Infrared interface. The infrared interface can be configuredsuitably according to the range and power consumption. It provides remote configurationsupport for the HAN device, enabling the user to remotely turn on/off the home appliance connected to the HAN device. The protocol and exact details of operation can be flexiblychosen for particular implementations.
LCD panel. The LCD panel displays the instantaneous energy consumed, total energy consumed last/current month, date and time of the day, RMS voltage and RMS current. It inherits some of the utility meter display, thus acting as a low-accuracy but smart AC energy meter.
In a nutshell, the above architecture conceptualises a cost-effective and extremely versatile HAN device, which is replete with all the essential HAN device features along with the support for advanced features like firmwar upgrade and full control of appliances over RF/PLC interface. It also doubles as a low-cost smart AC energy meter, providing round-the-clock energy consumption details of the home appliance.
Though the device is depicted here as a standalone intelligent power socket, it can also be implemented inside home appliances.
Manish Sharma and Manish Jindgar are appli-cations engineers at MSG IDC Solution Center and Biswaprakash Navajeevan is senior design engineer at MSG India Design Center, Freescale Semiconductor, Noida
