Seems, the era of the smart, connected home that offers its occupants a greener, safer, more convenient and more enjoyable lifestyle is very close. According to a latest announcement, STMicroelectronics and Tatung have teamed-up to develop an array of smart-home appliances that can be interconnected to form a smart-home ecosystem.
The products, implemented by Tatung using a variety of platforms and reference designs developed by ST, are designed to leverage the popular HomePlug powerline communication (PLC) protocols and hybrid networks. The HomePlug technology transforms ordinary electric wires into a high-speed communication network available in every power outlet. Hybrid networks are based on the emerging IEEE 1905.1 standard and allow devices to take advantage of all available communication media including HomePlug and Wi-Fi. Illustrating the huge range of creative possibilities open to smart-home equipment designers, one of the products demonstrated is an innovative combination of a remotely-controllable LED room light, a networked loudspeaker, and a Wi-Fi access point in a single unit.
All of the modules are based on a unique intelligent communication hub/gateway System-on-Chip (SoC) technology from ST that is the first in the world to integrate both the powerline modem and a powerful applications processor based on an ARM926EJ-S core running at 330MHz. Because the connected homes of the future will leverage many wired and wireless communication technologies, ST’s new hub/gateway solution was designed to support the emerging IEEE P1905.1 standard.
Initially, ST has worked with Tatung to develop some prototype products that could be easily commercialized and customized and/or branded by Tatung for other OEMs.
“This ecosystem of connected products brings the “Internet of Things” into the smart home, enabling the convergence of energy management, entertainment, surveillance and monitoring, and other functions such as Electric Vehicle charging,” said Matteo Lo Presti, STMicroelectronics Group VP and Industrial and Power Conversion General Manager.
