This week’s Smart DevOps roundup features a European home automation protocol launching in the U.S., a partnership for the global deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, and a cloud-native approach for the connected world.

KNX launches in the U.S., but does it fit?

KNX has long been an accepted standard for home automation in Europe, and with its U.S. arm, KNX USA, it aims to push adoption of the protocol stateside. Despite KNX allowing devices from disparate manufacturers to integrate with each other, there’s a chance that U.S. manufacturers won’t utilize the newly available platform, as they are already using Z-Wave, ZigBee and IP protocols.

The goal of KNX USA is to educate Internet of Things developers about the benefits of using KNX instead of these other protocols, but the cons may outweigh the benefits. For one, KNX products are more expensive than their U.S. counterparts, it has yet to deliver a viable wireless solution, making it hard to retrofit. Additionally KNX products do not meet electrical, physical and certification requirements for the U.S.

That’s a tall order for KNX, considering Z-Wave, ZigBee and IP protocols seem to be serving U.S. home-control needs quite well. Z-Wave claims that more than 350 companies use the protocol and boasts of 1350 interoperable devices, while ZigBee claims 400 companies utilize the protocol and according to its products page, there are over 1,000 ZigBee certified products. 

So will the KNX platform be able to penetrate the U.S. home automation market? It is possible, especially if it can come up with a viable wireless solution, but if not, then U.S. IoT developers will probably be content with the existing protocols used today.

New reference design for motion, voice remote

InvenSense, Inc. announced the latest reference design for motion and voice remote control that will deliver an improved user experience with enhanced content navigation, gesture- and voice-interfaces, and gaming support.

The new reference design consists of the high performance 6-axis motion tracking (ICM-20608) and the ultra-low power I2S microphone (ICS-43432), as well as the field-proven InvenSenseTV (formally MoveaTV) software solution performing in air point-and-click, gesture and voice recognition. This will enable OEMs to accelerate time to market by providing a complete sensor, microphone and software portfolio. 

This solution delivers a full six degrees-of-freedom motion range, optimized motion processing access, and enables users to effortlessly navigate today’s interface applications and content with natural in-air point-and-click, directional swipes, gesture recognition and multi-touch emulation with motion. The reference design solution also delivers new gaming experiences by allowing users to play games using the remote as a controller.

Arrow partners with NetComm for Intelligent Gateway

Arrow Electronics, Inc. and NetComm Wireless Ltd. announced a partnership to provide the market’s first Intelligent Gateway. This represents the first phase of the new “Arrow Intelligent Services” framework and set of software capabilities introduced by Arrow Electronics to simplify and expedite Internet of Things (IoT) deployments worldwide.

The new global offering will lower deployment costs and accelerate the development of IoT applications that interact with IoT hardware through standard web services and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), rather than through complicated and proprietary interfaces and development kits.

Cloud-native support for IoT

The Open Interconnect Consortium, Inc. (OIC) announced the public availability of its candidate IoT specification which is the industry’s only cloud-native architecture for IoT documented in a formal specification that can be implemented almost any way a developer chooses. Cloud-native design is critical to unlocking the cost, scalability and reliability that the deployment of millions of devices requires.

The OIC Candidate Specification 1.0 includes core framework, smart home device, resource type, security and remote access capabilities.

The cloud-native approach adapts cloud techniques for local use, enabling smooth integration between local and cloud use cases (for example local-to-local and local-to-cloud). Cloud-native architecture gives developers more flexibility, and means that even if developers start with a local-only approach they don’t have to re-architect to scale as their products become increasingly successful.

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