A distributed system of network-enabled microcontrollers for controlling and monitoring home devices

In this paper we describe a distributed home monitoring and control system using microcontrollers as device controllers. A host computer acts as a master and client manages the activities of the microcontrollers by instructing them to control their respective devices and collecting data from them. The host and microcontrollers communicate over a Local Area Network (LAN) via Network Interface Card (NICs). The devices can be regular house utilities or appliances. We borrow from the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) to design the command packets that are exchanged between the host and the microcontrollers. We present the architecture and design of the microcontroller´s communication software and illustrate how it communicates by mean of commands and data to the host. We present performance results in terms of TCP packet round trip time and timing of UDP packet transmission.