A. Z. Alkar et al.
: IP Based Home Automation System
IP Based Home Automation System
Ali Ziya Alkar Member, IEEE, John Roach, Member, IEEE, Dilek Baysal, Member, IEEE
Abstract — Companies producing consumer products
have begun working on ways to control their products
over the IP (internet protocol). Multinational electronics
firms are marking a fair share of their lines using
technologies like the RF ID, a front end to the IP
networks. The main feature that is achieved by the
already-existing home automation systems is that, every
piece of equipment integrated is to be controlled by a
central unit. The proposed solutions based on this idea are
relatively expensive and difficult to configure per each
system environment. IP based systems are supposed to be
simpler to be accessed and easier to manipulate, with the
only necessity being, close proximity to a direct internet
connection. With this in mind, we designed a low cost
hardware/software framework based on a unit what we
call the IPAcBox which allows home/industrial
automation systems to be accessed and controlled through
a direct internet connection right out of the box even in
dynamic IP configurations. We have developed the
software and hardware infrastructure necessary for this
system. This research consists of designing the server and
the client side software, the communication protocols and
addressing some hardware issues, along with a proposal
to further our studies.1
Index Terms — Automation, IP, Internet
I. INTRODUCTION
Automation has become a de facto standard in our
daily lives. The number of home automation systems
installed is estimated to reach around 200 million by
2011. Many firms have begun investing in technologies
such as the RF ID to meet the increasing demand of
providing real time information to the home automation
networks. Internet is currently the most efficient way to
control or monitor home appliances.
There are several usage scenarios for the internet based
automation systems. For instance while shopping it is
possible to connect to the refrigerator through the
internet and its contents as well as the expiration date of
the foods, etc. can be accessed through an RF ID
marking system. In this way, it is possible to keep track
of what to buy and unnecessary purchases can be
avoided. At home, one will be able to designate the hours
during which children may watch TV even while not
physically present by remotely arranging the settings
Ali Ziya Alkar is an Associate Professor at the Electrical & Electronics
Engineering Dept., Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey (e-mail:
alkar@hacettepe.edu.tr).
John Roach, Renko Electronics Ltd, Ankara, Turkey (e-
mail:johnroach1985@gmail.com).
Dilek Baysal is an electronics engineer currently working for Aselsan
A.S, Ankara, Turkey (e-mail:dilekbaysal.baysal@gmail.com).
Contributed Paper
Original manuscript received 08/26/10
Revised manuscript received 09/03/10
Current version published 12/23/10
Electronic version published 12/30/10.
2201
accordingly. Television may be turned on via the internet
and channels can be blocked. Heaters may be turned on
prior to arriving home. Settings of the refrigerator may
be changed while on vacation to conserve power. The
examples are not only limited to home. Drug inventories
may be tracked in pharmaceutical warehouses for better
service. Humidity levels around farm fields may be
followed up remotely, via sensors for proper irrigation.
The studies in [1-6][10-13] and [14] are some of the
examples of internet based automation. However, they
are not feasible to be implemented as a low cost solution.
A low cost Java-Based Home Automation system,
without highlighting the low level details of the type of
peripherals that can be attached is presented in [7].
However, all these approaches rely on a central unit, and
a computer to connect to the outside world.
There are also internet based automation examples that
have been published such as [8] where the system was
based on a special dedicated network which is not a
generic solution. Another proposed approach [9] is the
research which is only based on a model and without
hardware implementations. Most importantly this
implementation also relies on a central server which may
be too expensive and complicated to set up for the end
user. Moreover, these are far from providing a generic
solution to the problem that is in need today.
In this paper, we present a low cost secure and flexible
home automation framework based on the IP and its
prototype implementation aimed at any home appliances
to be manufactured. In this framework, the
communication protocol between the hardware and the
consumer electronics devices to be used in home
automation have also been presented. We propose an
optimized, self adaptive communication protocol. The
designed system will be open to expansions, further
developments, and will enable the control of different
types of devices as long as they are built within the
guidelines of the protocol suggested. The system is
designed to connect to a designated server for web
accessibility without the need for any setup on the user
side. This feature makes this system uniquely easy to
operate and low cost.
The ability to remotely update the device firmware,
being manufacturer independent and the added security
functions are some of the other benefits of this
framework.
The next section will briefly introduce the units in the
basis of our framework, Section 3, discusses the
hardware and the software components of the system,
Section 4 details the communication protocols. Section 5
is the conclusions.
0098 3063/10/$20.00 © 2010 IEEE
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II. IP BASED HOME AUTOMATION
SYTEM
Internet
Application
Server
User
IPAcBox Enabled Hardware
Fig. 1. General Overview of the system
The system is outlined in Fig 1. The user can connect to a
predetermined configured application server which is
located anywhere in the world through the internet by either
a mobile phone or a laptop/desktop computer. The IP
enabled home network devices (simply named here as the
appliances) are also connected to the application server, and
stay connected (on status) as long as they are not
disconnected.
The system is basically formed of the hardware and the
software components. These are briefly outlined as follows:
The Hardware Technology:
The hardware technology is based on a microcontroller
based interfacing circuitry that communicates with the
appliance and the software server. This hardware unit with
a microcontroller, special interfacing circuitries and
network connection is what we name as the IP Access Box
(IPAcBox). The data packets sent from the appliance are
processed and sent to the network by the IPAcBox. The
communication process between the devices/IPAcBox and
the IPAcBox/server will be detailed in Section 3.
The circuit board design has been completed following an
open source reference2. Optimizations were performed as
necessary on the initial design. In the heart of the design
there is a 32 bit microprocessor. The system also
accommodates a graphics accelerator. The added processing
power can be used down the line for image and video
transfer as well as video analytics where necessary.
IPAcBox also includes an integrated power manager for
optimized power dissipation. The hardware is interfaced to
the appliance through a high speed USB connection. In
addition, the power is supplied to the IPAcBox through the
USB interface from the device it is connected to, thus
eliminating the need for an extra power connection. The
input/output ports are optimized with respect to the initial
design to lower the design costs, reduce power consumption
and the design complexities. The maximum design
consumes less than 2 Watts.
2 6
The USB-powered board is a low-cost, fanless single board computer
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 56, No. 4, November 2010
The Software Technology:
Software modules required by the software server are an
open source PHP server3, an object oriented open source
programming language4, Secure Shell (SSH), a database
language5 and an open port for the chat software server to
communicate with the IPAcBox.
The selected Operating System (O/S) running on the
IPAcBox is an open source operating system6. The choice
for an open source operating system on the embedded
system is based on the fact that it is freeware and open to
modifications if desired. For the server actually there is no
limitation as long as it can run POSIX (Portable Operating
System Interface) based programs on it. POSIX is the name
of a family of related standards specified by the IEEE to
define the application programming interface (API), along
with shell and utility interfaces for software compatibility
with variants of the UNIX operating system. For our
research purposes, a open source operating system has been
chosen for our system and all the software has been
thoroughly tested on this O/S.
Principles of operation of the system:
IPAcBox connects to the server designated by a real IP
address, predetermined at the design stage. In this server, a
database to compare and analyze the information sent via
the IPAcBox will be available, along with PHP and
Phython software to provide a user interface to process the
incoming data. In terms of operation, the system is set up
to work out of the box and needs no further configuration
on the user side. This is a very important feature provided
by the unique connection scheme which is also detailed in
this paper. After the physical connection of the hardware to
the appliance through the USB interface, the user connects
to the homepage of the software server. The user creates a
profile in the first run of the program (Fig 2).
Fig. 2. User Creating a Profile
3
Apache
4
Python
5
SQL
Linux
A. Z. Alkar et al.: IP Based Home Automation System 2203

