Satter Ramblings

Radioio.com

Most of you know that I am an avid follower of Radioio.com. Now I can be more than a follower, I can be an owner. The company just did a reverse merger and is now a publicly traded company. Check out the press release at their site. For those that are interested the stock closed at .67 cent a share last week.

Home Automation Servers

With news that my old employer would be completely changing its software strategy, essentially abandoning it in favor of a proprietary system from Crestron, I have decided to share my experience from the work I did. This will take the form of an open source home automation server, a.k.a. HAS.

The main goal of HAS is to provide end-users with dynamic room and home control based on the user’s device and security level. This is very important in my view. Home-owners, occupants and guests should have varying levels of control. So for an example a guest should be able to control the room they are in with their iPaq. For example, I can get up and turn off the lights in the room. So, I should be able to remotely turn off those lights. The same is true for the A/V system. However, the home owner certainly would not want me to control other rooms that I could not reach nor should I be able to access the security or HVAC system. In addition, the homeowner might allow them to play MP3s but probably would not want to give the ability to create a permanent play list or order a movie from MovieLink.

Another item to consider is that control could be across multiple systems. Not because of the end user, rather because the system should support multiple vendors including Crestron, Premise, and others. This is so that the software can be used by dealers to support their clients.

This brings us to the most crucial feature reliable, fast device control. The system must work and work at the speed of a light switch, i.e. you flip the light switch and the lights go on or off immediately and with no discernable delay.

If I was prioritize the list it would be ordered as follows:

1. Reliable – works without fail
2. Fast – performance must be
   1. sub second response times in device control
   2. sub second response time for device status
   3. Reasonably fast for informational display i.e. retrieval of room display, list of lights, media library, etc.
3. Multiple control system – the system should support major control systems and be able to add new ones rapidly
4. Security – the system should give appropriate control to the user preferable by role i.e. house guest, baby sitter, children, homeowner, etc.
5. Dynamic – the system should present a user interface dynamically based on security, device and location.
6. Extensible – the system should be easy to extend to new devices and services.

With this in mind I have put together an architecture that should get HAS the ability to accomplish my vision.

Click image to enlarge.

Below is a rough architecture. It is broken into several layers:

• Presentation – this layer is responsible for providing a user interface for a client device based on the services that are available to that client device and user.
• Services – this layer is composed of various services available
  • A/V – control of audio and video components and media libraries
  • Electrical – control of lights, ceiling fans, pumps
  • Climate – control of HVAC, refrigeration, saunas
  • Security – control of both computer and physical security systems
  • System – information about the home and system
• Logical – this layer provides a consistent API to control devices independent of the actual control mechanism. In addition, the information about the home is stored at this layer
• Physical – this layer provides the actual device dependent control. The architecture of the logical and physical layers is similar to ADO.Net. The programmer only learns the logical interfaces. The physical layer is implemented for a specific database for example MS SQL or Oracle.

The idea is as follows:

1. The device sends a request for a UI
2. The UI sends the appropriate UI based on the device type, location, and user access control level
3. The user can then use that UI to control various functions like lights, A/V, etc.

The key point to this system is that the user gets a UI that is appropriate for the device location, and who they are. So for example, I walk into the home and go to the front hallway touch panel. Touching the panel, I see a room control for the entrance way and front living room. The system knew what to display because it knows that the device is an embedded touch panel in the front entrance. If I want more control I can touch a button for more control. At that point the panel will request that I identify myself. Based on my response it will unlock more functionality, like the ability to control another area, or see all the thermostats.

This is just one way the system can be architected. The next part will be on what tool to use for building the system.

Storm Passes

Well everything around the house is ok. The biggest thing to do in this situation is to clear debris and make sure the wind does not have any missles. So cleaning and clear dead branches and debris is very important.

The next step is put back what we took out of the atrium. While it was a pain we rather be over cautious rather than sorrow. No trees or damage can be seen around the nearby homes. The road seems to be clear. Once the wind dies completely I will be making a sweep of the area and checking the home of my partner. He has two small children so he wisely left to Plano.

He called me late last night to let me know that they had made it safely to his brother's place. He told me that it was the most amazing drive to Dallas. There literally was cars at the side of the road for 200+ miles. They stopped and gave people all their water and food.

