Microsoft leads home control initiative

In a move aimed at hastening the use of computers to control home appliances, Microsoft has teamed with General Electric (GE) and others to merge current efforts into a unified initiative.

The goal is to provide interoperability of existing and future home control products from Microsoft, GE and other makers of consumer products.

Jeff Goodman, manager of residential products at GE Industrial Systems, said: "We are very excited about this first step toward convergence. Manufacturers such as GE have been awaiting a common standard for lightweight home control so we can offer exciting new products and services that will improve the lives of our customers."

In conjunction with the initiative, Microsoft this week demonstrated an early version of what it calls simple control protocol (SCP) at the Home Automation Show and Conference in Chicago. SCP is a lightweight, royalty-free networking technology for devices including smart appliances and home control products.

The technology works best with devices that have little memory and processing power, and for networks with low bandwidth. Lights, home security and automation devices, and other small appliances that do not support TCP/IP networking, will benefit most from SCP, explained Microsoft. These also include devices that are connected using low-speed powerline technology.

SCP will be interoperable with Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) networks and CEBus standard/Home PnP-enabled devices to allow consumers to control their entire home from one network.

Jon DeVaan, senior vice president of Microsoft's consumer group, said: "SCP bridges the open, internet-based UPnP model to very low cost devices. SCP is an enabler that allows UPnP to encompass a complete spectrum of household products."

Processor developers ITRAN Communications, Mitsubishi Electric and Domosys are working on SCP-enabled powerline carrier networking chips. Domosys will provide tools and support to developers that want to integrate SCP and UPnP in their products.