Then the user accesses the designated home page by entering
the username and password. The name, unique serial number
for the item and the passwords of the products that are needed
to be added are entered as shown in Fig 3.
confidentiality and integrity of data over an insecure
network, such as the Internet.
In this section, the three communication protocols used in
this research will be explained; the protocols for the
IPAcBox and the application server, the IPAcBox and the
appliance and finally the IPAcBox and the user.

III.a. IPAcBox-Application Server Communication Protocol

Looking at Fig. 5, one could get a more visual description of
how the IPAcBox and application server communicates.
P1: The IPAcBox is powered up. The O/S will initiate the
DHCP protocol and call up P2.
P2: This process tries to connect to a predetermined application
Fig. 3. Adding Appliances to the server
IP address which was determined by the manufacturer at
production. The connection is an SSH connection.
Only if the user prefers to do so, information such as power
consumption, preferred appliance settings and collected
sample data can be shared with the manufacturer. The aim for
this option is to provide the manufacturer with statistical data CSV doc
P1
to be used for usage analysis. Through a user friendly
interface, the user makes any change to the appliances that
are included in his/her network, looks up the information
about the current status of any of the products, and may look
at the history of each product with timestamp information for
P6
statistical purposes. As an example a refrigerator is added and
the operation (ON/OFF/StandBy), can be monitored as well
P2
its sample content on the initial page of this appliance (Fig 4).

