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Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
50
Implementation of a Cloud-Based Home Automation System
*A. O. Otuoze, N. T. Surajudeen-Bakinde, A. T. Abdulrahman and O.
H. Isiwekpeni
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Ilorin,
Ilorin, Nigeria.
*Corresponding Author: otuoze.ao@unilorin.edu.ng
Tel.: +2348032777695, +2348137288435, +2347069214332, +2348036789781
Abstract
Home automations provide full control and flexible monitoring of home
appliances for increased comfort, efficient energy use, costs saving, improved
safety and security, and have driven the development of various smart homes
technologies. This paper presents the implementation of a home automation
system utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This work tackles the
problems of complexity and incompatible standards inherent in the existing home
automation solutions using a robust distributed computing approach. The
embedded system operates on dual Advanced Virtual RISC (AVR)
microcontrollers, ATmega328p and ATmega16L, interfaced to input and output
modules – sensors, actuators, Wi-Fi shield, LCD, keypad etc. – for interactions
with users, appliances and the environment. The HTML5 based intuitive mobile
and web applications, developed for the system, induces unrestricted flexibility in
the system operations and management. The system deploys a novel Web
Application Messaging Protocol (WAMP), implemented with WebSocket full-
duplex and persistent connection protocol and JSON data serialization, for
seamless individual applications and subsystems integration with a relatively
high level of security through web service security protocol. This cloud-based
home automation solution has lower implementation cost compared to the
existent systems because, as it removes the expensive costs of on-premise high-
end computers and dedicated public IP addresses.
Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT), Distributed Computing, WebSocket,
HTML5, AVR Microcontrollers, Arduino UNO, Wi-Fi
http//www.unilorin.edu.ng/centrepoint
Volume 22, No.1, pages 50-69 ©2016 University of Ilorin
Centrepoint Journal (Science Edition) 2141-3819/2016 $5.00 + 0.00
CPJ 2016004/22104
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
51
Introduction
The demand for automation systems both in homes and industries is on the
increase because of their numerous benefits such as comfort, centralized
control of appliances, cost reduction, energy saving, security, and safety.
Home automation provides increased quality of life for users, especially
the elderly and disabled, and enables monitoring of children activities as
well as controlling their accesses to resources at home.
In recent years, the Internet, especially cloud computing, is used in
seemingly unlimited applications in all spheres of life. The Internet has
made the interconnectivity of virtually every object possible – human
social networks and even machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
The use of smart devices in daily activities is increasing exponentially, and
consequently their intelligence getting enhanced, due to much higher
affordability and simplicity through their connectivity [1].
The concept of the "Internet of Things" has tied in closely with the
popularization of home automation [2]. The Internet of Things (IoTs) is an
evolving technology which has received quite a lot of attention from
researchers following the vision of a global infrastructure of networked
physical objects. While this vision is enthralling, no consensus exists
about its realization [3]. IoT involves integrating smart objects; embedded
devices with sensors and actuators connected to the Internet. These
devices are intelligently interconnected thereby necessitating new forms of
communication between things and people, and between things
themselves [4].
However, early smart homes suffered poor performance, high cost of
ownership, complicated set-up and operation, poor management and
maintenance, and in many cases, the need to rewire the home [5]. The first
"wired homes" were built by American hobbyists during the 1960s but
were limited by the technology at the time. The term "smart house" was
first coined by the American Association of House builders in 1984 [6].
A distributed home automation system will consist of various,
independent, possibly heterogeneous, computing units which are referred
to as nodes. These nodes collaborate together in order to achieve the
desired automation functionalities by exchanging data (passing messages)
to synchronize their current state. These messages exchanged between the
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
52
nodes of the home automation distributed system are usually terse as
compared to human-to-human network data [7]. This is in addition to the
input and output data operation of the individual systems and applications
[8]. Recently, novel home automation is fast evolving and consequently
there have been different procedures with vast of them based on the
wireless and Internet technologies relating to the concept of “Internet of
Things”.
In this work, the problems with complexity, multiple incompatible
standards and the resulting expenses in these recent systems by providing
a simplified design protocol and developing a robust distributed home
automation system are addressed.
