Ubiquitous networks: Power line communication and Internet of things in smart home environments

Ubiquitous networks in home environments are expanding connectivity to electronic objects/things which can be used to build home network services. This approach uses thing-to-thing or thing-to-gateway connections to access the Internet of Things, allowing data to be stored for cross-referencing and accessing services, such as remote home sensors, etc. In order to make these ubiquitous networks available in the home, power line communication is used. These lines carry data simultaneously with AC electric power. Power lines connect heterogeneous devices through private electrical networks, allowing greater flexibility in the deployment of applications that require important data transfer. Broadband access and advancements in ubiquitous computing have fostered the development of power line communication offering integrated services through a reliable and robust system at the physical and data link layer of the open system interconnection (OSI) model. In this paper we describe application of ubiquitous networks in smart home environment.