Technologies Inc. traxtech-ensc340@sfuwhitmore/courses/ensc305/projects/2004/ttprop.pdf · Proposal for a Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant Project Team: Howard Chang David Chen

September 20, 2004 Dr. Andrew Rawicz School of Engineering Science Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 Re: Project Proposal for a Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant Dear Dr. Rawicz, The attached document, Project Proposal for a Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant (HomePA), provides an introduction to our proposed project idea for ENSC 340. Our ultimate goal is to design a phone-operated system that can control multiple home appliances and open/close doors and windows via wireless communication. The Wireless HomePA consists of two modules: a central control station acting as a base transmitter and multiple transponders depending on the amount of electric devices to be controlled. The central control station is connected to the household phone line, receiving and processing a touch-tone command sent by an individual’s phone call. The phone command determines the device to be controlled; the control station will then acknowledge the corresponding transponder to operate the device via wireless communication. We believe that our project idea will provide paraplegics, seniors, and even the general public the convenience of remotely operating home appliances. The attached project proposal provides an overview of the Wireless HomePA, describes some existing design solutions, and outlines our budget estimation, tentative sources of funding, and timeline. We also explain the proposed solution of our product along with its design consideration and improvement. Our project team, Trax Technologies, is comprised of five enthusiastic and industrious fourth year engineering students. Group members include Sean Hou (CEO), Jack Lin (CFO) and Fred Yu (CTO), David Chen (COO), and Howard Chang (CIO). Each student brings their diverse knowledge and talents to the team. Should you have any questions regarding our project proposal, please feel free contact us at [email protected]. Yours sincerely,

Howard Chang Chief Information Officer Trax Technologies Inc. Enclosure: Project Proposal for a Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant

Technologies Inc. [email protected]

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Project Team: Howard Chang David Chen Sean Hou Jack Lin Fred Yu Contact Person: Howard Chang [email protected] Submitted to: Dr. Andrew Rawicz – ENSC 340

Mr. Mike Sjoerdsma – ENSC 305 School of Engineering Science Simon Fraser University

Issued Date: September 20, 2004 Revision: 1.0

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION: Do Not Distribute

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Copyright © 2004 Trax Technologies Inc. ii

Proposal for a Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant

Executive Summary Trax Technologies is a recently established high-tech company aggressively pursuing the large industry for wireless tracking devices. Tracking devices are systems that assist a person’s living by monitoring and controlling an incidental unit, and then responds to perform a task based on the person’s instruction. Trax Technologies delivers superior value to our customers in the application of wireless technology. Trax Technologies is founded on the development its initial assistive tracking product: the Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant, abbreviated as HomePA. Our motivation for developing such a device can be illustrated from the following scenarios:

Picture yourself just leaving for a fabulous vacation. All of a sudden you doubt whether or not you will be a victim of home theft since your home’s doors and windows may not be locked and closed properly. Imagine yourself just off from your work in a bitterly cold day. The chill of winter involuntarily makes you wish that your home is already full of heat at the time you are home. Also imagine a senior individual, who is paraplegic or has a difficulty moving around. He or she would like to turn on the light at home.

These scenarios are as far fetched as they may seem; many individuals face the similar situations everyday. According to the FBI, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United States every 15.4 seconds. In addition, according to the population projections from Statistics Canada, senior people (65 and over) occupied about 12.7% of total population in the year 2001. The percentage will increase to 13.3% by the year 2006. Trax Technologies foresees a large market potential for home control products designed to assist and enhance everyone’s living. While many existing solutions on the market today, such as housekeepers, home security systems, or home control systems through the internet or PDAs, have resolved these aforementioned scenarios, they either need an individual to hire a housekeeper or require an individual to have an internet access at home or to own a PDA. Some of them may even be complicated for seniors and children to use. As a result, fulfilling the dream of operating household equipments with existing home control products is expensive and inaccessible for some senior and disabled people. Our HomePA is low cost and versatile, which will allow any user to remotely monitor and control multiple home appliances through a call made by any telephone and cell phone. By a simple touch-tone command, an individual can enjoy the convenience of opening/closing his or her home’s doors or windows and operating home appliances without hassle. HomePA eliminates the frustration of actually reaching the device to be controlled and can be integrated on any open-able and switch-able home equipment or facility. Trax Technologies aim to develop innovative and economical wireless tracking products that serve and appeal to the public. Our ultimate goal is to offer both disabled and able-bodied individuals quality and convenient solutions. We endeavour to make our company a leader in the industry for wireless assistive devices.