Related works
Many researchers proposed many designs on the home automation
technology. Although this review covers a wide variety of such works, it
will focus on the major themes which recur throughout the literatures
reviewed. These targets are: incorporation of wireless connectivity to
home automation systems, deployment of cloud computing to home
automation technology, and the dedication of Internet Protocol addresses
to servers sited at the location of installation. The review of these themes
will primarily focus on their application to Internet based home
automation.
The works presented in [9-11] offered Bluetooth based solutions to the
home automation technology using Bluetooth enabled devices to provide
control without the Internet connectivity. In this case, the appliances,
wired to the embedded controller are accessed and controlled by devices
with built-in Bluetooth connectivity. And with the maximum range of 100
meters for Bluetooth connections, a great limitation is posed rendering the
systems incapable of coping with long distance mobility and by this means
restricting the system‟s control to within the neighborhood.
Global System for Mobile (GSM) based solutions for automation of home
appliances have also been presented by [12] and [13] where a mobile
phone (or GSM modem) is incorporated to the home controller and
receives set of AT commands for controlling different appliances. Lack of
graphical user interface (GUI) for supple operation has however posed
another great deal since users have to remember different short codes for
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
53
different operations. Also, a message can be delayed for long due to
failure of mobile network operators; hence, the solution is not suitable for
real-time monitoring as well as long distance data logging (telemetry).
The widespread use of Internet gateways at homes such as broadband
modem and mobile hotspot has made remote access to control home
appliances more practicable. In [14], a Wi-Fi based home automation
deploying a web server which manages the connected home appliances
was presented. Similar works in [5], [14] and [15] show designs in which
dedicated web servers and web applications are developed to manage the
devices with the Internet. The drawbacks of such design approaches,
especially [5] and [14], are that deployment of a high-end computer at the
client‟s premises will not only increase the cost of installation but also the
energy consumption and space.
Also, the presence of the home server annihilates the essence of a
distributed system with dependency of embedded system, which otherwise
should be an independent node, on the server for connectivity. The Java
written desktop applications in both [5] and [15] for the home servers are
not easily upgradable and the data communications employed are not
robust. While in [4], where a dedicated server at the client premises is
absent, the allotment of a public IP address, which is precious and limited,
makes the system to be ineffective in terms of the cost. Moreover, the
deployment of RESTful based Web service, as an interoperable
application layer, can be better replaced by Web Application Messaging
Protocol WAMP for real-time operations and efficient computing
resources use.
Flexibility is induced in the automation operations through intuitive
HTML5 based mobile and web applications. Generally, this system
removes the costs of a dedicated public IP address as well as of a high-end
computer and provides a cost-effective solution to home automation. Also,
the problems with complexity and multiple incompatible standards are
addressed by providing a simplified design protocol and developing a
robust distributed home automation system.
The presented work utilizes ultramodern web technologies realizing a
distributed home automation system with the processes as services. A
robust data communication protocol, WAMP, is deployed which ensures
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
54
seamless communication between the individual applications and systems.
This novel protocol utilizes WebSocket full-duplex and persistent
connection and JSON data serialization and gives the administrator(s) total
control of all connected appliances Also, a relatively high level of security
was achieved by the virtue of the robust web service security protocols
used.
The System Architecture
The distributed home automation system, as shown in Figure 1, comprises
mainly two components:
Hardware interface component
Software control component
Figure 1: Overall system block diagram
Hardware Interface Component
The hardware is the physical part of the system and forms the client
premises equipment (CPE). It provides the appropriate interfaces to
sensors and actuators as well as other input and output devices which are
coordinated by a mini embedded operating system (embedded OS) written
in C/C++ programming language. The CPE provides control of
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
55
lightings, HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) appliances,
security locks of gates and doors and other systems, as well as monitoring
of the house environments (such as the room temperature, humidity and
light intensity) through various sensors [16]. It also provides interfaces for
user interactions as well Internet connectivity. As a result, the embedded
hardware is further divided into: dual-core controller, power device
actuators, integrated sensors, network card, and input/output user interface
devices.
