This diagram illustrates how all four components of SHaaS connect to the cloud to work together.
A SHaaS (smart home as a service) application is a family lifestyle monitoring system that uses a collection of services to analyze input from the smart home sensors. The SHaaS application learns how the family lives and how the home is used. It also has the ability to make intelligent decisions to make homes more comfortable, safer and more energy efficient.
The SHaaS ecosystem eliminates the overall number of sensors required, reducing redundancy and maintenance. A single sensor could be used for a variety of applications. For instance, a motion sensor could be used in a security system, for controlling lighting, for managing home environment, for controlling entertainment options, and simply for family lifestyle.
Instead of consumers having to decide which hardware and software options to implement in their home, they can leave it up to the providers of home services because these operators already have relationships with the home owner. Their routers, modems, and set-top boxes are already in the home and the customers are already accustomed to receiving and paying a monthly bill for these services.
GreenPeak (now part of Qorvo) recently announced the Family@Home system that enables resident and parents to monitor what is happening in the house. It is a smart system that can learn what is normal for the household and can take action if something out of the expected occurs.
There are four basic components in a SHaaS application like Qorvo’s Family@Home. First is a network of sensors in the home comprised of either position or motion sensors. The sensors provide a general indication of when and where movement usually occurs in the home. Temperature sensors manage the environmental conditions in the home use key fobs to register entering or leaving the house and provide their exact location and movements. Wearables with embedded sensors provide important information for monitoring health and safety issues.
The information derived from these sensors is wirelessly collected by a local hub (gateway or set-top box) and transmitted to an intelligent cloud service. The cloud service collects and analyzes the data and generates alerts to the consumer and first responders if necessary. After the initial installation of the Family@Home sensors linked to the analytics, the algorithm in the cloud accumulates enough data for the application to “learn” how the family lives.
Another component is the consumer’s management app, which can be accessed through smart phone or any web connected device. Consumers can live within a single dashboard and the services are consolidated into a single user interface. The home owner can monitor the state of their home as well as the people and pets inside.
Finally, the service provider is able to handle customer support, billing, subscriber management, and software and service upgrades or changes. These four components make SHaaS a reality.