Copyright © 2004 Trax Technologies Inc. iii


Table of Contents

Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ ii

Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................... iii

List of Figures.................................................................................................................................iv

List of Table....................................................................................................................................iv

Glossary...........................................................................................................................................v

1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................1

2. System Overview....................................................................................................................2

3. Existing Design Solutions ......................................................................................................3 3.1. Home Security Systems .......................................................................................................3 3.2. Home Appliance Control Timer..........................................................................................3 3.3. Digital Home System...........................................................................................................4

4. Proposed Design Solutions ....................................................................................................5

5. Budget and Funding ...............................................................................................................6 5.1. Budget Estimation................................................................................................................6 5.2. Tentative Sources of Funding..............................................................................................6

6. Timeline and Milestone..........................................................................................................7

7. Description of Team...............................................................................................................8 7.1. Sean Hou (Chief Executive Officer) .....................................................................................8 7.2. Jack Lin (Chief Financial Officer).........................................................................................8 7.3. Fred Yu (Chief Technology Officer).....................................................................................8 7.4. David Chen (Chief Operating Officer) ................................................................................8 7.5. Howard Chang (Chief Information Officer)........................................................................9

8. Conclusion...............................................................................................................................9

9. References..............................................................................................................................10

Copyright © 2004 Trax Technologies Inc. iv


List of Figures

Figure 1: Collaboration Diagram of Wireless HomePA ..................................................................2

Figure 2: Control Keypad for Home Security System.....................................................................3

Figure 3: Lamp & Appliance Timer.................................................................................................4

Figure 4: PC Control Centre for Digital Home System ...................................................................4

Figure 5: Gantt Chart.......................................................................................................................7 List of Table

Table 1: Tentative Budget Estimation .............................................................................................6

Table 2: Milestone Chart..................................................................................................................7

Copyright © 2004 Trax Technologies Inc. v


Glossary CPLD: Complex Programmable Logic Device DTMF: Dual Tone Multi-Frequency EVB: Evaluation Board FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array IC: Integrated Circuit PCB: Printed Circuit Board PDA: Personal Digital Assistant RFID: Radio Frequency Identification VHDL: VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language

Copyright © 2004 Trax Technologies Inc. 1


1. Introduction Household appliances such as a lighting system, a heating or furnace system, a garage door system and other systems are essentially necessities that bring convenience, comfort and luxury to any home. However, such an appealing environment is generated when these and other systems can be operated synchronously and remotely. The major aspect of this evolution is the integration of a home assistant and an easily-operable controller. Together, these components are capable of altering the atmosphere of the entire house with one press of a button, even if nobody is at home. However, many people are unable to enjoy the effectiveness and efficiency that a home control system can facilitate. They are general individuals who cannot afford such a versatile remote control system because it is very expensive or requires sophisticated installations. They are seniors or children who may be challenged by the complexity of familiarizing themselves with the controller. They are physically disabled people who suffer from debilitating conditions such as paralysis, leg amputation, arthritis, etc. Yet, individuals belonging to these categories are not able to control their home appliances remotely and independently. Instead, they have to reach a device themselves to operate, or rely on their family members, friends or caretakers at home to assist them in performing such a task. We propose a project, the Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant (HomePA), that would allow individuals to remotely control home appliances or open/close doors and windows via a phone call. Our solution is a product consisting of two modules: a central control station acting as a base transmitter and multiple transponders depending on the number of electric devices an individual would like to control. The central control station is connected to the household phone line, receiving and processing a touch-tone command sent by an individual’s phone call. The phone command determines the device to be controlled; the control station will then acknowledge the corresponding transponder to operate the device via wireless communication. Currently, existing home control solutions include housekeepers, home security systems, and home control systems through the internet or personal digital assistants (PDAs). None of these solutions prove an economical mean of managing household appliances because they are either very expensive or difficult to install and use. In addition, many people simply do not hire a housekeeper, have an internet access, or possess a PDA. By contrast, our home control solution will only require the use of a telephone, which will be completely operable by any individual with no hassle, cheaper, and compatible with any switch-able open-able home appliance. The general public can now enjoy an affordable solution of accessing a home control system. Of course, certain physically disabled individuals can also benefit from our HomePA. This document outlines the proposal for our project. The following sections provide discussions and critiques on various aspects of the project including the system overview, tentative budget and possible sources of funding. It also establishes our project timeline, schedule, and team member profile. Some existing solutions to the project are also discussed to demonstrate the rationale in determining our proposed design solution.