IPAcBox Side

Application Server Side

P3 P5
Fig. 4. Managing the appliances

In Fig. 4, it can be seen that the device is turned on and the

inventory can be visualized as well.

III. THE COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL

While designing the communication protocol, the security of P4

information and fast data transmission were kept in mind. To

this extent we have used a native SSH (Secure Shell) protocol
and a communication protocol we are suggesting in this paper. Secure

SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged Unsecure

using a secure channel between two networked devices. It is
used primarily on UNIX based systems to access shell Database
accounts. The encryption used by SSH provides
Fig. 5. The communication protocol
2204
P3: The IPAcBox is connected to the server using SSH
however it still needs to be registered. A small script on the
server gets and checks the connected appliance’s MAC, IP
address and its encryption key. The encryption key and the
MAC address are unique and embedded within the
IPAcBox. If the encryption key and MAC address are
correctly defined, the P3 will allow a direct connection
from the appliance. If the server is too busy, the script will
inform the IPAcBox to connect to another available server.
P4: The appliance (IPAcBox) has now been authenticated. It
is time to check if the IPAcBox software and server IP list are
up to date. If it is not, a randomly named file is created by the
server with a permission only limited to that IPAcBox that it
is communicating with. The file name and its link are sent to
the IPAcBox. The IPAcBox will check the encryption key
file. If it is verified then the IPAcBox receives the update
files automatically through the SSH. After each appliance
reboot, the P3 and P4 process are rerun.
If the IPAcBox firmware and server lists are up to date,
then a special “communication channel” in the server is
established which will be used only for “unsecured
transactions” where the data transfer speed is more
important than “safe transactions”.
The communication between P5 and P6 should be
considered unsafe at all times. No personal information is
allowed to be transacted through this protocol.
The “communication channel” mentioned above can be
thought as a chat room where only authenticated appliances
are allowed. To this extent an asynchronous multi-threaded
script has been written.
P5: Any “unsecure transactions” will be correctly formatted
in this process for P6. The basic formatting standard
example is shown in Fig 6.
server@<server.IP>:@<MAC>#are_you_there
MAC@<IPBOX.IP>:yes_i_am
server@<server.IP>:@<MAC>#need_update
MAC@<IPBOX.IP>:
sending_update#<random_filename>#md5
server@<server.IP>:
@<MAC>#error#resend#<random_filename>
MAC@<IPBOX.IP>:
@sending_update#<random_filename>#md5
server@<server.IP>:
@<MAC>#success#<random_filename>
Fig. 6. The basic communication between P5-P6
In Fig. 6, it is possible to see how the server alerts the
IPAcBox to get/send a file from/to the server. The
<server.IP> is the IP of the server and <MAC> is the MAC
address of the IPAcBox which belongs to the user.
<IPACBOX.IP> is the IP of the IPAcBox which belongs to
the <MAC>. If the IPAcBox is not present, the user is
informed that the IPAcBox (appliance) is not correctly
connected to the internet. Otherwise the server sends a new
command to the designated channel as:
server@<server.IP>:@<MAC>#need_update
MAC@<IPACBOX.IP>:@sending_update#<random_filename>#md5
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 56, No. 4, November 2010
In Fig 6, during the transmission an error seems to have
occurred. The file is retransmitted. The reader should note
that these two files would only be sent and received through
the SSH which will be encrypted. Each IPAcBox will have
its own permission set within the server. In other words
another IPAcBox will not be able to connect to this session
and get/send a file.
If a MAC is registered to a user, then the IPAcBox enters
the chat room that is registered to that user.
P6: Any “unsecured transaction” would be checked through
the comma-separated values7 (CSV) already within the
IPAcBox. This CSV document which shall be referred to as
functions.csv contains what the functions sent by the server
actually mean. It is set by the manufacturer and is updated
only by the server. An example CSV document can contain
the two lines (get and send) shown as in Fig 7.
# Sample CSV document
- function_name,called_file,options
- get,ssh_get.py,-file
- send,ssh_send.py,-file
Fig.7. An example CSV document
In Fig.7, P6 will call an object oriented open source
programming language script (ssh_get.py) with the option
“–file”, indicating that the IPAcBox should get the
randomly named file from the server when the server issues
the “get” command.
Although the process speed is quite fast, it may decrease as
users and their appliances increase. To solve the bottleneck
problem the appliance can be routed to a new server. Since
the framework is modular, the only thing to do is to update
