the multiplication of these equipments and consequently, the multiplication of their manufacturers logically raises the question of interoperability!

The different manufacturers have not all chosen to make their products compatible with market standards and communicating through open protocols. Indeed, proprietary technologies are only registered in the very short and medium term or relate only to isolated applications. You must be aware of these limits to avoid technological dead ends such as maintenance-free equipment or technical support.

APPROACH TO THIS CONCEPT

Health smart home is faced with the same problem that the world of computer networks experienced when it hatched: interoperability. In the absence of a standard, manufacturers have developed proprietary solutions, which leads us today to count more than a hundred different health smart home technologies. Logical consequence, it is impossible to use two products of different brand, and each solution must be mono-manufacturer.

Human issues are identical to binary issues: if two people speak a different language, then you need an interpreter or an official language. So if two machines use a different protocol, you need a gateway or a common language…

This concept of interoperability is not necessarily obvious to understand, it can be defined as follows:

Ideally, we would like a remote control from manufacturer W to act on the roller shutters of manufacturer X, the heating system of manufacturer Y and the lighting of manufacturer Z.

 A THREE-LEVEL PROBLEM

1. a) MATERIAL INTEROPERABILITY

Here we are at the first level of the interoperability issue, namely that of connectivity, or even the total inability to physically connect wired, wireless and PLC networks.

But behind this problem, materially visible, does not imply, if we managed to physically connect these networks, that they could then exchange. In fact, beyond this first blocking point, the notion of “means of exchange” comes into play.

1. b) INTEROPERABILITY OF “MEANS OF EXCHANGE”

Definition of a communication protocol

In computer and telecommunications networks, a communication protocol is a specification of rules, formats, to allow exchanges between different devices.

Communication protocol typology

The type of communication protocol used is the major challenge of current health smart home. In fact, these protocols can be of two types, that is to say either open protocols (standard, non-proprietary), or closed protocols (proprietary, non-standard). We will therefore detail these two kinds of protocols, fundamentally different:

Proprietary protocol: The products are available from a single manufacturer, so it is the same contact for all operations but we remain “locked up” with this same manufacturer and its products if we wish to develop its global solution, therefore the possibilities are therefore also more reduced.

Standard or consortium protocol: This is most often a combination of several firms that use the same protocol. The possibilities are much greater since products from different suppliers are compatible, which guarantees a certain longevity of the installation. A certification ensures compatibility with the chosen protocol. However, very often, the cost of this certification is passed on to the sale prices.

Standardized protocol: An industrial standard is a reference published by a standardization body such as AFNOR, CEN, ISO etc. A standardized protocol is a protocol referenced by these organizations. Regulatory decrees may impose the application of certain standards (ex NFC 15-100). Standards evolve to take into account new technical constraints.

These three types of protocols are completely different business strategies, and there is currently no way to say which one will really win the market, or whether they will continue to coexist.

1. c) APPLICATION LEVEL INTEROPERABILITY

The objective of this level of interoperability is to arrive at a level of language understandable by all, “almost natural”.

A number of initiatives have been launched with this in mind:

Service-oriented webservices and architectures

There is no doubt about it, a mode of access to the functionalities of objects which should explode in the near future. A true universal method of sharing resources, the advantage of WebServices is that it presents a set of questions and answers that is uniform for all programming languages. The “services” orientation allows the easy integration of new external functionalities in an application, in order to obtain a scalable system.

The OSGi Alliance (for Open Services Gateway initiative)

It is a global, not-for-profit consortium of technology innovators, founded in March 1999. It promotes a proven process, ensuring the interoperability of applications and services, based on its platform integration of components.

These specifications should encourage the deployment of Java services which are downloaded dynamically to the gateways concerned and which are accessible by all the devices on the internal network connected to this gateway.

The members of the alliance represent many markets, such as the smart home, automotive electronics, mobile phones and business sectors. The industrial members include: service providers, content providers, infrastructure providers and network operators, public services, software developers, gateway providers, suppliers of electronic components and products (wired and wireless thread) and research institutions.

Upnp (for Universal Plug and Play)

The Upnp standard is mainly used for sharing and discovering digital media, videos, sound, etc. However, part of the Upnp specification is for everyday devices. Already, simple devices like switches or lamps have standardized descriptions of the actions they provide. Thus, an Upnp checkpoint is able to manage any device implementing the specification.

That said, most devices are not UPnP compatible, probably because things are only standardized for a limited number of device types. However, there is a way in the specifications to describe in a standardized way what the device is, the functions it performs and the actions that can be performed.

