Borys Tomala discusses the evolution and future of connected homes, emphasizing the need for interoperable products and smart services over traditional smart home systems. The document highlights the various protocols, their pros and cons, and suggests that IPv6 is crucial for the Internet of Things. Tomala concludes that entrepreneurs should focus on product and service development rather than central systems, while also urging consumers to seek independent connected home solutions.

1. Connected home
Borys Tomala
Poznań, Hardgroup #4, 2016-02-23

2. About me
Currently:
● Founder & Head of Product @ CloudThing.io
● Contributor @ The Things Network
Previously:
● Director, Software R&D @ Novamedia
● Embedded Software Engineer @ Samsung R&D

3. About CloudThing.io
Full stack Internet of Things solution for:
● manufacturers,
● implementation companies,
● enterprises & municipalities.
Hardware:
● connectivity modules,
● security & cloud integration inside,
● firmware SDK & tools.
Hardware agnostic data platform:
● data collection,
● secure storage,
● advanced analytics.
Service management:
● applications API,
● services & API keys monitoring,
● advanced integrations.

4. Agenda
1. Why did we want our homes to be smart?
2. Solutions evolution.
3. What we really need?
4. Protocol wars:
a. WiFi
b. Z-wave
c. Zigbee
d. Bluetooth
e. Thread
5. What the future brings?
6. Conclusion.

5. Why did we want our homes to be smart?
1. The Jetsons had it.
2. It’s possible!
…
…
…
…
3. There are also some economical
benefits.

6. Solutions evolution
1975 - X10
First general purpose automation
technology.
Switching appliances and dimming lights
over powerline from central console.

7. Solutions evolution
1990 - Wired specifications
EIB (future KNX)
Twisted-pair based electrical installations
control.
- Expensive,
- A lot of wires,
- Simple automation and control.

8. Solutions evolution
2003/2004 - Wireless revolution
Z-wave/Zigbee
Cheapier, easier, faster.
Still dumb.

9. Solutions evolution
2004-2010 - Wireless evolution
Rules engine

10. Solutions evolution
2004-2010 - Wireless evolution
Rules engine

11. Solutions evolution
2004-2010 - Wireless evolution
● single point of failure,
● non-reliable,
● some of them depend on Internet
connection,
● limited possibilities,
● need for setup rules/scenes - dumb.

12. Solutions evolution
2010 - now
● “smart” becomes synonym of “dumb”
● some of companies started to realize what it’s really about,
● introduction of “connected”, “conscious” and “thoughtful” homes,
● switching from system-oriented to product-oriented homes.

13. What we really need?
We don’t need smart home systems!
We need connected products and smart services, which increase our
security, comfort and savings!

14. What we really need?
What connected home should lool like?
● no central unit or hub,
● no single point of failure,
● can’t rely on Internet connection - devices have to talk to each other!
● interoperable - products from different manufacturers need to understand each other.
● secured,
● product-oriented, but the real product is a service, not device!
● easy provisioning,
● invisible solutions!

15. What we really need?
It’s not about control.
It’s about not having to!

16. What we really need?

17. What we really need?

18. Protocol wars
or
“My lightbulb is smarter than your
lightbulb!”

19. Protocol wars
Requirements for technology:
● low power
● no single point of failure,
● reliable,
● self-healing mesh,
● secure

20. Protocol wars
Pros:
● well-adopted,
● high throughput
Cons:
● power-hungry,
● star-topology (SPoF),
● difficult provisioning,
● no application layer,
● price.
Conclusion:
Great for mains-powered devices which need high-
throughput (eg. A/V streaming).

21. Protocol wars
Pros:
● strong market position,
● great interoperability within ecosystem
Cons:
● only 232 nodes,
● non reliable due to long mesh healing,
● no direct connection to mobile devices,
● latency due to adopted security solutions,
● proprietary (one silicon vendor),
● slow (100kbps)
Conclusion:
Aging technology not ready for future requirements.
Fine for non-critical networks (hobbyist, enthusiasts).
Promise to keep backward compatibility may kill this
protocol.

22. Protocol wars
Pros:
● field-proven,
● up to 65k nodes per network,
● self-healing mesh
Cons:
● interoperability - application layers are mess,
● max throughput 250 kbps,
● no direct connection to mobile devices
Conclusion:
Great, field-proven (not only in homes) technology with
nice 802.15.4 radio, but further development does not
depend on Zigbee, but IEEE body.

23. Protocol wars
Pros:
● great, multichannel radio,
● ultra low power,
● high-throughput (1 Mbps and will be higher),
● mesh is coming mid 2016,
● great interoperability,
● direct communication with mobile,
Cons:
● little number of profiles,
● security but getting better,
● mesh not proven in field,
● IPv6 still fresh and not proven
Conclusion:
Strong candidate for winning protocol war, but let’s wait
for IPv6 over Bluetooth mesh.

24. Protocol wars
Assumptions:
● low power,
● IP-based,
● reliable mesh,
● secure and user friendly,
● fast adoption by using existing radio silicon.
Why IP:
● IPv6 is a future of IoT,
● unfified convergence layer for all radio/wired
technologies.

25. Protocol wars

26. Protocol wars

27. Protocol wars
Features:
● simple IP bridging,
● direct addressability of devices (IPv6),
● flexible network,
● no SPoF,
● secure commisioning process,
● low power,
● several application layers

28. Protocol wars
Application layer:
● lack of application layer definition won’t help with
interoperability,
● several different application smay run
independently
802.15.4:
● nice, field-proven radio but with limited
capabilities,
● already exists in millions of products,
● it’s not a part of Thread spec, so in future may be
changed.

29. Protocol wars
The war is between Bluetooth Smart and Thread.

30. What the future brings?
1. There will always be demand for different protocols. The is no one, universal
solution for IoT.
2. Bluetooth Smart may be winning technology inside home.
3. Thread may be winning technology inside home.
4. or...

31. What the future brings?
Bluetooth has awesome radio technology on top of which can run 6lowpan. However, since it’s not
home-specific doesn’t define well application layers or commisioning.
Thread is based on 6lowpan and core of its specification is security and commisioning. It’s ready for
another PHY/MAC technology adoption!

32. What the future brings?
Possible future:
Physical/Link
Network/Transport
UDP TCP
Zigbee/AllJoyn/
OCF/Nest Weave
Application

33. What the future brings?
The biggest challenges for future:
1. Interoperability.
2. Security.
3. Provisioning

34. Conclusion
For entrepreneurs/ business developers:
1. Do not develop system - focus on product.
2. The service is your main product, device is a necessity.
3. Do not develop central unit/hub. Routing may be a feature of product, not the
other way.

35. Conclusion
For technology developers:
1. Remember about security.
2. Future proof your hardware by using both Thread & Bluetooth radio (prepare
OTA process).
3. Remember about security.
4. IPv6 is a future do not focus on technology not capable of carrying it.
5. Remember about security.

36. Conclusion
At CloudThing.io we’re working on multiprotocol, future-proof module for connected
home:
● Thread & Bluetooth Smart independent networks,
● OTA firmware upgrade,
● RF & antenna integrated,
● Security inside.

37. Conclusion
For customers:
1. Do not invest your money in systems.
2. Look for opportunities of lowering your costs, improving comfort or solving
issue with your service providers (utilities, insurance) and independent
products.
3. Wait if you can, this year will be full of nice connected home solutions.

38. Q&A
Q&A

39. Thanks!
Don’t forget to subscribe at CloudThing.io!
www.cloudthing.io
borys.tomala@cloudthing.io
@BorysTomala
@cloudthing_io