the IP list within the IPAcBox once it is successfully
connected to the Application Server.
As one could observe, the whole system is quite dynamic. If
the manufacturer would wish to expand the functions while
the appliance is already in the market, the solution would be
to update the functions.csv document and add an extra
script to be used in the IPAcBox. The same dynamic
approach also exists between the IPAcBox and the
appliance itself.
As for data privacy protection, it is made sure that the
manufacturer will only be able to access data made
available anonymously on the server unless the user
explicitly allows personal data to be transferred to the
server. Otherwise all data is stored within the IPAcBox
itself. Data is read and called from the IPAcBox through the
internet. Server maintenance cost is low on the server side
since no data is to be recorded onto the servers. Although
this system was tested for Wi-Fi and LAN connections any
other internet connection will be sufficient as long as the
IPAcBox is able to get an IP from a DHCP server.
7
A comma-separated values (CSV) file is a simple text format for a
database table. It is often used to move tabular data between different
computer programs that support the format.
A. Z. Alkar et al.: IP Based Home Automation System
III.b. IPAcBox-Appliance Communication Protocol
The dynamic relation between the application server and the
IPAcBox has also been implemented within the relation between
the appliance and possible accessories that can be connected to
the IPAcBox. Primarily appliances and also any accessory such
as a camera, sensors etc. can be added to the IPAcBox via the
USB interface using the HID (human interface device) protocol.
A script is run on the IPAcBox that reads which reads data from
any connected HID device. Configurations of the HID devices
can be sent by the manufacturer remotely. The system’s work
routine is as in Figure 8;
User Layer
IPAcBox Python Layer
Application Server
Fig.8. Appliance/Accessory addition to the IPAcBox
The communication between the externaly device and the
IPAcBox must be done according to a configuration file.
The format of the configuration file is shown in Figure 9.
Line
Number
HID Configurations
01
(End point, device vendor id., etc.)
02 HEX codes for data type
Label for each data
03
(May be omitted if data is not to be labelled )
Fig.9 The format of the configuration file
2205
When a new accessory is plugged-in, the IPAcBox checks a
predetermined folder for the configuration documents via a
script. If the vendor id and device id are on the first line of
the configuration document the script starts using the
accessory according to given configurations.
HEX codes for data type is for appliances/accessories that give
more than single output. Hence the start of a data stream from
an appliance/accessory must start with a certain HEX code.
The label for each data is basically the application server
friendly data label which will be explained in more detail
while explaining the IPAcBox-User communication protocol.
Each data which is received from the appliance/accessory
(sensors, camera, displays etc.) is labeled with its
appropriate label indicating its origin. The accessory could
also be a sensor node which includes intelligible data.
So far we have covered the communication protocols
between the IPAcBox-Application Server and the
IPAcBox-Appliance/accessory. The last protocol is the
IPAcBox-User connection protocol.
III.c. IPAcBox-User Communication Protocol
When a user wishes to connect to the IPAcBox (in other words,
to the appliance which the IPAcBox is connected to), he/she
must first login to the internet site provided by the application
server. The application server runs a PHP server. When the user
logs in, a script on the server checks whether the IPAcBox
registered to the to the user’s chat room. To check this, a simple
command is issued which looks like the following:
server@<server.IP>:@<MAC>#are_you_there
MAC@<IPACBOX.IP>:yes_i_am
It should be noted that each user has a designated folder with
the application server which is created upon user creation.
Every user can only reach the folder that belongs to them.
server@<server.IP>:@<MAC>#need_update
MAC@<IPACBOX.IP>:@sending_update#<random_filename>#md5
In the example shown above, the server asks for an update
from the IPAckBox. Once “sending_update” code reaches
the chat room (i.e. the server) a small script calls in a
“check-up” script that checks if the randomly named file
has arrived is “ok”. This is done by using the md5 code sent
by the IPAcBox and the one that the check-up script
calculated. If there is problem the server sends:
server@<server.IP>:@<MAC>#error#resend#<random_filename>
MAC@<IPACBOX.IP>:sending_update#<random_filename>#md5
As one can see, the file is resent under the same name. If
the file is sent correctly i.e. if the md5 matches the file’s
md5 hash which is checked by the server’s “check-up”
script, the server sends an acknowledgement to the
IPAcBox with the following command8:
