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Abstract: The PLM-1 supports a powerful, decentralized architecture with peer-to-peer communication, system variable binding and no central controller at the lowest cost in the market.
PLM-1 supports any system architecture, whether it is of the home automation or industrial control variety. Deciding on architecture is all about tradeoffs, choosing one set of advantages and disadvantages over another.
Say an OEM requires that his PLM-1 product must be controlled over the Internet. Must this imply that each dimmer in his or her system have an IP number and implement a small server? Several constraints would make this approach rather arduous: cost, power supply requirements, limited physical space available inside a wall dimmer, etc.
Furthermore, a time clock function is essential for lighting control. Will each and every actuator in the system require its own time clock? If so, which of the devices will have the right time? Will all these systems require a battery backup? Having a single device to implement the clock function sure would be a lot simpler and cheaper. But would this setup be as reliable?
Imagine yourself as the user. What happens when you press a given "good-bye" switch? Can that one switch command reach all the subsystems in your house? Will all the lights turn off, will the thermostat configure its seasonal set points-80°F in the summer and 60°F in the winter-, will the alarm system be armed, will random lighting patterns be enabled, etc.? Can a single switch do all that, and more, and manifest that much intelligence? Is it only feasible (technically and economically) to design such a switch? And how will you configure that switch with a "good-bye" function? Wouldn't a switch with this degree of sophistication be more expensive than simpler switches designed as actuators?
Another question: does your "good-bye" switch know the current temperature outside? This sure would help to set the thermostat, either up or down. Unless the thermostat itself reads the outside temperature and decides what to do...but which manufacturers sell thermostats that can read and use outside temperature?
Say you want the temperature at home back at its normal, comfortable reading one hour before you return from work. Which device assures the clock function in this application? Will it be each thermostat? Which device possesses the time schedule: the good-bye switch, the thermostats, or some other device?
What if you want the driveway lights to be turned on: A) for 10 minutes, B) at dawn, and C) when a nearing car is detected? Which device will implement this logic: the light switch, the daylight sensor, or the car sensor? Who designs and manufactures switches or sensors (daylight and car cases) that count 10 minutes? None of these devices have been designed to implement the AND logic.
This application is simple: it involves an AND condition ('dark' AND 'car detected') and a one shot 10 minute timer. If you add another condition, e.g., 'from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.', the situation becomes even more complex. Again, which device assures the clock function, which device possesses the schedule, which device implements the 10 minute timer, which one calculates the condition ('dark' AND 'car' AND '8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.'), etc.?
Now, imagine a powerful, decentralized architecture with peer-to-peer communication, system variable binding, and no central controller. Such a system is feasible in certain situations where constraints (cost, space, etc.) are manageable. The PLM-1 supports this complex architecture, as it does simpler and less expensive systems implemented around a central controller. Whichever architecture you choose, simple functions (switches, dimmers, thermostats, controlled outlets, relays, sensors, etc.) may be designed as actuators/sensors and analog/digital input/output devices driven by more complex systems.
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