Dual-core controller
The dual-core controller for the embedded hardware system is jointly
formed by two Atmel Advanced Virtual RISC (AVR) microcontrollers:
ATmega328P and ATmega16L. The ATmega328P is the core of the
Arduino UNO microcontroller development board which facilitates easier
and faster development. The ATmega328P is chosen to serve as the
primary controller and due to its few pins count, the auxiliary controller
(ATmega16L) supplements for multiple peripheral interfaces.
Arduino UNO is an embedded system development board based on
ATmega328P microcontroller. It has a total of 28 pins with 14 digital
input/output pins (6 of which can be used as PWM outputs) and 6
analogue inputs. The board runs on an external crystal oscillator of
16MHz and because most of the recent 8-bit AVR microcontrollers take
an oscillator cycle per instruction. With this, the system will run 16 Mega
Instructions per second (MIPS) [17].
The UNO board contains everything needed to support the
microcontroller. This include a voltage regulator (which can provide 3.3
and 5.0 V derived from a 6-20 V external power supply through a power
jack), a reset button, on-board programmer interfaced via universal serial
bus (USB) and so on. The board differs from other existing boards in that
it features ATmega16U (programmed as a USB-to-serial) in lieu of the
conventional FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip [17].
The ATmega328P has 32 Kilobytes of flash memory for storing the
program code, 2 Kilobytes of static random-access memory (SRAM) and
1 Kilobyte electronically erasable programmable read-only memory
(EEPROM) [18]. These features and other facilities enable the Arduino
board interconnect with a computer, another microcontroller as well as
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
56
other communication devices.
The ATmega16L is a low-power (by the virtue of the type „L‟-lower
power) Complementary Metal-Oxide Semi-conductor (CMOS) 8-bit
microcontroller based on the AVR enhanced RISC architecture, just as
ATmega328P, executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle to
achieve 1 MIPS per MHz. This allows the project design to optimize
power consumption versus processing speed (the two foremost factors in
hardware design). This functions as an auxiliary microcontroller for the
interface to the liquid crystal display (LCD) and the keypad as it has 40
pins out of which 32 pins are input/output (grouped into ports of 8 pins)
[19].
The two microcontrollers exchange information via their highly flexible
serial communication devices, Universal Synchronous and Asynchronous
Serial Receiver and Transmitter (USART). USART offers multi-processor
communication in full duplex operation at an agreed data transfer speed -
the band rate.
Power device actuators
These are power interface devices through which the home appliances are
powered as the controllers can only provide a maximum current of only
few milli amperes (mA). The actuators used in the project are mainly
relays. Although light emitting diodes (LEDs) are used to indicate the
states of the digital output pins, they cannot drive any power devices.
A relay is an electromechanical device which switches high-voltage,
current or power devices with small electrical signals usually from digital
electronic circuits. Using a power transistor with the microcontroller will
allow the control of outputs that require more current or higher voltages
than the microcontroller can provide. The signal from the digital circuit is
usually pre-amplified through switching transistors (bipolar transistors as
Darlington arrays).
Integrated sensors
For a home automation system, it is a good choice to have ways of
monitoring the ambient meteorological conditions (but not limited to that).
Quantities such as temperature and light intensity measurements enable
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
57
the system to interact with its environment and as a smart device, it should
be able to control the environment based on these measurements.
One of the components used is LM35, a precision integrated circuit
temperature sensing device with an output voltage linearly proportional to
the Centigrade temperature. It has an advantage over linear temperature
sensors calibrated in Kelvin, as the user is not required to subtract a large
constant voltage from output to obtain a convenient Centigrade scaling
[20]. The sensor is powered with 5 V and outputs 10 mV per degree
Centigrade. This output voltage is read by one of the six multiplexed
channels of the 10-bit ADC of the ATmega328P microcontroller.
Similarly, light dependent resistor (LDR) is used to measure the ambient
light intensity by changing its resistance value as the intensity of the
photons that fall on it reduces. At full darkness, the resistance value goes
as high as in the order of mega Ohms (), and almost approaching
infinity. While at full brightness, the resistance tends towards zero Ohms
[21]. Basically, cell resistance falls with increasing light intensity. With
the changing resistance value, this device can be put in a simple voltage
divider circuit with another suitable variable resistor and the midpoint
output voltage is read with another channel of the ADC of the
microcontroller.
