IBM Builds a Smarter House

Residents of a new housing development in Roanoke, Virginia, will be able to monitor their homes and control lighting, heating, air conditioning, and security systems from any Web browser as part of an offering developed by IBM and several partners, IBM announced Monday.

As wireless networks advance, the system could even allow police in a patrol car to watch a burglar in the house via a Web camera as they speed to the scene following an automatic alarm, said Eugene Cox, director of mobility solutions in IBM's Pervasive Computing division.

Homes in the development, Village at Tinker Creek, will be equipped with gateways that handle Internet connectivity, security, and home automation. Developer Commonwealth Builders will join with service providers to offer Internet access and security and fire response services, and residents will be able to keep track of community news and events on a personal Web portal as well as monitoring the home.

In one example of using the "smart" home, a resident who just drove to work might check a Web camera at the home to find out whether the garage door was closed. If it wasn't, the resident might close it using the same Web portal, according to IBM.

High-Tech Home

To develop the system, IBM teamed up with partners CP Technology, in Hsi-Chih, Taiwan, and Shanghai General Electronics (Group), in Shanghai. The companies adapted technology that has been deployed in technology showcases and individual businesses and homes, Cox said. Village at Tinker Creek brings those capabilities to mainstream home buyers for the first time, he said.

The gateway at the heart of the system, called the CP Technology Residential Services Gateway, can be upgraded both in software and with hardware modules to support new applications and network technologies. It is based on IBM VisualAge Micro Edition and the IBM Tivoli Device Manager and runs WebSphere Everyplace Embedded Software. Shanghai General Electronics developed the SVA Information iHome Application that runs on the platform.

Because the gateway supports OSGI (Open Services Gateway Initiative), it will be compatible with many Internet-enabled appliances as they hit the market, Cox said. An OSGI-compatible service package for a new Internet-enabled appliance could be downloaded to the gateway and allow remote control of the appliance, he said. In addition, through the gateway those appliances may be able to notify maintenance people when a need for service is coming up.

Home Nets

The 170 homes in the project have three or four bedrooms and a median price of about $200,000. Twenty of them will be equipped with the system, which will add about $3,500 or more to the cost of a home, according to Jerry Godsey, president of Commonwealth Builders. For other homes, buyers can choose it as an add-on option.

The builder will decide on a location for the gateway, near the home's electrical panel. The gateway can communicate with appliances and sensors in the house via phone lines, power lines, dedicated wiring, or 802.11 wireless LAN, depending on which is installed, and residents can interact with it through any Web browser.

Village at Tinker Creek will open up for sale later this month and will feature regular demonstrations of the system in a model home. IBM is in the early stages of developing similar projects in several other countries, including South Korea and France, Cox said.