In the coming smart-home era, more and more household electrical appliances are generating more and more sensor data and transmitting them over the home networks, which are often connected to Internet through Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) for desirable authentication and accounting. However, according to our knowledge, high-speed commercial home PPPoE router is still absent for a home network environment. In this paper, we first introduce and evaluate our programmable platform FLARE-DPDK for ease of programming network functions. Then we introduce our effort to build a compact 10Gbps software FLARE PPPoE router on a commercial mini-PC. In our implementation, the control plane is implemented with Linux PPPoE software for authentication-like signaling control. The data plane is implemented over FLARE-DPDK platform, where we get packets from physical network interfaces directly bypassing Linux kernel and distribute packets to multiple CPU cores for data processing in parallel. We verify our software PPPoE router in both lab and production network environment. The experimental results show that our FLARE software PPPoE router can achieve much higher throughput than a commercial PPPoE router tested in a production environment.

In this article, we propose a method to identify the link layer home network topology, motivated by applications to cost reduction of support centers. If the topology of home networks can be identified automatically and efficiently, it is easier for operators of support centers to identify fault points. We use MAC address forwarding tables (AFTs) which can be collected from network devices. There are a couple of existing methods for identifying a network topology using AFTs, but they are insufficient for our purpose; they are not applicable to some specific network topologies that are typical in home networks. The advantage of our method is that it can handle such topologies. We also implemented these three methods and compared their running times. The result showed that, despite its wide applicability, our method is the fastest among the three.

In this letter, we propose a solution for managing multiple adaptive streaming clients running on different devices in a wireless home network. Our solution consists of two main aspects: a manager that determines bandwidth allocated for each client and a client-based throughput control mechanism that regulates the video traffic throughput of each client. The experimental results using a real test-bed show that our solution is able to effectively improve the quality for concurrent streaming clients.

Interoperability is one of the fundamental functions of a home network because such networks must support many different types of devices and services. Interoperability can be realized by converting messages among different middleware with rules. However, it is very difficult to define common rules to accommodate all differences among various middleware. In addition, most interoperability approaches only address the conversion of the message format and schema, and occasionally these are not enough for a semantic conversion. In this paper, we propose a systematic approach to solve the interoperability problem. For this, we classify three interoperability types, i.e., schema, profile, and procedure, and define the rules for each type. We called this interoperability scheme the Multiple stage Approach for Home network Interoperability (MAHI). In this paper, we present the design and implementation of MAHI for a three-stage conversion process. Finally, we illustrate some experimental and quantitative results. In the experiments, MAHI can provide efficient interoperability among different middleware and MAHI will be a method to deal with a complex home network interoperability.

This paper presents a framework for formalizing and detecting feature interactions (FIs) in the emerging smart home domain. We first establish a model of home network system (HNS), where every networked appliance (or the HNS environment) is characterized as an object consisting of properties and methods. Then, every HNS service is defined as a sequence of method invocations of the appliances. Within the model, we next formalize two kinds of FIs: (a) appliance interactions and (b) environment interactions. An appliance interaction occurs when two method invocations conflict on the same appliance, whereas an environment interaction arises when two method invocations conflict indirectly via the environment. Finally, we propose offline and online methods that detect FIs before service deployment and during execution, respectively. Through a case study with seven practical services, it is shown that the proposed framework is generic enough to capture feature interactions in HNS integrated services. We also discuss several FI resolution schemes within the proposed framework.

Broadband access service, including FTTH, is now in widespread use in Japan. More than half of the households that have broadband Internet access construct local area networks (home networks) in their homes. In addition, information appliances such as personal computers, networked audio, and visual devices and game machines are connected to home networks, and many novel service applications are provided via the Internet. However, it is still difficult to install and incorporate these devices and services because networked devices have been developed in different communities. I briefly explain the current status of information appliances and home networking technologies and services and discuss some of the problems in this and their solutions.

The number of broadband users is rapidly increasing worldwide. Japan already has over 10 million FTTH users. Another trend is the rapid digitalization of home electrical equipment e.g. digital cameras and hard disc recorders. These trends will encourage the emergence of the next generation home network. In this paper, we introduce the next generation home network image and describe the five domains into which home devices can be classified. We then clarify the optimum medium with which to configure the network given the requirements imposed by the home environment. Wiring cable lengths for three network topologies are calculated. The results gained from the next generation home network implemented on the first phase testbed are shown. Finally, our conclusions are given.