Another sensor used, which is, however, digital, is the Passive Infra-red
(PIR) Motion Detector. This sensor detects any motion in the vicinity by
any animated object (such as human or domestic animal) that radiates
Infra-red. This implies that if any inanimate object falls off or is swept by
the draught of the fan, the device will not sense it. The PIR detector snaps
the Infra-red signal in its range few times and discovers the changes in the
orientation of such source of Infra-red. As soon as any gesture is detected,
the digital output pin of the device rises digitally high and can be
optionally delayed so as to be read by a digital pin of the microcontroller
[22].
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
58
Network card
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) shield utilizing Roving Network (RN 171)
module connects the CPE to client home network. It basically forwards the
entire packet between the USART, with which it is interfaced with the
controller, to the TCP/IP transport by radiating the information signal to
the nearest network access point. It features an independent antenna which
can cover a wider range and transmit stronger signals.
The RN171 is a standalone embedded 802.11 b/g Wireless Local Area
Network (WLAN) module. The module incorporates an on-board TCP/IP
networking stack, cryptographic accelerator, power management
subsystem, real-time clock, versatile sensor interface, 2.4 GHz transceiver,
and RF power amplifier (with power output up to 12 dBm). With the
RN171, designers can embed Wi-Fi and networking functionality rapidly
into virtually any device [23].
Input/output user interface devices
For greater flexibility, the user should be able to interact with the system.
Such interactions include managing the connectivity, monitoring the
operations as well as debugging the system. In order to achieve this, a
liquid crystal display (LCD) and a keypad are interfaced to the
ATmega16L to serve as the output and input devices respectively. The
LCD has 4 rows with each displaying 20 characters. While the keypad
utilizes a 4-by-4 matrix multiplexed switches [24].
A dedicated port (8 pins) of the microcontroller is dedicated for the
keypad (4 pins for the rows and 4 pins for the columns). Another port is
used for both the data bus (LCD in 4-bit mode) and the control lines [25].
Both the ports are interfaced directly to the ATmega16L.
The Software Control Unit
This part consists of a web server and client applications. The web server
presents the core for managing, controlling, authenticating and monitoring
the distributed system processes. The client applications provide graphical
user interfaces (GUIs) for client‟s operations. Email notification is
featured in the client application to allow the relay of instant messages in
case of any security or safety breach. The whole software sub-system
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
59
would be open-source based applications implemented using the HTML5
technology. HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML), Hypertext
Preprocessor (PHP), JavaScript, Cascade Style Sheet (CSS), and MySQL
Database Query Language make up the HTML5 technology.
Software is used for a long time, updated and maintained by people who
did not write them. For this reason, structural design involving the
operational use of design patterns [26] [27] and frameworks is deployed in
the software system development. Since the overall system is a distributed
system, there is need for a systematic approach in the development of the
software which directs the operations of all the hardware involved.
Therefore, this subsystem is further divided into the following
components: frontend GUI applications, backend server applications, and
embedded controller system firmware. And for the application to meet the
expectations of the end users, the following are essential features the
software should have:
Flexibility in use
Intuitive Graphic User Interface (GUI)
Efficient memory usage
Clear and uncluttered operation
Frontend GUI applications
The frontend applications include the web application and mobile
application which provide graphical interfaces for the control and
monitoring of user‟s equipment and sensors. Both the applications are
developed using HTML5 web technology; HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP
and MySQL. The web application can be launched through the web
browsers of smart gadgets such as personal computers, tablets, PDAs,
smartphones, etc., while the mobile application is an adaption of the web
application using the cross-platform development framework, PHP
Cordova (also referred to as PhoneGap).
Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern is used here with the model
as the data saved in MySQL database, View is made up of the HTML,
CSS and JavaScript contents, and the Controller are the business logics of
the application implemented using PHP [28] [29]. The web applications
are developed using a framework called Laravel. Laravel is a free, open
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
60
source PHP web application framework with expressive, elegant syntax,
designed for the development of MVC patterned applications. It is
released under the MIT license, with its source code hosted on GitHub
[30]. It is a PHP framework with powerful modern features as
authentication, routing, sessions, queuing, and caching for web
development at warp speed [31]. Laravel is accessible because it is an
open source, yet providing powerful tools needed for large, robust
applications.