server@<server.IP>:<MAC>#success#<random_filename>
indicating that the data is correctly sent.
8
MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) is a widely used cryptographic hash
function with a 128-bit hash value. Specified in RFC 1321 used to check
the integrity of files.
2206
A script which started when the user logs in starts reading
this file. As each data has a label, the label is cross
referenced to a configuration file within the server sent by
the manufacturer previously. Unlike the user data which
will be erased once user logs off; the appliance
configuration data is held within a SQL database to ensure
fast access to frequently used data.
The data is than displayed to the user according to the
specifications for the appliance given by the manufacturer.
The data labels which were sent by the IPAcBox ensure that
each data will be placed in a proper format.
The page that displays the data is refreshed at certain time
intervals unless the user explicitly refreshes before. The
whole process is repeated upon a refresh.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper we introduced a low cost, dynamic solution to
the home automation using the internet. The novel approach
in this paper discusses the migration of the control and
monitoring of home/work appliances directly to the internet
through special hardware and protocols.
The proposed IP based system offers several novel benefits,
if compared to other home automation designs. IPAcBox's
capability of connecting to a server directly over the
internet is advantageous with respect to other systems. The
system proposed is low cost and utilizes a database that is
universal to all products of all manufacturers. The plug and
play characteristics, along with the security features
embedded in hardware and software makes the system both
easy to use and secure as well. With these in mind,
numerous projects can be developed, thus leading to further
technological advancements.
Appliance manufacturers will be able to use this framework
with only a few interface changes, with minimal additional
expenditure, through the usage of the hardware and the data
transmission protocols that are proposed, in a plug and play
fashion. Normally systems such as these may require
difficult interventions, configurations on the consumer site,
which are proven to be costly and time consuming. With the
system proposed, the appliance manufacturer may provide
the interfacing hardware either seamlessly embedding into
the appliance or as a separate device attached to the
appliance.
IPAcBox can be accessed remotely, to evaluate the status of
the product and submit firmware updates into the appliance
if necessary by the manufacturer. The appliances that are
connected to the internet via the IPAcBox may allow the
manufacturer to collect information for statistical purposes.
This property can be customized according to the
manufacturers’ requests with the consent of the consumers
due to privacy concerns.
Since the appliances are indirectly connected into each
other through the server, it may be possible for them to
communicate with each other, receiving other appliances’
status and decide autonomously accordingly. This is
currently our topic of our study.
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 56, No. 4, November 2010
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BIOGRAPHIES
Ali Ziya Alkar received his B.S. degree in 1988 at
Electrical & Electronics Engineering Department,
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. He completed
his M.S. study in 1991 at the Electrical & Computer
Engineering Department of the University of
Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. In 1995 he
received his Ph.D. from the same university. His main
interests are computer architecture and design, and
application of security algorithms to VLSI and
embedded systems. Supervised and completed several
government funded research projects. He is an Associate Professor at the
Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Hacettepe University. He
is a member of the IEEE.
 A. Z. Alkar et al.: IP Based Home Automation System 2207

John ùefik Roach is currently working for Renko Dilek Baysal received her B.S. degree in 2010 at
Electronics Ltd. in Ankara, Turkey. John is a Electrical & Electronics Engineering Department,
Certified Application Developer (APTECH), Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. She is
Certified Information Systems Manager (APTECH), currently working for Aselsan A.S. She is mainly
Open Software Developer. His specialties are but working on boundary scan testing, implementation
not limited to Java, An object oriented open source of embedded systems. She is a member of the IEEE
programming language, C#, C, JSP, ASP.Net, PHP,
HTML/CSS/JavaScript, XML, Assembly, SQL,
Microsoft SQL Server, Network Systems, RHL,
Debian,UNIX, and Windows. Reliability tests for hardware and basic circuit
design. His main interests are embedded software designs and computer
networks. He is a member of the IEEE.