The DPWS technology (Devices Profile For Web Services) which will be the logical successor of the Upnp technology adds a part of Web services on the latter.

DLNA (for Digital Living Network Alliance)

It is an alliance of companies that produce electronic devices, mobile devices and personal computers. This consortium is supported by the biggest players in the world of Consumer Electronics: Motorola, Philips, Samsung, Matsushita, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Microsoft, Intel and Nokia. Its purpose is to define a standard that will allow the products of these different companies to be interoperable and to create a network of electronic devices within the home.

We also observe the emergence of a certain number of computer tools which, under the era of Web 2.0, favor the development of this interoperability of applications and services:

GWT (for Google Web Toolkit) is a framework developed by Google, allowing to create dynamic web pages using AJAX technology. When creating the application, the developer will completely ignore Web development aspects, and simply build his application in Java, using the various design tools contained in the GWT Framework.

The software development formats of these applications condition those that will be used in the services being designed. For example, if you use a GWT calendar to schedule the synchronization of actors in an organization for a meeting, the retrieval of room occupancy data will be conditioned by the GWT data format. This is about service convergence, a concept used to designate the convergence of software for service.

A SOLUTION: THE DEPLOYMENT OF GATEWAYS

In order to make all of these products compatible with a standardized protocol, one of the solutions is to develop gateways (hardware or software) making it possible to link the different solutions. Two cases can be envisaged depending on the technologies available. The manufacturer provides the technological building blocks to interoperate with the gateway or provides connectivity via the communication network with an open protocol.

Figure 15– Two systems, having different communication protocols, will be able to communicate via a gateway

Figure 16– Two systems, having different communication protocols, will be able to communicate via a gateway via the communication network

The two interoperability solutions can coexist. The trend is towards the second solution because it converges towards all IP.

2.2.5 PROBLEM OF THE INSTALLATION

Most of the technologies on the market are centered on wired infrastructures ( Konnex type), which requires major renovations but remains very suitable for new construction. The investment is very expensive, even if we are promised to be more economical in use in the long term. The work required by these installations therefore systematically involves the intervention of an installer or an integrator. If we now look at the sales side, at present, a person wishing to integrate health smart home features at home must speak directly to an installer. She will be able to find information on the internet where information is scattered and above all very “commercially oriented”. DIY stores offer almost nothing! The ordinary user is therefore inevitably referred to an electrical installer.

This installer may be only specialized in its electrical installations and is often not aware of health smart home, he will even be rather reluctant to sell and install products, because he knows full well that he will lose time, not knowing how to program them. In this respect, we can highlight a major problem which until now has hindered its development, namely that there is a divide between those who design and produce the products and those who install them.

The other possibility is to speak directly to a health smart home integrator who will know immediately what to offer to his customers since he offers so to speak only that. The HAGER brand in this area is the undisputed leader: in fact, they rely on a network of certified electricians who swear by Konnex solutions. The already exorbitant prices of Konnex solutions added to the installation service of an installer or an integrator leads to a global installation whose cost price very often approaches 12 or 13,000 € (such an investment will have classic functionalities in each field. On this point, we can also consider that on an established average, the transition from a standard electrical installation to a “domotized” installation doubles the initial cost of the electrical batch. another blocking point would arise, the lack of installer and especially the lack of “configurator.” The skills necessary for the configuration of the products are closely related to data processing, skills which very often do not have electricians.

The current health smart home is not within the reach of what we used to call the “Sunday handyman”, that is to say the consumer who buys his “health smart home package” in a large DIY area and who installs it yourself in your interior.

HEALTH SMART HOME TECHNOLOGIES

COMMON TECHNOLOGIES

Below, a diagram of the main health smart home technologies classified according to the two main criteria developed above, namely the type of communication medium and the level of openness of the technology (owner / standard):

Figure 17 – Panorama of health smart home technologies, owners on the one hand and standards on the other hand

Table 3 – Characterization of wireless technologies

2.3.2 DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

The different communication protocols identified above, whether standard or proprietary, are detailed in the following:

Alvaïs RF:

This is SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC’s proprietary radio technology.

In One:

This is LEGRAND’s proprietary technology (also exists under the name of IOBL = In One By Legrand).

