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Home networking Eurescom project P1206 explores the Intelligent Wireless Home
This article summarises the basic concepts and goals of Eurescom's project `Broadband Services in the Intelligent Wireless Home' (P1206). The project started in June 2002 and addresses the smart-home concept from a network-operator perspective. Project activities include the examination of new broadband and wireless technologies that are slowly coming to our homes, the analysis of usage scenarios to evaluate user needs and service value, and the formulation of a vision for home networking. Finally, the participants from five European network operators will propose a platform architecture as a home networking solution. Home networking is meant to smartly integrate technologies such as user devices and appliances connected to various home and remote networks. This will enable users to acquire new habits and may even, over time, influence their behaviour and social structure. The process usually begins by acquiring the enabling technology, learning to use it, applying it to solve problems, adding value to daily life, and exchanging experiences with other prospective users. This cycle is likely to be repeated every six months. Consequently, support is needed for the majority of these users. We view home networking as the base on which these new behaviours and social values can be launched such that everyone can make their own choices to suit and enhance their life quality. However, operators may have a `moral' and a challenging responsibility towards their customers by ensuring that a home network solution is easy to use, safe, secure, obliging, supported and skill responsive! The visionThe project sub-title `My Home Sphere' expresses a vision of the home of the future. My Home Sphere will provide the users with seamless and personalised services which will make their home even more enjoyable. These services will be tailored to the well-being as well as the communication and entertainment needs of the users. Services could be offered in an intuitive way, getting input from sensors in your home and from your known preferences for example regarding control, light, and temperature. A broadband and wireless communication infrastructure will support My Home Sphere services and in particular allow you to exchange personalised multimedia messages with your family and friends. User scenarios"My Home Sphere" will be configured and profiled to match different life styles. Typical scenarios investigated are described below.
32-year-old Kurt is an early adopter but not a technology freak. His favourite services are Unified Messaging Services (UMS), Personal Video Recording (PVR), security alarm, electrical switch control, sharing home-made videos and digital photos with his friends, and listening jointly to music using a videoconferencing service. Kurt has an advanced set-top box but it is his personal digital assistant (PDA) that provides him with full control of the home while travelling and at work, so he carries his PDA with him everywhere he goes except under the shower and in the bathtub. He does not feel overwhelmed by all the technology in his home because the system has been developed gradually and with the support from his friends and online learning/support. Although the system has never failed, he does not trust it completely, e.g. Kurt has not installed an electrical opening mechanism to his front door yet.
Maria is a free-lancer around 30 working in the IT business. Maria lives together with her boyfriend in an apartment. Both are early adopters of new mobile terminals, fingerprint recognition, home security, automated light and air control, and more. They have the latest home entertainment system, which starts immediately to play a selection of personalised music as soon as one of them enters the apartment. Besides staying together for the future, the young couple dreams of accessing and editing all available media.
Erkki is a 43-year old entrepreneur. He lives together with a 9-year old daughter and a very unreliable companion named Kalle. Erkki wants to enjoy his life without unnecessary worries about his family members and their daily needs. He uses smart devices and related services to save time and make daily routines as easy as possible.
Grandmother Martha is 69 years old and lives alone in her small home. She has recognised that she is no longer mobile and sometimes feels lonely and forgotten. A recent advertisement combined with the strong encouragement by her children motivated her to subscribe to My-Home-Sphere services. The included security and health care devices and services give her now a good feeling of being well protected. Videoconferences, gymnastics in tele-communities, network games like crossword puzzles, old favourite tunes and entertainment help her to feel an active part of society. TechnologyIn the last years a number of innovations and developments have been done in the whole chain starting from the user terminals through the in-house networks, gateways, access networks to the services. Corresponding devices will be soon available on the market at acceptable prices. All these innovations can now co-operate to realise the vision of My Home Sphere and to change the home from a conglomeration of appliances to a single harmonic system.
Architecture of `My Home Sphere'The architecture of the My Home Sphere system consists of:
Together they shall offer:
The technical and service platform components of the system are shown in the figure. Solutions are investigated concentrating primarily on the home server and the `My Home Sphere' server. Both are platforms from which an operator can launch a wide range of secure personalised services to users and take the responsibility of the proper operation and management of these services. Solutions for `My Home Sphere' services can be provided by both network operators and third parties. Additionally, these solutions should securely allow owners and service management companies a secure remote access to homes. Next StepsThe second phase of the project will examine various standards proposed for the home server and the `My Home Sphere' server, namely service gateways, like OSGi (Open Service Gateway Initiative), Multimedia Home platform (MHP), CableHome, and more. Analysing these standards will help to define the required criteria during the assessment of service-gateway products. Demonstration platforms are planned to facilitate important aspects of a service gateway such as architecture, security, personalisation and profiling, user interfaces, and remote management. About the projectEurescom project P1206 started on 1st June 2002 with a planned duration of 18 months. First demonstrations are planned for the Eurescom workshop `Broadband and Wireless Services in the Future Home' in Heidelberg on 20 - 21 March 2003. Further demonstrations resulting from co-operations with industrial partners will be presented during the Eurescom Summit 2003. Additional information is available at www.eurescom.de/public/projects/P1200-series/P1206/. Please send us your comments on this article. |
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