2. System Overview The Wireless HomePA consists of several functional components as outlined in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Collaboration Diagram of Wireless HomePA The Central Control Station is plugged into a household phone jack. It receives and processes an incoming touch-tone command sent by a user’s phone call. The phone command determines the home facility or appliance to be controlled. The control station will then acknowledge the corresponding transponder to operate the device via wireless communication. In the situation that the user requests for the status report from a transponder, the central control station can forward the result as an outgoing call to the user. The transponder is placed beside the home facility or appliance that a user would like to control. Once it receives a command from the central control station via wireless communication, it performs the assigned operation to the device – switch on/off or open/close. A transponder can also report back to the central control station the status of the facility or appliance currently connected to it. Multiple transponders can be controlled by the same central control station through the wireless network.

Appliance 1 e.g. heater

Appliance 2 e.g. light

Appliance N e.g. door

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.

.

.

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Transponders

Central Control Station

Any Telephone or Cell Phone

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Wireless

Touch-tone Command

Status Report

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3. Existing Design Solutions 3.1. Home Security System A typical home security system can protect families from potential intruders and provide the status information about each window and door of the house. But once the home owners are outside the house, they cannot access the current status information about their house windows and doors. Moreover, home security systems are only installed with motion and movement detectors inside the house, which is not able to perform status check on home appliances such as lights and heaters; thereby, a typical home security system is not possible to turn off a certain appliance if it is accidentally left on by the home owner while leaving the house.

Figure 2: Control Keypad for Home Security System

3.2. Home Appliance Control Timer When home owners their leave homes, they might activate some timers to provide control over their home appliances. For example, some people may use a timer that turns on the heater before they return from work, while others may set a timer to turn on lights at nights while they are on vacation. The home appliance control timers are capable of controlling a wide variety of appliances ranging from lamps, TV, stereo, lawn sprinkler to air conditioner. As well, the timers are easy to use and capable of providing accurate timing. However, using timers to control home appliance is not usually the most economical method. Because the timers must be manually preset, the setting cannot be further adjusted once a user leaves his or her house. This circumstance implies that the timing control of an appliance cannot effectively respond to some special cases such as late return of home owners and change of weather condition. Appliances might even be triggered when they are not supposed to be in service, thus result in an unnecessary energy waste.



Figure 3: Lamp & Appliance Timer 3.3. Digital Home System Another solution is the implementation of a digital home system, which will require home owners to integrate all household appliances to a central computer unit. The system focuses on wireless home entertainment while the home security function is an additional component. The cost for such a modification and equipment is not affordable for a regular family whose primary goal is to obtain home security, and the sophisticated application software will require home owners a significant amount of time to be familiar with. Although digital home system can be remotely controlled through the internet, internet is not generally accessible in many occasions, such as when the user is on the way home or the user does not subscribe to an internet service.