This paper presents an automatic edge segment based algorithm for the detection of moving objects that has been specially developed to deal with the variations in illumination and contents of background. We investigated the suitability of the proposed edge segment based moving object detection algorithm in comparison with the traditional intensity based as well as edge pixel based detection methods. In our method, edges are extracted from video frames and are represented as segments using an efficiently designed edge class. This representation helps to obtain the geometric information of edge in the case of edge matching and shape retrieval; and creates effective means to incorporate knowledge into edge segment during background modeling and motion tracking. An efficient approach for background edge generation and a robust method of edge matching are presented to effectively reduce the risk of false alarm due to illumination change and camera motion while maintaining the high sensitivity to the presence of moving object. The proposed method can be successfully realized in video surveillance applications in home networking environment as well as various monitoring systems. As, video coding standard MPEG-4 enables content based functionality, it can successfully utilize the shape information of the detected moving objects to achieve high coding efficiency. Experiments with real image sequences, along with comparisons with some other existing methods are presented, illustrating the robustness of the proposed algorithm.

This paper presents a Maximum Likelihood Location Estimation (MLLE) algorithm for the home network environments. We propose a deployment of cluster-tree topology in the ZigBee networks and derive the MLE under the log-normal models for the Received Signal Strength (RSS) measurements. Experiments are also conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

We propose a Fault-Tolerant Object Group framework that provides group management and fault-tolerance services for consistency maintenance and state transparency as well. Through a virtual home-network simulation, we validate that the FTOG framework supports both of the reliability and the stability of the distributed home-network systems.

This paper overviews the high-speed power-line communication (PLC) technology, and the related standardization and regulatory activities are described. PLC modems of 200 Mbps class become a practical use stage in the West, and the standardization activity is active now. The discussion for deregulation is being continued in also Japan, and regulation values have been proposed. Another topic in this paper is a sensor network application of PLC, which is an indoor fine-grained localization system by acoustic Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiplexed (DS-CDM) signals. The obtained average accuracy of the localization in a 4 m2 plane was 1 cm if there was no obstacle. To realize the localization system, some novel ideas, such as PLC speakers, a synchronization method based on the zero-crossing timing of the mains frequency, and integrated wired/wireless PLC, are introduced.

This paper presents a Fault-Tolerant Object Group (FTOG) model that provides the group management service and the fault-tolerance service for consistency maintenance and state transparency. Through Intelligent Home Network Simulator, we verify that FTOG model supports both of reliability and the stability of the distributed system.

High-speed power line communication (PLC) can transmit an information signal of several hundred megabits per second over the power lines that transport electrical energy. Because this system employs unmodified existing transmission lines and the signal can be accessed through the simple interface of an ordinary electrical outlet, it promises to serve as the most effective transmission system for supporting information home appliances. For high-speed PLC to become practical requires that the frequencies used be expanded to 30 MHz, a frequency band is already used by many wireless communication systems. Thus, shared use with those systems is the most important problem. This paper introduces technical trends related to that issue.

In this paper, we describe a development of a Bluetooth Access Point for the WAN connection of home network devices. Especially, users can access the PSTN at home instead of expensive CDMA network through the AP, using the 'one-phone,' which is the Bluetooth enabled cellular phone. The one-phone service becomes a convergence of wired and wireless communication through the AP.

A variety of real-time multicast applications such as video conferences, remote lectures, and video-on-demand have become in commonplace with the expansion of broadband Internet services. Due to nontrivial problems in the IP multicast technology, the peer-to-peer multicast technology (P2P-multicast) has emerged as a practical implementation, although its network resource utilization is less efficient. A multihome network has the potential of alleviating this inefficiency by providing flexibility in communication path selections for each host with multiple gateways to the Internet. This paper has first formulated the P2P-multicast routing problem in the multihome network, and has proved the NP-completeness of its decision problem. Then, a two-stage heuristic algorithm called P2PMM_router has been presented for this P2P Multicast Multihome-network routing problem. The first stage constructs an initial multicast routing tree from an optimum spanning tree by Prim algorithm, through satisfying the constraints. The second stage improves the tree by repeating partial modifications and constraint satisfactions. The extensive simulation results using random network instances support the effectiveness of our P2PMM_router.

