Z-Wave – Basics of wireless technology for the smart home
The door lock opens when the owner's mobile phone approaches the entrance. The light in the apartment switches on when the motion detector senses a being walking around and the light sensor determines that it is night. The garage door closes automatically when the car drives in, and a controller detects that the absent-minded driver once again forgot to press the close button on the garage gate before leaving through the back door, so the gate now closes itself.
These automatic actions are no longer a smart home fiction; they are available right now. However, before pressing the "Buy" button, house owners have to decide which method to use when sensors are picking up signals and report them to the controller, which then in turn initiates actions to control real physical household devices.
Simply Wireless
Not everyone is likely to build their own new home so they are able to route cables in the walls for all kinds of playful extravagances; wireless solutions work around these limitations for the common man. In the 1990s, hobbyists who had a knack for tinkering, mainly in the United States, began to switch lamps or even household appliances on and off with a technology called X10. Signals were transmitted either via power lines or wireless RF technology. But X10 did not offer reliable communication; it was often impossible to say with certainty whether a device had actually received a transmitted signal.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.
-
openSUSE Tumbleweed Ditches AppArmor for SELinux
If you're an openSUSE Tumbleweed user, you can expect a major change to the distribution.
-
Plasma 6.3 Now Available
Plasma desktop v6.3 has a couple of pretty nifty tricks up its sleeve.
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.