Figure 4: PC Control Centre for Digital Home System



4. Proposed Design Solutions After investigating many existing technologies, we discover that there is not any elegant engineering solution for common households at a reasonable price. We propose a home control product, Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant (HomePA). This product will not only allow home owners to examine the statuses of their household appliances or facilities, but also grant them the ability to operate them through a simple phone call and receive notification about emergency situations. One major advantage of our Wireless HomePA is that home appliances are controlled via wireless communication. This distinctive feature greatly eliminates the need of household re-construction and modification necessary to accommodate extra wiring. Another advantage is that our product is easily accessible by any telephones and cell phones. As a result, our product allows everyone to enjoy the home control functionality from anywhere and at anytime. More importantly, controlling via phones provides a cheaper alternative to PC-based control system or hand-held devices like PDAs. In addition to monitoring, our project features the option to control home appliances with ease. With the unique two-way communication, the users will be notified when a special occasion arises. Therefore, users will never have to worry about unclosed windows on a rainy day or the risk of break-in by intruders. The HomePA will be favoured by the average families who are aiming to improve home security. In addition, our product promises a new method for people with disabilities to control surrounding house appliances without the need to move around. The inexpensive HomePA will also attract families from all income levels. Finally, the potential market for our product is projected to cover the whole world. Considering the insufficient time we have for working on this project, our home control system will only focus on common home appliances. As well, due to limited sources of funding, we will not be able to cover all brands of appliances since each requires a slightly different controller system. Some possible further enhancement of our HomePA may include the integration with a video camera to provide a better monitoring of home status and the addition of voice-control mechanism. In conclusion, our HomePA is an innovative solution for home control and monitoring. We will help resolve many home owners’ security concerns regarding their homes while they are away.



5. Budget and Funding 5.1. Budget Estimation The tentative budget for our project is outlined in Table 1. Several categories in the budget are grouped according to their functional specifications. Moreover, an estimation of 15% contingency fund has been considered into account for overrun funds and unexpected expenses.

Table 1: Tentative Budget Estimation

Equipments Estimated Cost

DTMF Decoder/Generator IC $10

Microcontrollers * $100 Adaptors $30

Electronic Components and Sensors $80

Motors and Controlling Devices $300

Wireless Modules ** $200 Sub Total $720

Contingency Expenses (15%) $108

Total *** $828

* One microcontroller is approximately $10. The estimated cost shown above includes microprocessor kit and the use of one microprocessor for each controlled appliance. ** Wireless Modules consist of components such as antenna and wireless IC module. *** The estimated total may vary due to possible further expansion of implementing additional appliances or facilities if time allows. 5.2. Tentative Sources of Funding Trax Technologies is currently applying for ESSEF and Wighton Development Funds. In addition, our company is also in the progress of exploring additional outside sources of funding for the development of our Wireless HomePA. Throughout the project timeline, each team member will contribute personal capitals for the differential amount between the estimated budget and granted funds.



6. Timeline and Milestone Figure 5 is the Gantt chart that shows the dates of which the corresponding tasks are expected to be completed. Table 2 is the milestone chart that highlights the some important due dates.

Figure 5: Gantt Chart

Table 2: Milestone Chart

Date Milestones September 19 Project proposal October 3 Progress report 17 Functional specification 15 Design specification November 9 Hardware implementation 16 Software implementation December 1 Integration and debugging 3 Project completion and process report



