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Thursday
September 4, 2003
Wireless sensors add 'oomph' to home automationINIX Technologies Sdn Bhd believes that the addition of new wireless sensors and transceivers would see a threefold increase in market potential for its developed Secure Smith home automation, security and surveillance system (In.Tech, June 19). The company plans to roll out these added features “soon,” chief executive officer Jimmy Tok Soon Guan told In.Tech recently. In the four months since it launched Secure Smith, iNix claimed to have sold around 2,000 systems, mainly to property developers to install in new houses they are building. Tok said he expects the addition of wireless capabilities to broaden its market potential to include existing homes. “The digital radio-frequency communication capabilities eliminates the need to wire up the sensors to Secure Smith's main controller, and this saves householders from having to get contractors to lay unsightly external wiring or breaking their walls to lay concealed wiring. “It also lets them install Secure Smith themselves, allowing us to sell boxed sets of Secure Smith directly over the Internet or physically through DIY shops, supermarkets, TV sales channels, insurance agents, and so on,” he added. These boxed sets will be user configurable to cater to the different mains voltages and frequencies used in different countries, but will also come with the appropriate plugs and adaptors for different types of sockets. Giving Secure Smith wireless capabilities includes adding a wireless transceiver daughter-board to its main control unit and various wireless-enabled sensors like vibration, smoke, motion sensors, as well as sensors which detect open doors and so on. All these sensors communicate with the central transceiver over an encoded wireless digital connection. The system operates at 100 different frequency channels in unlicensed frequency bands, and iNix plans to allocate one frequency to each country. Each set sold in the country can have up to 72 quadrillion different identification (ID) codes, with each home having up to 256 sub-IDs, which Tok reckons is more than enough for each home. This wide choice of IDs makes it very difficult for hackers to crack, he claimed. “Moreover, even if intruders tried the crude approach of jamming the system by transmitting strong radio-noise signals in the system's frequency band, Secure Smith will alert homeowners if it's unable to interact with the sensors after a preset time,” said Tok. iNix has yet to finalise pricing but Tok assured that the wireless transceiver board would cost less than RM300, while each wireless sensor would cost less than RM100 each. “Each of these sensors uses a commonly-available, type 23A, 12V car remote control battery costing RM5,” he added. For more information call iNix at (03) 5632-2653, fax (03) 5632-1075 or try out its demonstration home remotely through a web browser at www.inix.com.my/demo_house.html. - CHARLES F. MOREIRA
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