Well back to work.

Storm Rolls in

So far, knock on wood, the storm is looking to only graze Houston with tropical storm strength winds and rain. We still have power and satelite. Here in West Houston we have wind and rain. The wind is here is not gusting to much maybe 20-30 mphs. We should know more later tonight.

Let's hope we stay lucky.

Waiting

A majority of the preparations are now complete. The only thing left to do is wait. The biggest difference between this storm and others is the amount of coverage by local and national news. The local channels have just been on news not even commercials. The public is receiving real-time news along with the news media.

The winds have picked up and the relative calm from the morning. Well time to get back to finishing up our last minute preparations.

Preparations Continue

With the storm turning towards us we continue to prepare for the storm today. The some good news is that we may not get the backend of the storm where the heaviest damage occurs. In addition, it looks like our phones will work no thanks to Speakeasy.

Both my wife and I continue to monitor the storm.

Speakeasy and VoIP Upgrade

A new risk to safety of my family has arisen. I got an email from Speakeasy, that they are going forward with their plans to upgrade our VoIP service. I of course called support immediately to register my concern. Their response was, if it fails we will overnight you a new telephone adapter. I pray it does not fail or we will have only cell phones for communications. The cell phones right now are starting to be a problem as the system operates a peak capacity. I know I am not getting every call to my phone. And the dreaded Network Busy message has become frequent. I have even gotten a Data Connection Error. Needless to say you sometimes have to be patient to get through to whom your calling.

This actually brings up a concern about VoIP. I now wonder if VoIP should be regulated. Clearly, Speakeasy seems to be more concerned about their schedule then my family’s safety. While I tend to be cutting edge, the better pick may have been a plan old analog phone. Here in Houston, in addition to 911 and 411 services, we have 311 service. The 311 service has become very important as it is being used as another hotline for help. For example, it is being used to request transport out of mandatory evacuation areas. I don't even know if my VoIP line can even call 311.

And now to top it off the provider in the middle of an evacuation is going to upgrade me! Well add another to do item for after the storm change my ISP and telephone provider.

Rita Preparations

As reports of hurricane Rita continue, my wife and I have decided to ride out the storm along with our two teenage sons and twenty-one year old daughter. I have lived most of my life in Houston and experienced other hurricanes so the decision is based on good information and experience. My wife and stepchildren are from Iowa and have been in tornadoes.

We live in West Houston. The area were our house is located is not known to flood. In addition it is near the center of a subdivision and surrounded by houses and trees to buffer us from winds. My biggest concern is our glass atrium which has a glass roof. The atrium was added to the house in 2001. When we had the atrium built we took into account storms especially hurricanes. The glass atrium is made out of double pane hurricane glass so unless it is hit with something very heavy and with a lot of force behind it, the glass should be fine. Even then it should only crack and not break out.

To prepare for the storm we have take or will be taking the following actions:

• Move our convertible into the garage.


• Top off the SUV with gas, empty it out and get it ready just in case.


• Move books, carpets and artwork out of the atrium into another part of the house.


• Pack some emergency bags.


• Put important documents like Social Security cards, passports, deed of trust, insurance, and contact numbers in water tight folder.


• Police and continue to police the area for trash and debris. Also pulled our outdoor furniture and chimes into the house.


• Check the fence for loose boards.


• Open all the windows a crack. This may seem counter-intuitive put with the glass atrium we need to keep the house pressure equalized with the outside otherwise the atrium could implode. We also will be leaving all our interior doors open.


• Get books in case we lose power.


• Get additional cash to have on hand.


• We will be charging up cell phones. We will also be checking to make sure the car charges for them work.


• Check to make sure the flashlights work and put them along with extra batteries in a safe central location.


• Clean the bathrooms and tubs including thoroughly rinsing out and drying the tubs. Right before the storm hits will fill them with water along with a lot of additional containers.


• Get additional containers for hold water in case of leaks. Also setup a leak supply area including towels and mop.


• We have already gotten supplies to get through the storm. If the city becomes incapacitated for the long term then we will evacuate to our apartment in Plano. Hopefully that will not become necessary.

As we prepare the day is sunny and hot like any other day, the true definition of the calm before the storm.