Backend server applications and services
The backend applications provide the core for managing, controlling,
authenticating and monitoring the distributed system processes. It is also
implemented using Laravel framework and is written in PHP. The
backend services include data communication using Web Application
Communication Protocol (WAMP) taking advantage of Ratchet PHP
framework. Backend service is a cloud computing that provides the
communication and data management facilities for the operation of mobile
and web applications.
Backend applications and services provide the web and mobile
applications a link to the backend cloud storage while also providing
features such as user management, push notifications, and integration of
distributed processes.
Embedded controller system firmware
The hardware subsystem is composed of different electronics modules
which are interfaced to and are coordinated by the dual-core
microcontrollers (ATmega32 and ATmega16L). Components such as the
LCD, keypad, relay modules, Wi-Fi shield and all of the sensors as well as
the actuators are interfaced to the microcontrollers using embedded C/C++
language.
Arduino sketch running on the core microcontroller is written with the rich
libraries that come with Arduino. Such APIs include WiFly, Soft Serial,
Arduino JSON, WebSocket etc. The ATmega16L is programmed to run a
micro operating system (micro-OS) which drives some output and input
operations. Such include serial communication with the Arduino, input
from the keypad and the results display on the LCD. Figure 2 illustrates
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
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the operating flowchart for the CPE.
Start
Associated to
Wi-Fi AP?
Save AP parameters;
Connect to WebSocket
Server
JSON parse data;
Operate commands;
YES
Initialize Serial COMs;
Initialize Wi-Fi Shield;
Configure I/O pins
Connected to
WebSocket Server?
Read Sensors;
Prepare JSON data;
WebSocket Send data
YES
WebSocket Data in?
YES
NO
NO
NO
LOOP
Figure 2: CPE operational flowchart
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
62
Communication Protocols
The goal here is to describe ways of connecting nodes making up the
distributed system. Conventionally, networking technologies are described
following an abstract model called the Open System Interconnection
Reference model (OSI Reference Model or OSI Model). This model
contains seven layers to describe a network architecture. From the highest
to the lowest, these layers are: application, presentation, session, transport,
network, datalink, and physical layer [32].
WebSocket and JavaScript object notation (JSON)
WebSocket is found to be the most suitable for real-time bi-directional,
full-duplex, persistent connection from a web browser to a server. Where
the web application communication protocol (WAMP) is an open standard
WebSocket sub protocol which provides application routing that works
with different languages [33]. With WAMP, distributed systems can be
built out of applications components which are loosely coupled and
communicate in soft real-time [34]. It is built over WebSocket
communication protocol and JSON data serialization. JSON is an open,
language-independent, human-readable, data interchange format to ideally
inter-operate, store, and transfer data between systems. It is designed to be
simple, generic, structured, human and machine readable, and used over
the Internet. It uses a textual data format with Unicode encoding and it is
fat free as opposed to its XML counterpart [35]. A typical example of a
JSON formatted packet is given as;
{ “user_id”: “1”, “port”: “2”, “state”: “0” }
Web service and security
A Web service is a software system designed to support interoperable
machine-to-machine interaction over a network. It has an interface
described in a machine-processable format; specifically, Web Service
Definition Language (WSDL) as XML used in Simple Object Access
Protocol (SOAP). Other protocols include Representational State Transfer
(RESTful) which employs HTTP and JSON; and Web Application
Messaging Protocol (WAMP) which employs WebSocket and JSON.
However, WAMP is a much more lightweight protocol than XML SOAP
and RESTful. Web services provide a standard means of interoperating
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
63
between different software applications, running on a variety of platforms
or frameworks [36].
Web service security is a protocol to ensure the confidentiality and
integrity of WS transactions. There are various security protocols acting at
different network layers. Cryptography involves an encryption process
that transforms the information into seemingly meaningless data by using
an algorithm and a key. The encrypted data can only be decrypted with the
key or by the extremely long process of testing all the possible keys [37].
There are different ways to authenticate a party. A common secret key can
be exchanged, as in the case of password or passphrase. Nowadays, it is
the most common way to authenticate a user. The main drawback is that
the key has to have high entropy and be long enough. Otherwise, the key
can be potentially guessed by trying all the possible keys. The password
authentication is supported by HTTP, but the sent password is not
encrypted. WebSocket is authenticated through the use of ticket token
technique where the server gives an authorized user a one-time password
(OTP).