7. Description of Team Our project team, Trax Technologies, is comprised of five initiative, enthusiastic and industrial engineering students. Group members include Sean Hou, Jack Lin and Fred Yu, David Chen, and Howard Chang. Each student will bring their diverse knowledge and talents to the team. 7.1. Sean Hou (Chief Executive Officer) Sean is a fourth year Electronics Engineering student with practical experiences in both management and engineering operation. His co-op term experience at Ford Motors Company as a central garage manager has exposed him to professional business practice and given him insights on how to run a successful company. On his other co-op placement at Topco Corporation, Sean has also gained engineering expertise on micro-controllers and circuit design. Sean’s leadership and knowledge will lead the company to achieve its objectives and dreams. 7.2. Jack Lin (Chief Financial Officer) Jack is a fourth year Electronics Engineering student specializing in the digital system design. He has worked with digital circuits in his previous co-op work term at LiteOn Technology Corporation and has gained a sound knowledge on the design of digital control systems using microcontrollers and CPLD. In addition to his expertise in the field of engineering, Jack is also has some background in accounting and finances. Jack’s past business-oriented experiences include the preparation of financial statements in a business plan and the analysis of companies’ financial reports. 7.3. Fred Yu (Chief Technology Officer) Fred is a fourth year Electronics Engineering student who possesses a wide variety of hardware and software skills. In his previous co-op, Fred works on a design project that implements a robotic motor-control system. He is experienced with electronics circuit analysis and design. As well, he is familiar with programmable logic device and FPGAs. Fred is also expertise in programming languages such C/C++, Java, VHDL and assembly. With his excellent communication and research abilities Fred brings a new dimension to the team. 7.4. David Chen (Chief Operating Officer) David is a fourth year Electronics Engineering student at Simon Fraser University. His previous co-op work term at Kinsus Technology allowed him to gain industry experience and knowledge of electronic devices including PCB layouts and IC chips. He has also involved in many course projects which solidified his ability in hardware designing and assembly programming. Above all, he is highly self-motivated, with excellent good time management and communication skills.



7.5. Howard Chang (Chief Information Officer) Howard is a currently fourth year Systems Engineering student with two internship experiences. His passion towards engineering motivates him to tackle the multiple learning curves of different aspects of electronics, computers, and mechanics. While he is experienced with assembly language programming, real-time operating and embedded systems, and digital systems implementation with the knowledge of VHDL, CPLDs and FPGAs, he is familiar with a variety of electronic testing equipment and circuit analysis. Through extensive development of C/C++ and Java programs, he possesses polished object-oriented programming skills, and clear concepts of software development life-cycle. Howard’s co-op work experience at Apex Software International Inc. assisted him to become technically proficient in web application development and database system management. He also gained a sound grasp of user interface design in usability engineering and format and stylistic strategies in technical documentation from his practicum at Simon Fraser University. 8. Conclusion Trax Technologies is committed to making assistive wireless tracking devices. The first product under development, the Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant, offers an economical mean to bring convenience, comfort and luxury to any household. The Wireless HomePA not only benefits the general public, but also allows elder citizens, minors, and some physically disabled people to control multiple home appliances including opening/closing doors and windows without physically being there. These seemingly sophisticated operations could all be completed easily with the access to the telephone system along with a few key presses on the telephone. This solution offered by Trax Technologies is unmatched by any products currently in the market because of its simplicity and reasonable price. The Wireless HomePA does not require any modification on the existing telephone or electricity wiring system, or on the home appliances; it simply involves an easy installation of our wireless modules. On top of that, HomePA eliminates the costs of having an internet access or a PDA to enjoy the benefits offered by a home control system. Trax Technologies anticipates the completion of the Wireless Home0PA within the next four months. We expect to complete the implementation of all functions specified in this proposal. We firmly believe that this revolutionary product will aid in bringing the era of digital home convergence to a nearer future.



9. References Brink’s Home Security. <http://www.brinkshomesecurity.com/default.aspx>. 2004. Digi-Key Corporation. <http://dkc1.digikey.com/ca/digihome.html>. 2004 Lamp & Appliance Timer. Intermatic Home Protection & Controls.

<http://www.intermatic.com/?action=subcat&sid=113>. 2003. Microchip Technology. Products > Microcontrollers. <http://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?branchID=1004&mid=10&lang=e

n&pageId=74>. 2004. Mobile Device Discussing Forum. A True Digital Home!.

<http://www.mobile01.com/newsdetail.php?id=1350>. September 16, 2004. Population projections for 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026, at July 1. Canada Statistics.

<http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/demo23a.htm>. July 26, 2004.

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Technologies Inc. traxtech-ensc340@sfuwhitmore/courses/ensc305/projects/2004/ttprop.pdf · Proposal for a Wireless Home Phone-operated Assistant Project Team: Howard Chang David Chen