IT-experts say that the market of "intelligent" houses in Russia will never become massive and in the next decade is unlikely to go beyond the elite housing in the Moscow region. In the future, a small part of the population with high incomes in the regions will become a possible consumer of the market, but for the broad masses, the "smart home" will remain a colorful picture on the pages of tabloids and Internet resources. Is it so? Already, the infrastructure of the dwelling of an ordinary inhabitant is a rather complex combination of various engineering systems. The X10 standard will help to combine them into one network without global costs.
Smart home features
The most common and simple function is lighting control. The intelligent system allows you to remotely control each lighting fixture. Without getting up, you can turn on or off the lighting in any room or throughout the house at once, adjust the brightness of the night illumination of the corridor, landscape lamps. "Smart home", including the light in differentplaces according to a certain algorithm, will scare off intruders, simulating the presence of the owners in case they leave.
Automated control will maintain the set temperature parameters in the room, controlling heating devices or air conditioning and ventilation systems. The smart home can control fire and security equipment and, in case of emergency, send a notification to the owner's phone or relevant structures by voice or SMS.
How it all began
X10 is one of the first open industry standards developed for home automation systems by Pico Electronics (Glenrothes, Scotland) in 1975. Initially, the company was engaged in the design and production of microcircuits and microcalculators. The first experience of expanding the scope of production was very successful commercially. The X10 platform quickly gained popularity among smart home developers and gave a tangible boost to the development of this industry. Attempts to create a similar interface were made by other companies, but were not very successful.
For its time, X10 is a protocol with good noise immunity. Popularity was promoted by comparative cheapness of the equipment, orientation of developers to household automation, maintenance and technical support. On the North American continent, the standard is still in demand and widespread. Following the developer, a wide range of X10-compatible devices began to be produced by the giant corporations IBM andPhilips.
Today Pico Electronics has become X10 INC (USA) with PowerHouse trademark.
Equipment classification
X10 network hardware is a collection of devices interconnected via a standard electrical network or radio channel. The basic system must include:
- Transmitters - controllers that generate and send commands, control modules (with a computer interface or stand-alone), programmable timers with different time ranges, remote controls (infrared or radio).
- Receivers - actuators that carry out received commands: lamp modules and cartridge dimmers, dimmer and socket blocks, all kinds of drives.
In the case of building a larger network or expanding an existing one, auxiliary equipment is often used:
- Transceivers that receive command signals from remote controls with further conversion to the X10 communication protocol before being sent to the power grid.
- Repeaters and signal amplifiers.
- Filters that reduce the effects of electromagnetic interference.
- Interphase bridges, for 380 V power networks (passive or active, for buildings over 300 m22).
- Measuring devices that simplify installation and commissioning, sensors (motion, light, etc.).
Equipment manufactured by different companies often have similar appearance, functionality and even markings. Deviceshave a different design depending on the requirements for placement; for in-line mounting, DIN-rail mounting in standard electrical cabinets, micro-modules for flush-mounted junction boxes. You can start home automation with a few basic modules, and then gradually scale up and expand the functionality by adding new hardware units.
Examples of the element base
A typical X10 module is based on a programmable microcontroller. According to a certain algorithm, it controls the functioning of the electronic circuit of the device, which feeds the generated signals received from the external power supply to its input and converts the output pulses for reverse transmission to the network. Microcomputers can be mass-produced controllers (such as PIC or AVR from Microchip and Atmel, respectively).
X10 lamp relay modules are widely used for lighting control in the smart home concept. There are two modifications: plugged into a regular socket for connecting floor lamps, table lamps (LM12) or made in the form of an adapter between a lighting cartridge and a standard light bulb with an E27 base, up to 100 W (LM15S).
Household electrical appliances are controlled using instrument socket modules. For example, the AM12 module looks like a lamp module, but does not support lighting-specific commands (more on that below).
Software
Software products will help implement the X10 protocol on a computertop level.
ActiveHome Software - free software for personal computers based on WINDOWS operating systems from the developer of the X10 platform. The package includes a huge number of utilities and device drivers, as well as a mobile version of the program.
ActiveHomePro - software for computer interface CM-15 (radio transceiver, 433 MHz) with connection via USB port. Allows you to control lighting and household appliances with the task of the necessary algorithms, schedules and timers from a personal computer or autonomously from a wireless remote control.
X10 Commander (Melloware Inc) is a freely distributed software for any OS that allows you to create a multifunctional control service based on a PC and integrate the X10 protocol on your phone and any mobile devices (iOS/Android).
Russian LLC "Home Technologies Laboratory" offers consumers a convenient device on the X10 platform - a full-color VGA touch panel XTS-36. The standalone device has a user-friendly graphical interface. X10 protocol control and control of the smart lighting system remains comfortable, with excellent visualization, but eliminates the need for a computer to constantly run in the background. The kit comes with drivers and software for prescribing the addressing of X10 devices and the basic parameters of the initial configuration, for compiling various scenarios.
X10. Protocol in detail
Physical environment for the exchange of information in the security forceselectrical wires is the transmission / reception of fragments of sinusoidal high-frequency oscillations (120 kHz) with an amplitude of 5 V and a duration of 1 ms / 630 μs in each half-cycle of the mains voltage, in windows formed immediately after crossing the zero mark. In three-phase circuits, similar windows are formed in each phase, i.e. with a shift of 60 degrees with the further use of interphase bridges.