System Implementation
Hardware Construction
Most of the hardware components are modules by the virtue of the
integrated design and development adopted for the project. Therefore,
standards data bus and jumper wires are used in routing all the network
paths for the embedded hardware except the ATmega16L which was
placed on an IC socket soldered on a Vero board and the integrated
sensors as the LM35 and the LDR which were also soldered and mounted
carefully on the casing.
Each of the hardware modules were tested as they were acquired and all
were confirmed to be good and usable for the project. Also, during each of
the stages of construction, the modules were tested and each was
confirmed to work as required independently as well as conjointly. Figure
3 shows the coupled CPE in a transparent casing revealing the embedded
hardware system.
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
64
Figure 3: Hardware system close-up
Software Development
For development efficiency, many frameworks were used in this project.
These include Laravel PHP framework, Ratchet PHP WebSocket
framework, PhoneGap mobile apps framework, and Twitter Bootstrap
CSS framework. The design pattern employed is Object-Oriented pattern
while the higher-level design architecture is the Model-View-Controller
(MVC) pattern.
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is used for the presentation of the
contents of the frontend applications. Cascaded Style Sheet (CSS)
provides further styling rules for the HTML contents to enhance the
overall feel and look of the GUI applications. While a database Simple
Query Language (SQL) takes care of the data (or model) in combination
with PHP for the dynamic contents updating of the applications‟ contents.
Therefore, in this project, tools that are well suited for each of the
components are employed and such include: C/C++ languages for
embedded controller firmware; JavaScript (JS) language for both the
client-side web and mobile applications; PreHyperText (PHP) is used for
the backend server-side web applications and services scripting.
The programs as well as the scripts written for the software were tested
and all possible bugs were corrected during each stage in the development.
Both the compilation time and the run-time errors were checked and
corrected. The exception errors in the software (the applications as well as
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
65
the hardware firmware) were handled carefully and correctly.
Overall, the software applications were developed to be foolproof and
really user-friendly. This was achieved through sophisticated built-in tests
(BIT) embedded in the applications. After thorough codes inspection and
sanitation, the applications were loaded on the local server and finally on
the cloud virtual private server (VPS). The applications as well as the
services are up and running now and this prototype is accessible via
[http://cb.djade.net]. Figure 4 shows the logs of the WebSocket server
while Figure 5 reveals the feel and look of the mobile/web GUI
application.
Figure 4: WebSocket server log terminal
Centrepoint Journal Volume 22. No. 1 (2016)
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Figure 5: Mobile/web application console
Conclusion and Recommendations
In this work, the state-of-the-art web technologies were utilized and
structured to render the whole home automation system a distributed type
with the processes as services. The cloud portion of the distributed system
involves the web applications integrated with data management and
repositories as well as communication interfaces. Great flexibility was
induced in the automation operations through HTML5 based web
applications and services development for intuitive GUI mobile and web
applications.
Similarly, modular design concept was adopted in the embedded hardware
development for better functionality and greater reliability. A robust data
communication protocol to ensure seamless communication between the
individual applications and systems was deployed. This novel protocol is
WAMP and it utilizes WebSocket full-duplex and persistent connection as
well as JSON data serialization. A relatively high level of security by the
virtue of the robust web service security protocol deployed was realized.
Overall, the system provides a cost-effective solution to home automation
as the costs of a dedicated public IP address and a high-end computer, as
present mostly in other solutions, are removed.
This work aims at refining the knowledge domain for the home
automation technology and the future works need to address the security
challenges and concerns associated with the evolving Internet of Things
(IoT) concept. It is also imperative to consider embedded hardware built
on greater processing power and storage capacity to stack up the necessary
A. O. Otuoze et. al.
67
communication protocols in units of small form factor. The use of
sophisticated Wi-Fi resources with higher reliability will ensure better
throughput in the physical layer of the communication process. Finally,
incorporation of independent offline capabilities into the system will offer
cloud offloading and also ensure continuous operations in the events of
constrained system resources and low bandwidth, high latency, unreliable
networks or even total connection disruption.
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