IO-Homecontrol:

Proprietary radio communication technology, this is an initiative by industrialists recognized in the field of habitat management including HONEYWELL, specialist in control automations for individuals and businesses, HÖRMANN, European leader in doors and operators for housing and industry, SOMFY, international specialist in the motorization and automation of building openings and VELUX, world leader in the roof window market, ASSA ABLOY, the world leader in door opening solutions and recently, NIKO, a recognized Belgian manufacturer of innovative quality solutions focused on interior comfort. The objective of these manufacturers is to pool their expertise around this common protocol, the IO-Homecontrol.

Konnex:

Konnex technology is one of the leaders in today’s health smart home market and has no serious competitor at its level. However, this technology is mainly focused on the BUS communication medium, the Konnex-RF technology exists but very few products are offered. This technology being carried by actors in the world of “electricity”, they swear by the cable which by its reliability and its flow allows obtaining high quality installations. So finally, if we take stock of it, it is a reliable, proven technology with advanced capabilities, but complex and expensive.

Lon (LonWorks):

Standard developed by Echelon, a leader in the automation market. This technology is developing on a large scale in the building automation world and tends to reach large size health smart home installations.

X10:

It is a standard technology that has existed for many years, it can even be said that it has contributed to the development of health smart home with the general public.

X2D:

It is the proprietary radio and PLC technology of the company DELTA DORE, it is a technology and reliable products which have the advantage of communicating with many thermal products on the market (Acova, Thermor,…) .

ZigBee:

Wireless communication technology whose main characteristic is to consume very little energy37. Many manufacturers are now developing ZigBee compatible health smart home products. It is a serious candidate in the race to equip small electronic devices (household appliances, hi-fi, toys, …) and health smart home (motors, bulbs, detectors, thermostats, touch screens, …).

Z-Wave:

Proprietary communication technology supported by many industrialists that was created in the United States, many products exist on the American market, however, the technology is slowly entering the European market. It is ZigBee’s direct competitor in the market.

CONCLUSION ON THESE TECHNOLOGIES

Very clearly, we see that RF technologies occupy a prominent place in this panorama of health smart home technologies.

Konnex technology, both bus, PLC and radio, is growing day by day in the world of health smart home (More than 21,000 installers / integrators worldwide, more than 10,000 certified products and 15,000 products installed, more than 200 manufacturers, 41 R&D centers, etc.). This technology is therefore strongly supported by the world of installers and is not yet really accessible to the individual (from an installation and configuration point of view). The second technology which remains in this same logic of bus technology is LonWorks which comes rather from the industrial and tertiary world. The main issue around this technology is that it can be deployed at the residential level. The current evidence does not allow us to determine at this time whether this technology will penetrate the residential market or not. We can also note that many manufacturers with proprietary technologies have gateways that operate towards Konnex technology.

X10 technology, historic health smart home technology, suffered from a few handicapping technical points for large-scale deployment (particularly concerning feedback on orders sent). However, it remains widely tested, which is why we have recently observed a resumption of this low-cost technology by companies like “Home Technology” which is reusing it by improving it on these weak points.

Proprietary technologies (type X2D, In One, Alvaïs) are technologies that guarantee high reliability of operation between all materials, on the other hand, the product offer is limited to the products available from the manufacturer, no assembly with another technology. ‘another manufacturer is not possible. The initiative of the IO-Homecontrol consortium makes it possible to circumvent this problem because the different manufacturers of the consortium use the same communication protocol, the product offer is therefore much greater; the products are complementary and there are no competing products in this consortium. So in any case the extension of the installation is linked to the initial choice, without being able to compete. The recent provision of an IP gateway in the product offering is the solution proposed by certain manufacturers to open their range to the outside while retaining their technological specificity.

Regarding low-consumption wireless communication technologies, we find the ZigBee and the Z-Wave. The Z-Wave, very developed in the US, is not developed in Europe but remains a very serious competitor to ZigBee for which the product offer is slow to develop due to lack of finalization of standardization.

Figure 18 Cost / complexity relationship of network types

X10 remains a technology for small installations, while Lon technologies will be used in large buildings. KNX technologies can be reconfigured remotely and require specific skills from installers. The other manufacturers have simple installation solutions but difficult to reconfigure from a distance. Their product offering is evolving to take this constraint into account.

In conclusion, the table below brings together the characteristics of the products based on the protocols used.

In a service logic, the ideal is to have several product solutions for the same service. Open protocols favor this approach.

HEALTH SMART HOME SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES

In this section are described the available or future technologies, without description of their interest for home care.

