The CareNet residential gateway: A conceptual overview

This paper presents a high-level overview of the CareNet Home Extension Project that aims to provide support for home-based healthcare for the elderly and outpatients. Details of a home networking environment based on a virtualized Residential Gateway (RG) are provided. The RG architecture is modular and scalable supporting the dynamic provision of third party services. This accommodates multiple independent stakeholders representing healthcare providers, Internet Services Providers (ISPs), and home automation system builders among others. Interoperability is guaranteed through adherence to open standards. Initial mechanisms facilitating the integration and consolidation of in-home systems, whilst providing a flexible framework for autonomous management, are described. This addresses issues of management and configuration of complex environments by individuals with little or no technical expertise. Finally, details of an initial implementation, in terms of architectural descriptions and enabling technological components, are outlined.