HOME AUTOMATION SYSTEMS - ODP IN THE KITCHEN

Home automation (HA) systems are developing in parallel with ODP. There are many similarities in concepts and basic tools at the architectural and system levels, which are matched, in first generation HA systems, by significant differences in realisation. HA technologies are characterised by a wide diversity although there are serious moves towards standardisation both internationally and in the European arena. in particular, the CEC has funded, under the Eureka and Esprit programs, the development of the, so-called, Home Systems Specification (HS) with the goal of establishing a common European standard. The HS specification is close to ODP in several respects and could be aligned at several levels. The objective of this paper, accordingly, is to examine the relationship between HA technologies and ODP and to propose a second-generation HS specification that exploits the opportunity of making an HA system compatible with ODP.