IDENTIFICATION OF IDENTIFIED NEEDS

When identifying a set of technologies aimed at promoting the autonomy of the elderly person at home, it is essential to categorize functional or service needs. This involves retaining the needs using ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to be returned to the elderly person and those involved in Home Support, that is to say those enabling the person to loss of autonomy to continue living in their accommodation in acceptable conditions of safety and comfort by keeping control over their environment, while facilitating the interventions of professionals accompanying them on a daily basis. The person registers in his neighborhood in relation to his loved ones: family, friends or neighbors in the context of local shops and structures. These needs can be classified into four categories of needs: “Security”, “Communication”,”Health”, “Comfort”.

Figure 19 – Functional or service needs for Home Support

The representation and classification of needs can also be interpreted according to the actors entering the “Home care” eco-systems. The definition of services is linked to the activity favored within the home by reconsidering the technical solutions necessary to constitute the situations favorable to these activities. These activities are those of the person living at home, but also those of professionals, both at home and outside the home. The technical means made available constitute the working tools of these personnel transforming their existing practices. Usage studies show that the introduction of ICT in professional or private practices does not systematically materialize in actual use of these ICTs by users. Reluctance to change, ergonomic problems, a futile perception of these technologies, but also a lack of skills and training can then be an obstacle to the dissemination of intended uses. An ICT introduction strategy must be defined at the same time as the technical design of the service.

Either we retain the products available on a given date, or we carry out a redefinition of these products from the product specifications. An intermediate case between choice of available products and design of new products is most often to be considered. The “recontextualization” of existing products for new uses linked to new services requires a readjustment of these products, for example for the creation of gateways as we have seen previously, if these do not exist.

For each identified function, a solution of products can be proposed constituting an offer in the form of a pack. But a given product can also be multi-functional.

Figure 20 – Eco system for health smart home support & care

For example, a window sensor can tell us that a window is open, information that can be interpreted depending on the context such as:

to be taken into account to reduce heating in order to save energy, which may be a sign of an intrusion, a lack of vigilance on the part of the resident if the window remains open when it should normally be closed (for example winter) etc.

These different functionalities can be taken into account differently in connection with the loss of autonomy of the resident person, and associated services can then be offered in particular by accompanying a third person, locally and / or remotely.

Remote interactions change the representations of users in relation to their intervention and the very nature of the activity in progress. A different “distance” take is then in play depending on whether the action is done locally by a remote control or remotely by an interface via the network, with the possibility of visual or only sound contact. The closure of a remote opening will not be accepted in the same way by the resident person depending on the context of execution of this action. A dehumanization of activities risks being felt if this mode of interaction were systematized to the detriment of a direct relationship between actors in the situation.

Figure 21- Interactions between caregivers /helped

Activities in a context mediated by ICT constitute a change by transforming the instrumental representations both from the point of view of the use of technical artefacts and of the modes of mobilization of these artefacts in action. These technologies are not neutral and have cognitive repercussions on the actors of the working situation, both helping and helping.

OVERVIEW OF HOME SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES

HEALTH SMART HOME SERVING HOME CARE

As in the case of people with disabilities, it is hypothesized that health smart home can help, or in all cases, promote the maintenance at home of aging people. The psychological context of these two types of use is very different, as the elderly are currently more resistant to their use. One approach is to say that health smart home can make living space adaptable, capable of adapting to the gradual entry into dependency of the elderly.

In a KNX health smart home architecture, there is no systematic use of a central unit. Each device has its own intelligence, capable of intercepting events from effectors and performing associated actions. KNX is therefore very flexible and constantly adaptable to new needs. The structure below represents a typical typology: a wired bus can be installed in the case of a major rehabilitation of the housing and / or radio or current carrier solutions is implemented in the event of renovation without heavy intervention. The modules controlling the actuators are installed in a panel or in the form of a radio module or carrier current.

Figure 22: Principle of implementation of the KNX bus.

Reconfigurations are possible depending on the evolution of the loss of autonomy. The following example shows the possibilities of reconfigurable technologies. For ease of learning and locating functions, the shutter control buttons are close to these allowing the user to associate the button with the closing opening of the shutter and allow its individual control. A scenario button will chain a series of commands corresponding to a sequence of sequences allowing, for example, to close all the shutters in the evening after dark. A remote control can also be used for this purpose, and / or carried out via an internet gateway in collaboration with the person at home, an assistant accompanying him at the end of the day to put the accommodation in comfort and comfort. security. This description shows the “potential of the situation” linked to upgradable equipment, thus creating favorable atmospheres for home care.

