Home automation is the smart management of all aspects related to security, well-being, and comfort of a home or building. Through a set of technologies, different systems are automated, controlled, administered, and optimized.
Characteristics of home automation
There are several automation systems and architectures to automate a home or building. According to the characteristics of the system, these can be:
- Wireless home automation systems: They work with radio frequency waves and are easy to install given that they don’t require any work to install wiring.
- Wired home automation system: The signal is transmitted through dedicated cables, which guarantees that it’s secure, efficient, and stable. The installation of cables may require some work.
According to the installation of the home automation system, the architecture may be:
- Centralized architecture: A central controller is installed that receives information and processes and sends it to each device. This solution is usually used in wired systems.
- Distributed architecture: The architecture isn’t centralized in one point, but it’s distributed to all modules in the house that process information and execute commands. It’s frequently used in wired and wireless systems.
- Mixed architecture: Small devices are installed throughout the house to process the information and transmit it to the rest of devices. This type of architecture is usually used in totally wireless systems.