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Powerline in Your Own Home - Siemens Introduces Networked Appliances to the Market (22/12/2003)

The question "Did I turn off the stove?" is losing its blood-curdling power. As the first supplier, Siemens is now introducing networked home appliances to the market. They require no additional cable installation and are connected to a control center via a power socket. As a result, remote queries and operation become possible. After heading off on vacation, a housewife can use a cell phone to check whether a stove burner was left on by mistake, and she can even turn it off. Within the house, nearly all functions of the on-line appliances can be operated with a tablet PC. The technology is based on Powerline, and the data transmission is done through the electrical network. At first, this new feature will be available in top-line stoves, refrigerator-freezer combinations, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers and air conditioners. The serve@Home system was presented on December 10 in Munich.

The appliances have a small plug-in slot into which a box is fitted. The box contains a type of modem that modulates the data onto the 50-hertz frequency of the electricity network via the power socket. A gateway filters the data from the power network and takes over the communication with a tablet PC, laptop or cell phone via a W-LAN or other radio link. The users can access all of the online appliances through a Windows interface. One possible service offered by the system is a warning that would be sent after, for example, a child got some ice cream out of the freezer and didn't close the door completely. The system would issue the alarm when the temperature rose too high and the food was about to thaw. When an appliance breaks down, employees in customer service could remotely test it. In the event of a minor fault, this feature can eliminate the need for a technician to make an expensive trip to the home. The appliances prepared for networking cost Û50 more than the normal appliances. They have the plug-in slot and thus can also be retrofitted at a later date. The operating system costs Û3,999, including a tablet PC priced at Û2,500. Because serve@Home is based on an open standard, the heating system, lights and blinds can be hooked up to the system in the future.

www.siemens.com