Among the wireless personal area networks, much attention has been placed on the HomeRF system due to the simple hardware complexity. In this letter, we propose several techniques for the HomeRF system. First, a DC-offset compensation technique is considered for HomeRF system. In addition, a decision directed channel estimation technique is proposed. The proposed techniques require no additional training sequence and a little additional hardware. And finally, a turbo coding technique is considered as a improved coding scheme. It is shown that the performance of the proposed algorithm is significantly improved in comparison with the conventional HomeRF system.

Advances in broadcast digitization have been rapid in Japan since the broadcasting satellite (BS) digital broadcast services commenced in December 2000. It requires that the receiver, which may also be connected to appliances using a Home Network, has an inbuilt HDD for storing interesting programs. However, it is difficult to guarantee QoS level on a Home Network composed of heterogeneous sub-networks. Therefore, for the purpose of an efficient and appropriate transmission of a video stream, such as MPEG over the Home Network, a new scalable MPEG transmission method is required. For this we propose a Scalability method allowing for Impairments Propagation (SIP), which takes into account the impairments propagated to other frames due to the loss of a macroblock in a given frame. In this paper, we introduce the SIP technique, analyze it mathematically, and evaluate its performance.

Progress in the fields of broadband access networks and information appliances has led to the introduction of a new network domain called Home Network. In 1999, HomePNA 2.0 using phone lines was proposed, and we believe it is one of the most promising solutions, because of its cost-effectiveness. However, it is not able to guarantee the QoS due to the adaptation of the mature IEEE802.3 CSMA/CD technology which is used for Ethernet. In light of this, we propose and evaluate a new MAC protocol for the Home Network called the HomeMAC that provides guaranteed QoS for appliances and PCs. HomeMAC features a hybrid CSMA/CD-Timed Token protocol which combines the CSMA/CD with timed token protocol and transmits real-time traffic based on the QoS Level Table (QLT) for guaranteeing QoS. In the HomeMAC, there are two different transmission modes, namely, the CSMA/CD Mode when there is no real-time traffic, and the Timed Token Mode when there is real-time traffic taking place. By dynamically switching the transmission mode between CSMA/CD Mode and Timed Token Mode in accordance with the different kinds of traffic, the hybrid protocol provides low delay, low jitter, and low loss rate to multimedia appliances such as TVs, DVDs, and PCs. Moreover, by providing flexible bandwidth allocation based on QLT, the HomeMAC can serve high QoS whole covering entire offered load.

Progress in the field of broadband access network and information appliances has led to the advent of a new network field called Home Network. In 1999, HomePNA2.0 using phone line was proposed, and we believe that it is one of the most promising solutions because of its cost-effectiveness. However, due to adaptation of the mature IEEE802.3 CSMA/CD technology used for Ethernet, it is not able to guarantee the QoS. We present the design, implementation and empirical evaluation of a new MAC protocol for the Home Network called HomeMAC. In this paper, the software based HomeMAC is implemented by programming the kernel space of FreeBSD. HomeMAC features a hybrid CSMA/CD-Timed Token protocol which combines the CSMA/CD for non-real-time traffic with timed token protocol for real-time traffic. In addition, by providing flexible bandwidth allocation based on QoS Level Table (QLT), HomeMAC can serve high QoS covering the whole offered load. From the results of evaluation of software implementation, we verify that HomeMAC can provide low delay, low loss, and low jitter to the real-time traffic by reservation of the bandwidth.

In forthcoming home network environment, computation capability will be embedded invisibly in home appliances, sensors, walls, ceilings, and floors. People will conduct various tasks using multiple devices simultaneously without consciousness of using computers. In this paper, first, we propose an application model named Virtual Network Appliance (VNA) model which simplify and expand device utilization. In the model, each device has VNA runtime system and function objects, called VNA components, running on it. A user task is defined in an application called VNA which is a logical appliance consisting of abstract function requirements and a message graph among them. Second, we propose Virtual Plug&Play mechanism which is a dynamic service integration mechanism in VNA model implementation. When a user conducts a task, he/she makes a VNA runtime system on a user-side terminal load a VNA definition appropriate for the task. Virtual Plug&Play dynamically discovers required VNA components and establishes the message graph as defined. Since XML documents are used to describe a VNA, users can share and customize it easily. We call the device integration done by Virtual Plug&Play top-down integration, which existing middleware do not aim at. Finally, we show that Virtual Plug&Play affords practical performance for top-down integration by performance evaluation.