Recent developments in ad-hoc wireless
networks, single-chip embedded systems and the wide-spread
availability of Internet in homes has made it possible to
remotely monitor status of external data sources and home
appliances using small, independent wireless devices. This
paper presents an open-architecture and an implementation of
such a system called the Infopods System. This architecture is
based on a Zigbee-based controller. The architecture allows
multiple family members to simultaneously monitor their
home appliances as well as external Internet resources using
cheap, stand-alone hand-held mobile wireless devices. The
proposed architecture can be easily integrated with existing
smart-home systems. The architecture is implemented and
demonstrated in the context of an existing Java-based smarthome
architecture.1