Smart Home Hardware Solution: What should you consider and how to choose a proper gateway?

The smart home market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.4% from 2021 to 2026, provided by?Markets and Markets. A smart home?has been formed based on chips, modules, sensors and?the Internet, covering household appliances, lighting, security and others.?And smart home devices are expected to be user-friendly, cost-effective, customizable and flexible while blending well into their surroundings. All of this creates new challenges for product developers and designers.

As IoT developers, solution providers and enterprise customers, selecting the heart of the smart?home?system – the Controller, sometimes called the hub, gateway or bridge,?seems like a daunting task, especially with all the various options for hardware hubs. When referring to the Controller?choices,?the?most important for you to consider?are:

• It’s necessary to focus on if the Controller offers an open application programming interface (API), which is helpful for you to add extra functionality to your smart home.
• Some smart home Controllers run some or all of their features and functions via the Internet, hosted on a manufacturer’s cloud service. Data breaches are a concern. Choosing a smart home Controller with little or zero reliance on cloud services may significantly minimize the situation.
• According to your own needs, sometimes you will require that the Controller be extended to add other modules, such as Cellular, Z-Wave and Zigbee core technologies, to better communicate with different devices.
• It’s equally important to maintain a connection to the Internet so that you can monitor and adjust devices while away.

Why Mixtile Edge 2?

There are some reasons for the Edge 2 available that you can use to customize smart home projects, whether you want more performance or expansion modules support.

View Mixtile Edge 2 to find out how it can effectively help you to optimize your solution according to budget and needs.

Perfect to Run Home Assistant

Compared with the most common hardware that runs Home Assistant, Edge 2 has a more powerful processor, using Quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 up to 2.0GHz and supports LPDDR4 up to 8GB. Integrated high-performance NPU is ideal for deep learning frameworks of TensorFlow, Caffe, Tflite, Pytorch, Onnx NN, Android NN, etc. The eMMC Flash up to 256GB provides quick performance and outstanding reliability. Thanks to its rich built-in interfaces, Edge 2 can be assembled as monolithic hardware, while most other SBCs bring wires and chaos.

Zigbee and Z-Wave Module Expansion

Based on customers’ requirements, Edge 2 adds mini-PCIe interfaces for the expansion of Zigbee and Z-Wave modules for communicating with smart devices in your home. And wireless module customization is available for higher performance and lower cost.

On-Board Bluetooth

Bluetooth could be helpful if you wanted to hook up peripherals. On-board Bluetooth of Edge 2 enables smart home devices to connect more efficiently, which consumes less power and is cheaper to install than Wi-Fi.

Gigabit Ethernet

High-speed internet ensures that the Home Assistant can run fast and stable when using much-complicated automation.

M.2 Expansion Slot

Edge 2 supports adding a cellular module for maintaining a connection to the Internet. This allows you to control the devices from a smartphone, tablet or computer and allows remote access even when you’re away from home, via the Internet.

Available to add M.2 B-Key SSD hard drive for extending the space.

DC/Type-C Power Supply

Edge 2 supports PD 3.0. Replace your old barrel jack power adapters with tiny PD adapters and keep your home cleaner and more modern.

The type-C connector could be plugged either way around, minimizing frustration.

Advantages of Smart Home Hardware Solution

High Compatibility

Home Assistant, supported by Edge 2,?integrates with over a thousand different devices and services. It’s easy to link with other devices to realize automatic lighting adjustment, humidity detection, security system control, etc.

High Efficiency

Mixtile Edge 2 provides flexibility for embedded developers with customization needs and hardware capabilities through its reserved CAN, I2C, and UART internal interfaces.

Professional Support

Mixtile offers application customization and integration services according to customer needs. Complete resources including SDK, development documents, technical documents and tutorials will be provided. We ensure excellent aftercare and maintenance services.

Safety and Compliance

The product complies with FCC and CE certifications, meeting EU/USA health, safety and environmental requirements.

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