X10 Home Automation: Get Started on your Remote Control Home!

X10 home networks use the electrical wiring of the home for communication. It's an industry standard for home automation networks. Make your house look lived-in while you're away and even wake up each morning by scheduling your bed-side lamp to turn on! Easily expand your X10 automation system and customize it to your exact needs and wants!

The technology behind X10 has been developed over several decades and remains popular today despite competition from other standards. X10 utilizes either wired power line or wireless radio communication methods. With X10 home automation kits and software you get everything you need! Turn lights on and off from anywhere in your home, turn security lighting and sprinkler systems on and off when you choose, dim lights – even if they couldn’t dim before – and much, much more! Control your lights, appliances, home theater and more by remote, motion sensor or PC with X10 home automation kits and accessories! This is cool stuff! X10 Equipment X10 equipment is the best-known (and probably best-selling) home automation equipment around. It may surprise you that it is also very inexpensive, and that inexpensive computer interfaces are available, and that there are (free) open-source software packages to work with that computer interface. An X10 home automation environment utilizes sensors and control devices that communicate with each other and manage various household appliances. X10 devices most commonly interface with: lights - turn on and off, or change the brightness level, on demand or on a timer security cameras - detect motion and automatically activate thermostats - raise and lower temperature settings according to homeowner preferences

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X10 Network Protocol

Several X.10 protocol commands work specifically with lighting systems to control their brightness. Others also support temperature control and security systems. X10 devices communicate over either wired power line or wireless radio links.

If you are interested in more details about the protocol, please go to the following web page: http://www.x10.com/support/technology1.htm

X10 Devices

Devices communicating using the X10 protocol can then be controlled by your Linux system. This brings sprinklers and timers, thermostats, humitiy sensors, motion sensors, security gates, security cameras, nany cams, lighting (simulated home occupation), home theaters, ... under the control of your Linux computer. Plug-ins also exist to support the MP3 player XMMS to create an MP3 juke box controlled via a remote (RF or IR). Sixteen home codes each supporting 16 devices for a total of 256 devices on a single electrical network can be supported. X10 networks have limited range, are insecure (no encryption) and may be suceptible to electrical noise. The network is required to all be on the same 2 phases of a 3 phase input circuit which enters the house (typical).

X10 devices can transmit (TX), receive (RX) or both (2 way). The X10 devices which receive signals generally turn devices on or off. Some may receive a level accociated with the "on" (dimmer). The two way devices can report their status (on/on level/off).

Device	Capabilities	X10 model number
Appliance module	on/off	AM486
Lamp module	on/off/dimable	LM14A
Motion sensor		MS13A
Firecracker	DB9 serial port transmitter	CM17A
PC receiver	Serial port device	MR26A
Computer interface	Two way controller TX/RX	CM11A
Remote	Infrared (IR) and Radio Frequency (RF)

Source: http://compnetworking.about.com | http://www.yolinux.com

The Advantages & Disadvantages a Powerline Network Solution

The advantages to a powerline network solution

Because you're using already the electrical wiring infrastructure of your home--and the electrical outlets that are spread throughout your home--powerline networking offers great flexibility on where computers and peripherals can be placed.

If you've had difficulty in creating a strong Wi-Fi network in your home--due to many factors, such as heavily insulated walls or interference from other devices in the home such as cordless phones--a powerline network can provide a stable, reliable connection throughout your home. And you can even pair it with a Wi-Fi router for wireless access.

Finally, a powerline network doesn't add any charges to your electrical bill.

The disadvantages to a powerline network solution

If your home electrical wiring isn't up to date, you might not get optimal performance from a powerline networking solution. It's not as fast as Gigabit Ethernet speeds (the fastest networking solution for home or office), but it is on par with current Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking.

Powerline networking is often touted as one of the easiest and most affordable whole-home networking solutions because you don't have to lay a lot of cable or install more wiring in your walls. However, you will still need to purchase adapters that will plug into your electrical outlets. Compared to buying multiple adapters, the price of a single wireless router might make more sense depending on what you'll be networking.

You also have to be careful to choose powerline networking adapters and accessories that use the same standard. There are three standards available from a variety of manufacturers:

- HomePlug AV (available from manufacturers like Belkin, Linksys, Netgear, and ZyXEL)

- UPA, which stands for Universal Powerline Association (available from D-Link, Netgear, and others)

- HD-PLC, which stands for High Definition Power Line Communication (available from Panasonic)

Use Powerline Networking in Your Home

Powerline communications networking uses the existing electrical wiring in your home or office as a closed medium for transmitting data between devices.

Powerline networking can be used just like a wired Ethernet or wireless Wi-Fi network for connecting to the Internet, sending video files from a computer to your HDTV or game console, printing across a network, backing up to a dedicated server, and more.

Additionally, because it uses existing electrical wiring and outlets, powerline networking is a great choice for use with home automation solutions.

Home Automation Solution

At its core, a home automation solution is a system consists of:

• A controller that transmits commands.
• A series of modules and adapters that connect to lights and appliances and accept commands from the controller.

This is the ability to control your home's lighting, appliances, thermostat, security, home theater, and more from either within your home or outside it.

The amount of control you want over your home automation--and where you want to access it--can also dictate the type of system you need. If you just want control over lighting and appliances in other rooms while you are physically in your home, a closed home automation system with controller specific to that system will be fine.

But if you want to access your home automation system remotely from your office or vacation destination, you'll want a system that can be accessed using a Web browser or even your smartphone.

There are several home automation technologies that utilize different standards and thusly don't talk to one another. This is unlike Wi-Fi networking, where all Wi-Fi-enabled devices speak the same language. The main technologies for home automation are X10, Insteon, ZigBee, and Z-Wave.

• X10 uses powerline networking to send commands to switches. However, commands go only in one direction--from controller to module--and they can sometimes not reach the destined module due to interference. Also, there is not feedback loop, so the controller can't tell if a command was received and acted upon.
• Insteon also uses powerline networking, but also adds RF (radio frequency) connectivity to create a wireless system. It is backward compatible with devices that use the X10 standard.
• Z-Wave uses a proprietary, low-power RF signal to wirelessly send commands from the controller to modules. It's been adopted by more than 200 manufacturers worldwide-- including Black & Decker, Schlage, Wayne Dalton, Leviton, and ViewSonic--enabling you to more easily mix and match components from different companies when setting up your home automation system.
• ZigBee uses an internationally recognized RF signal standard, but most home automation systems that use ZigBee require contractor installation.

The Insteon, ZigBee, and Z-Wave technologies utilize a mesh network solution, which means that the devices within the system can talk to one another and act as repeaters for commands. Also, the more devices you have connected to the system, the more reliable your system will be.