Hi Julie,

I disagree with the “All IP” point - these days everything is networked, and the predominant protocol is IP. In my opinion the world would be a much better place if we didn’t have all these different protocols (X10, Z-Wave, etc.) competing and fighting for supremacy and instead we’d have a single, open protocol on top of TCP/IP. I do understand that embedding a TCP/IP stack on a small device is a lot harder than embedding a X10, Z-Wave, etc. stack. However, I do believe that is the direction things should go, if technically feasible.

Today you must use TCP/IP to transmit multimedia data, and this will not change. You say “IP is a poor protocol for distributing audio and video throughout the house”. In my opinion your are wrong on this point - just look at what most people use these days: digital TV, voice over IP, personal video recorders like TiVo/MythTV/Windows Media Center, etc. Everything using the a TCP/IP infrastructure. Why not take this one step further and use TCP/IP to talk to your sensors and actuators as well instead of using yet another control protocol? This is what protocol convergence is all about. Let’s just look at how successful the Internet has been.

You say “folks from the PC industry erroneously assume that TCP/IP is the best and only standard for whole-house communications and control”. My experience has actually been very contrary to this - I’ve seen support for lots of different things (X10, Z-Wave, etc.) but *not* TCP/IP. I am actually looking for TCP/IP-based solutions since my house is completely wired for TCP/IP on top of Ethernet so if you could share some links to “folks from the PC industry” that offer TCP/IP-based solution I’d be grateful.

Finally, my prediction is that companies that offer end-to-end solutions to home automation and services based on TCP/IP are the ones that will survive in the long term. Someone needs to integrate everything that is out there (voice, video, control) and to me the logical glue to use is TCP/IP.

Cheers,

Eloy.-

Eloy,

A little late on that one bud.  That was from 2006.  What have you been doing?  Trying to get your TCP/IP convergence to work properly...Hmmm

Yeah, definitely late. I just read the article above today, though. It was mentioned in the Smart Home Blog a couple of weeks ago (http://smart-home-blog.com/archives/661), and I was surprised to read the negative comment about IP. Hence my comment here.

I am curious to know if, more than a year later, Julie Jacobson still thinks that HA vendors that embrace TCP/IP are bound to fail, and whether she still thinks that TCP/IP is a bad choice for distributing voice and video

It is never too late. Thank you for your comments. I started to reply, then realized I was writing more the history of IP-based home automation, rather than a mere comment.

So if you can please be patient, I will respond to all of your questions in an illustrated mini-novella later today.

Thank you for your very good questions. I received some flak even back then, but I think my notions about IP-based home automation in early 2006 (that editorial would have been written 1/2006) will make sense with some further explanations.

Thanks for your patience.

OK, my response is now posted:
http://www.cepro.com/article/why_ha_manufacturers_fail_revisited/

I focused on this topic in a recent article I wrote and I have a different analysis.
1. There needs to be more focus on what people want and will use.
2. A fully integrated system is needed from one vendor and installed by one group to ensure compatibility.

You may be interested in what I wrote in the end of the article. It’s based on what I want and bet others do too.

Personally, I wonder why I can carry a remote in my pocket that locks or unlocks, turns on the lights, opens windows and even starts a $20,000 car but don’t get a similar device for a $500,000 house! And that same car has dozens of microprocessors connected on networks to monitor the auto’s engine and transmission, braking, and performance to optimize energy use and reduce pollution. It even already has wiring installed that allows adding or upgrading sound and video systems, navigation systems and built-in cell phones.
Certainly cars are mass produced and the design is controlled by one company, but the components come from numerous suppliers. Could the same idea apply to houses, if a standard design were agreed upon by the industries involved? With the US alone building one million new homes (+ MDUs) each year, the market for such electronic integration is enormous. But standardizing on anything requires more cooperation than one often sees in industry, witness the replay of the “Beta vs. VHS” battle of two decades ago with today’s “BluRay vs.HD-DVD” fight!