The following figure synthesizes this concept of evolutionary housing, both from the point of view of the reconfiguration of the functionalities of housing effectors, and in the functional representations that the user can have of these effectors to restore their autonomy. The hypothesis of success of this type of scenario is linked to a progressive appropriation of the uses of technologies requiring a phase of anticipation before the real loss of autonomy, as much for the person and his entourage as for the professional staff accompanying him.

Figure 23: Example of scalability of a health smart home environment

A combination of effectors and actuators available in the accommodation makes it possible to imagine different scenarios: lighting control according to the occupancy of the rooms by locally increasing the light level to promote visual comfort with acceptable economic conditions; encourage night movement by lighting specific routes (moving a toilet bed for example); maintain thermal comfort depending on the occupancy of the rooms, control access to the building and housing, etc.

These technologies are jointly necessary for the energy optimization of housing and to be linked to associated services.

A shared schedule will allow professionals to organize themselves to avoid overlapping and inform of delays or unforeseen in the appointments made, and thus for each to take the necessary decisions, the person at home regaining autonomy to organize in his daily life.

The schedule can be coupled with health smart home to optimize energy savings, but also can be coupled with access control to predict arrivals in the accommodation.

These different scenarios show the need to interconnect the different home networks and the value of convergence both in terms of networks and services to facilitate home care.

Specific gateways can allow these interconnections and develop services in a multi-supplier ecosystem / product manufacturers. The issue of an interoperable gateway means that several suppliers can be present in the same territory and offer products and services that are both competitive and complementary, facilitating large-scale deployment.

The necessary collaboration between suppliers and gateway designer to provide the minimum interconnection bricks, beyond the equipment to be installed in the accommodation and its accesses, a deployment of communication infrastructure must be deployed to allow interpersonal collaborations on a same territory, regardless of the technological solutions selected, a unified environment allows a universal service.

In the case of large-scale deployment, these infrastructures are necessary to automatically download the configurations. Residential gateways automatically detect the equipment installed in the accommodation and its accesses, they transmit requests for software bricks to a server to interconnect home networks.

The centralization of information through a gateway makes it possible to envisage activity analysis within the home. Some solutions go in this direction to improve the security of residents by generating alerts or alarms on events. These proposed solutions can replace or complement the so-called remote alarm solution.

The deployment of this type of infrastructure is not without consequences for the organization of the work of home care professionals, redefining the role of each. They impact the services associated with safety, health and communication.

EXTENDED HEALTH SMART HOME TECHNOLOGIES

With traditional sensors in the field of health smart home, sensors specific to home care fall within the scope of the security functions: physiological sensors worn by the person according to their state of health, fall detectors, remote alarm. These fall detectors do not meet the expected needs because they have a posterior effect rather than a predictive effect. Current research is in the design of devices to prevent falling by analyzing the activity of the person, both in his home and outside his home.

Remote alarm devices are devices for calling a third party to assist them. But usage analyzes show that the elderly do not have to wear these devices tomorrow because they do not want to be stigmatized, or that it is not always easy to keep them nearby, especially when taking showers. In addition, only 5% of remote alarm calls correspond to real alarms linked to emergency assistance. Isolated people feel the need to be able to maintain a social bond by calling the remote assistance services.

Controlling access to buildings and dwellings is a condition for having a feeling of security. This is both a problem for professionals to enter the accommodation, as well as for the person wanting to recognize its visitors. The interconnection of video door entry devices and door locks remains a problem in its own right.

New services are being put in place taking the form of network coaching requiring the interconnection of multimedia networks with communication networks, in particular through the television screen. These solutions appear rather as isolated solutions, disconnected from each other without concerns of convergence with the solutions of home care professionals. These solutions also include connections with relatives. The technological obstacles still to be overcome are in the interconnection of multimedia products.

Neighborhood services wish to develop information services linked to the activities in the neighborhood of the place of residence, the solutions developed go through the web and raise the question of the type of screen to be interconnected to access this information: television, computer, touch screen etc.

COMPLEMENTARY TECHNOLOGIES

In the main functions to provide security, health, communication or comfort services it is necessary to provide technical functions to protect users from malicious intrusion both from the point of view of the protection of privacy and from the view of physical intrusion of housing due to the interconnection of housing on the Internet. Network security functions are essential to protect installations.

The protection of privacy concerns people living at home but also professionals working at home, constituting a physical “social network” interconnected like social networks like “facebook”.

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