wireless devices



	Consultancy • Design • Installation • Set Up • Support

User Interfaces

This section deals with the choice of devices available to control the various comfort and security features.

It is easy to spend thousands of pounds in infrastructure and equipment to then find out that the system is not useable, commands go missing or that your system develops "quirks". Hopefully this section will go someway to explain how some of this equipment works and should help you (or your installer) to avoid the most common problems.

You can read this sequentially or jump directly to any section of interest:

Wireless touch screens

Essentially, the holy grail of lifestyle automation. The idea that you can control everything from a portable (or even wearable) device is very appealing and thus a fair amount of effort has gone into this. Wireless touch screens can issue control commands either as Infrared (IR) codes or radio frequency (RF) codes (and some can do both).

Infrared is cheap, interference-free and widely-used in domestic equipment however, it is directional - ie. you need to point your transmitter in the direction of the receiver - and cannot travel through walls. Radio frequency (typically 418MHz or 2.4GHz) obviates these problems, however it is subject to electromagnetic interference (EMI) which in practice restricts the reliable range (to the receiver) to same-room or to next-room.

Wireless devices can be one-way (ie. transmit only and thus cannot give feedback or display actual device status) or two-way. Obviously, two-way is better as it allows the touch screen to interrogate the status of the various devices and provide feedback to the user (and in some cases, video playback).

Individual devices (lights, DVD player, security) can be controlled using IR commands, RS232/RS485 commands, network (TCP/IP) commands or (in some cases) proprietary standards. Most quality equipment suppliers install at least a RS232 interface but a chaos of IR protocols and commands prevails in the low-to-medium end of the market which makes integration difficult. It would be trivial to provide VCRs, DVDs and TVs with RS232 ports, or even better a 100mbps network port but no such luck!

Below, we list the most common wireless user interface devices found in residential installations (probably amounting to 80% of the market):

	Philips Pronto RU970/TSU6000 (aka Pronto Pro). This is a £600 ($900) control device capable of transmitting native IR and IR-over-RF codes (for which needs LI970 RF base - approx.£150) powered by standard AAA batteries. It is a one-way control device. It is capable of processing IR codes in the 36KHz to 550KHz range, has IR learning capability (provided the IR code is in the stated range of frequencies) and a built-in database with over 500 brands. RF transmission frequency is 434MHz (EU) or 418MHz (US) with a nominal range of 100ft (about 30m). The display is 3.8", 320x240 pixel, 256-colour touch screen. The device is best programmed using a standard Windows PC.
	Philips Pronto RU950/TSU3000 (aka Pronto NG) This is (roughly) the black and white version of the above and retails for £250 ($370). As before, it is capable of both issuing (one-way) IR and IR-over-RF commands (using the same LI970 RF base) and it is a one-way control device. As before, RF transmission frequency is 434MHz (EU) or 418MHz (US) with a nominal range of 100ft (about 30m). The display is a 3.8", 320x240 pixels touch screen displaying 16 gray levels. It also has 8 more control buttons than the RU970. You can find further details at the Philips Pronto web site.
	Crestron STXI-1700C. This is the big brother of remote controls. It uses 418MHz RF signal to communicate two-way with a base station up to a range of 50ft (15m). It communicates with a base station which stores the relevant IR or RS232/RS485 control codes. The display is 5.7", 320x256, 64000 colour touch screen. Programming requires special software available only to qualified installers. Price on application (but roughly comparable with a high-end PC). You can find further details at Crestron's web site. A similar device is the AMX Viewpoint. Refer to the AMX's web site.
.	Tablet PC using wi-fi technology (Fujitsu Stylistic ST4000 pictured). It uses 2.4GHz RF with IEEE 802.11b to communicate two-ways with a base station. Tablet PCs retail for about £2,000 ($3,000) but this does not include network hub and control base station. The typical display is 10.4", 1024x768, 16M colour touch screen. While these features look impressive range is limited to same-room (or next-room if lucky). Programming uses standard browser commands - but depending on requirements can be time consuming.
	Mobile phone (O2 XDA pictured) It uses GRPS or G3 signals to carry TCP/IP protocol. Retails between £200 ($300) and £350 ($500) (depending on subscription plan). It has the advantage that can be used practically anywhere. Display is 3.5", 320x240, 4096 colour touch screen. Further details can be found at the XDA web site. Programming can be accomplished by using browser access or touch-tone phone keys.

The list above is not exclusive. Other methods of control can also be used. For instance voice commands (although not very reliable) and proprietary infrared sensor arrangements.

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