eHome

Market trends point to the growing importance of technologies that support the increasingly dynamic and multi-functional ways in which people live, work, and play in their homes. The goal of this research is to develop both enabling technologies and applications for the ‘Smart Home’ of the future. This research program brings together TRLabs’ expertise in several related research areas such as wireless communications, access networks, digital media and data networking.

Home Gateway

The home gateway device (HGD) will be a core component in a HAN. As well as providing connectivity to the Internet, the HGD will provide connections to in-home devices using a variety of media. Key research questions related to the HGD include: multi-protocol support; media access control; high availability; scheduling requirements; and platform selection to support these requirements.

Home Area Network

The home area network (HAN) will be composed of a diverse set of devices ranging from small sensors to consumer electronic devices to personal computers, each with its own unique requirements. Research will investigate new peer-to-peer ad hoc network architectures and protocols for the HAN. Research challenges to be addressed include interoperability among heterogeneous devices, device identification and discovery, security, and robustness and reliability. Resource management and quality-of-service (QoS) management issues are equally important research topics.

Human Computer Interaction

The ease of interacting with the home network is instrumental in the consumer marketplace. The goal of this research is to develop an improved understanding of the requirements for the interface within the home, and how to satisfy the user's social needs for privacy, interaction, and ease of use.