ABSTRACT

Inthesecondpart,theemerging¦eldofhomeautomationisunderreview.Homeautomation,which isbecomingwidelyknownundertheterm“smarthomes,”allowsnotonlytheeconomicbene¦talready knownofbuildingautomationtobeyieldedintheresidentialsector,butadditionallyexhibitsahuge potentialforsocialbene¦ts.Inthischapter,therequirementsandapplicationsofhomeautomationas well as a brief overview of common communication protocols will constitute the main topics.