If the device in the receiving window receives a message with at least 48 vibrations, it considers it as a logical "one", otherwise - as a logical "zero". The transmission of a bit of information takes two half-cycles of the mains voltage. Moreover, the inverse value is broadcast in the second one, which not only improves noise immunity, but also serves to identify the synchronization code during packet transmission.
X10 - a protocol in which a standard single packet (frame, frame) is transmitted in 11 periods. It contains:
- sync code - 2 bits,
- module code - 4 bits,
- building code - 5 bits.
Each packet, without any interval, is transmitted twice in a row. Before broadcasting the next packet take, a pause of 3 periods of mains voltage is maintained (with the exception of brightness dimming commands transmitted in a continuous stream).
IR remote controls in X10 networks operate using the X10-IR protocol at a carrier frequency of 40 kHz. The radio channel (X10-RF protocol), depending on the region, has a range from 310 to 434 MHz.
Addressing and command system
The maximum number of modules in an X10 network is 256. Each module has two selector switches with 16 fixed positions.
The first switch - the Home code is used to select a category or group of devices. It has letter designations of positions from A to P. In the second, fixed positions are indicated by numbers from 1 to 16 and indicate a specific module in the network (Unit code). Thus, each device is assigned a unique number consisting of a letter and numbers. For example; A5, M14, etc. System controllers, unlike executive modules, usually do not require addressing.
An idea of the existing platform commands and their corresponding actions can be obtained from the table.
| Team (English) | Team (Russian) | Type | Action |
| All units off | Turn off all consumers | Group | Disconnect all devices with the specified house code that support the command. |
| All ligths on/off | Turn all lights on/off | Group | Turn on/off all lighting modules with a given house code. |
| On/off | Enable/Disable | Address | Transfer to the on/off state of a specific module. |
| Dim/Brigth | Increase/decrease brightness | Address | Dimmer control. Number of packages fordimming ranges for different devices are different. |
| Pre-Set Dim 1/2 | Set a specific brightness level. | Address | Allows you to select any of 32 brightness levels. |
| Status request | Request Status | Address | Request the status of the switching module. |
| Status on/off | Reply to inquiry | - | Module status response. |
| Hail Request/Acknowlege | Request/send response | Group | Technology team to determine the saturation of the address space with other building systems. |
Key Benefits…
X10 is a low-budget home automation class protocol that uses existing electrical networks to transmit information and command messages. There is no need to lay new communications, which is especially important in houses with a fine finish or completed repairs. You can either use network wiring or use a radio channel - the range of equipment offered by manufacturers allows you to implement both options or a combination of them. The cost of devices, in comparison with more modern platforms, is also pleasant.
The next advantage is the flexibility of use and ease of installation, which does not require special skills and abilities. The system is characterized by excellent extensibility and scalability. The modules are connected according to the principles of Plug & Power (plug and play). Allthe setup is to give the new component a unique address. Then the automation will do everything by itself.
The division of the lighting infrastructure into zones is greatly simplified. It is enough to assign the same letter (building code) to the devices of the same group, and when the corresponding broadcast command is given, the light in this zone will turn on or off.
The open protocol is another plus of the platform, which implies easy integration with any control system, the ability to use third-party wiring accessories when designing a network.
…and disadvantages
The main advantage of the X10 interface - the transmission of an information signal through power wiring - is also the main source of its problems.
Slow speed. The transmission of the command takes about a second, i.e., the delay in the execution of the command is really noticeable even when controlling one device. And in the process of working out the embedded scenario, the delay can become annoyingly unacceptable. Since the information transfer rate is tied to the frequency of the supply voltage, it is not possible to increase it.
Low noise immunity. The abundance of household appliances in a modern home dramatically increases the level of interference in the power network, negatively affects the signal-to-noise ratio, which, in turn, affects the quality of information exchange between X10 modules. Hence the consequences - non-execution of commands or false switching. When building large networks, the problem can be limitedaddress field, since only 256 devices will be able to connect to the X10 protocol.
Out of sync on the transmitting equipment can lead to packet overlap and collisions, resulting in none of the commands being executed. It is impossible to radically improve the situation.
There are no access control procedures, there is no protection against unauthorized actions of third parties. And finally, it is impossible to create complex schemes for controlling household appliances and lighting with the implementation of the self-diagnosis function of the system and its components.
X10 modifications
The listed shortcomings are mostly corrected in the next generations of home automation systems of the so-called bus architecture (signals are transmitted over a specially dedicated/laid bus with a low-voltage supply voltage).
In turn, X10 hardware developers and manufacturers have taken steps to improve and modify the existing platform. The result was the X10Extended format with an extended instruction set. The undoubted advantage of the modified platform was the regulation of the procedure for accessing transmitters to the trunk, eliminating the occurrence of collisions and expanding the functions of the Exteded Code 1 command with a change in the packet format.
Further modification of X10Extended led to the creation of the A10 format, which significantly expanded the address field (up to 4096 modules) and added several service functions (available only on devices manufactured by the developer). The A10 and X10 protocols are absolutely compatible, which makes it possible to operate both types of modules in the same system.
Summing up, it's hard not to agree that the first home automation interface has become obsolete in the past fifty years. Attempts to modernize, reminiscent of patching the roof during the rainy season, are not able to radically rectify the situation. But the budget features of the platform still keep it in the smart systems market, and X10 equipment is actively produced and sold.
Domestic firms predict a new wave of popularity for the interface. Consumers are offered a wide range of both stand-alone devices and ready-made smart home solutions based on the X10 platform.
