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Stuttgart, Reichelsheim, –. July 2018.

Intelligent and batteryless Smart Home components which are based on the EnOcean wireless standard, connect to the Apple world (iOS App, Siri, HomePod) via the HomeKit certified EnOcean Gateway. Finally, there is a solution that is consumer friendly, but still meets professional requirements.

The first devices entering the market end of August are the Opus® SmartHome Gateway and a set of sensors and actuators from JÄGER DIREKT. Originally the gateway, developed by Digital Concepts, was designed for professional digital building solutions, connecting to IBM Watson and Microsoft Azure. But now, since it was certified for HomeKit, it also can be combined and controlled with various components within the Apple HomeKit world (iOS App, Siri, HomePod). The Opus® SmartHome Gateway complies with Apple’s strict implementation guidelines and usability requirements. The real uniqueness of the Opus® solution however is the EnOcean Energy Harvesting technology used in the sensors. This allows battery and cable less installation so it is maintenance free, easy to install, cost effective thus perfect for retrofitting homes.

By end of August, the Opus® SmartHome Gateway and HomeKit compatible products will be available to electricians via the JÄGER DIREKT online shop, and to consumers via Tink, the expert for all Connected Home products.

JÄGER DIREKT is the first one to move and builds his OPUS® SmartHome Gateway on the Software and Hardware of Digital Concepts. There is not better solution than the EnOcean Gateway at present, if manufacturers of EnOcean based devices want to be successful in the consumer market.

“We worked with JÄGER DIREKT in many projects, that is why we are very confident to have the perfect partner to enter the market with this new category of Smart-Home-Solution. Our HomeKit certified Gateway connects the professional EnOcean world with the consumer world like Siri voice control”, explains Marek Machacek, sales director at Digital Concepts. “We support many members of the EnOcean Alliance. We are fully convinced that EnOcean Vendors benefit from this technology, simply because it will be highly appreciated by the users due to Apple HomeKit”.

HomeKit certification for Digital Concepts Gateway

„We are very happy about the certification by Apple. This way it reaches the long-awaited consumer level of user experience and usability and finally increases the attractiveness of the proven OPUS®-System.” Thomas Jäger, managing director at JÄGER DIREKT, points out and continues: “This way Smart Home is now feasible for everyone – available as a flexible System adapting to all levels of requirements and the easiest retrofittable components in the market.”

The EnOcean technology combines the standardized energy efficient 868,3 MHz radio with Energy Harvesting. The devices generate the required energy from light, heat or kinetic sources. The EnOcean data is transmitted up to 30 Meters even through walls. Digital Concepts is now recognized as the leading software specialist for gateways. The DC-OS Software translates the EnOcean messages bidirectionally into IP and is able to connect the devices simultaneously into various cloud and local IOT networks, such as IBM Watson, Microsoft Azure, and now also HomeKit.

JÄGER DIREKT offers such a Smart Home System under his Opus® GreenNet brand. It consists of battery less window contacts, smoke-, water-, temperature, humidity and other switches and actuators.

 

About  JÄGER DIREKT
JÄGER DIREKT- Jäger Fischer GmbH & Co. KG, is an owner-operated manufacturer and distributer of electric products for buildings. The company delivers to a vast Network of electricians and construction companies. Together with the affiliates in Austria, Netherlands and the German Headquarter there are over 250 employees. Their most successful product assortments produced in Germany are OPUS^® switch program, DELUNA^® recessed spotlights, VOTHA^® distribution cabinets, JUMBO^® cable reels und SIROX^® mobile power supplies. www.jaeger-direkt.com

About Digital Concepts
Digital Concepts (DC) was founded by Steffen Hahn and Gernot Müller in 2012. The company is specialized on innovative building automation based on batteryless EnOcean technology. Following the trend of low energy, climate neutral technology DC focuses on the EnOcean Alliance to support manufacturers and software companies as well in the communication between sensors, actuators and networks and in cloud development. DC is a member of the Board of Directors and the Technical Working Group of the EnOcean Alliance ( www.enocean-alliance.org ), and offers OEM software and hardware for the interoperability between EnOcean protocol and IP based systems such as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple HomeKit.

 

Apple, Apple Watch, iPad, iPad Air, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. HomeKit is a trademark of Apple Inc.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is gradually taking shape. The technologies are moving toward a comprehensive network that will make our everyday lives easier, safer and more comfortable. Energy harvesting switches, sensors and actuators that supply necessary information for the IoT from billions of measuring points form an important element of this development. To do this, the EnOcean wireless technology must communicate with the Internet Protocol.

By Oliver Fischer, Managing Director, Digital Concepts GmbH

 

A unified IP Interface creates the link to different IoT platforms

All it takes is a flip of the energy harvesting wireless switch and the smart refrigerator starts the freezer turbo. Minutes later, the apple juice is cold. At the press of a button – even from the sofa. This is only one example of a new application made possible by seamless communication between different standards. In other scenarios, IP-enabled cameras are networked with energy harvesting sensors, the water sensor talks to the washing machine or the inlet valve and the house organizes its own optimum energy consumption according to the residents’ requirements.

Interoperable network

These scenarios are all possible if the EnOcean protocol (ISO/IEC 14543-3-1X) seamlessly talks to the IP protocol via a gateway. This communication, in turn, forms the basis for integrating the data of energy harvesting wireless sensors into cross-standard, open platforms. The result is a fully interoperable network in which, once collected, the data can be used for intelligent control of different devices independently of the technology used, the wireless system or the manufacturer.

Translating EEP into IP

In terms of its technical implementation, a system of this type requires an IP interface that consistently translates the represented EnOcean equipment profiles (EEPs) for the IP side. To do this, the content specified in the EnOcean profiles must be prepared in such a way that the user on the IP side needs little or even no knowledge of the EnOcean protocol in order to operate the particular devices. This is how the “things” on the Internet of Things can be represented. The Representational State Transfer method (REST or RESTful) has proven to be particularly useful here.

However, not all systems can address a RESTful API and therefore require an alternative notation. For this purpose, a second API is provided, which dispenses with hierarchical structures. A line-based API, whose communication is based purely on the TCP layer, maps the full range of “RESTful API” functions. This so-called “string API” allows programmable logic controllers, for example, to be integrated.

Consistent communication

The IP representation of all EnOcean telegrams and functions must be standard. This means that the syntax of an IP specification must always be mapped the same way across all EEPs. In addition, the EnOcean gateway must be able to provide the states of all devices and also deliver them on request. In particular, it must represent and store the different states of the EnOcean profiles individually.

The gateway also ensures that the translations of IP calls in EnOcean telegrams are always complete and unique. As a result, IP-based devices can directly address individual values and functions of a sensor.

Talking API

To ensure smooth communication between the EEP and IP, dependencies must also be resolved and related profile functions aggregated and supplied centrally. The gateway also resolves the coding of functions in such a way that IP-based devices do not have to know this coding.

All these specifications mean that the gateway can deliver the communication structure of all EnOcean-based devices (EEPs) to the IP subscribers on request. It thus meets the need to represent the EnOcean-based devices in a “friendly” manner so that they can be more easily implemented in the IoT network.

 

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