On the way home from work, I turn on the air conditioner and water heater at home in advance, so I can take a bath immediately upon arrival; I use my phone to remotely schedule laundry, and when I get home, the clothes are just washed, avoiding any odor due to not being hung up in time; before going to sleep at night, I can use my phone or voice control to close the curtains; in the morning, the smart voice speaker can play pleasant music to wake up the residents…
The advent of smart homes has added much convenience to our daily lives. Remote control of home appliances allows residents to further improve their quality of life in an increasingly fast-paced world.
So, how is remote control of these smart home devices achieved? Which chips play a major role?
01
How to Achieve Remote Control of Smart Home Devices
Home appliance control refers to the use of remote or automated control methods to manage the switching, adjusting, and monitoring of home appliances.
To enable remote control of these appliances, it is necessary to connect the devices to the home wireless network. This allows smart home devices to exchange data with cloud servers, transmitting real-time information such as device status and environmental data to the cloud, and receiving control commands from the cloud.
Thus, users can use smart devices or mobile apps to view environmental data at home and control home devices. The cloud server processes the collected environmental data and forwards control commands to the respective smart home devices based on user instructions.
Currently, there are two mainstream methods of remote control: one is using a smartphone as a remote control, managing appliances through an app. The other is using smart speakers or voice assistants for remote control.
The key to connecting smart home devices is communication networking technology, utilizing communication chips like WiFi chips, NB-IoT (cellular network) chips, and Bluetooth chips. Currently, WiFi and Bluetooth chips dominate the market, accounting for over 60%. Smart homes with voice control require voice recognition chips that convert voice commands into text, which is then transformed into executable commands through recognition algorithms. The main control chips like MCUs and SoCs work by receiving and executing these control commands from the cloud server or processed by the voice recognition chips.
02
WiFi Chips for Long-Distance Communication
The working principle of a WiFi chip can be simply summarized in the following steps:
First, the host device transmits data to the WiFi chip through a host interface. The baseband processor then processes this data, converting it into a wireless signal. Next, the wireless transmission module converts the processed signal into radio waves, which are sent out through an antenna. The WiFi chip at the receiving end then captures these radio waves through its antenna and converts them back into digital signals. Finally, the received digital signal is processed by the baseband processor, undergoing demodulation, decoding, and error correction, to transform it into readable data.
WiFi chip products are divided into WiFi Station and WiFi AP, with WiFi Station focusing more on reception and WiFi AP on transmission. The technical difficulty and protocol complexity of WiFi AP are higher than those of WiFi Station.
WiFi Station
WiFi Station is divided into two types: WiFi MCU and Data Transmission WiFi. WiFi MCU is used for transmitting instructions and has a relatively low technical threshold. Data Transmission WiFi is used for data transfer and has higher technical requirements than IoT WiFi, with a longer development cycle.
WiFi MCU refers to the combination of WiFi and MCU, which can reduce development difficulty and production costs, and has low power consumption while also reducing the chip area. It differs from smartphone WiFi chip AP SoC+RF represented by Qualcomm and from Network Processor WiFi router chips represented by MediaTek. Its main applications are in smart home appliances, home IoT accessories (like lights and sockets), and industrial IoT. The market is represented by companies like Espressif Technology.
In the IoT WiFi MCU market, 2.4G WiFi 4 is dominant, with Broadcom Integrated and Espressif Technology holding 80% of the market share, followed by Broadlink, Southern Silicon Valley, and AoJie Technology.
Espressif Technology has been cooperating with Xiaomi since 2015, providing the ESP8266 WiFi chip for Xiaomi’s IoT solutions. In 2017, Xiaomi began using Espressif Technology’s ESP32 WiFi module. Xiaomi’s smart robot vacuum cleaners and smart air conditioners use Espressif Technology’s IoT WiFi MCU.
Data Transmission WiFi is a data transmission module using WiFi protocol for wireless data transmission, designed for long-distance wireless communication, and widely used in wireless internet access, wireless monitoring, and remote control systems.
In the field of smart home, the mainstream WiFi data transmission chips are WiFi 4 and WiFi 5. WiFi 4 only supports the 2.4G band, WiFi 5 only the 5G band, and WiFi 6 covers both 2.4G and 5.8G bands.
The main manufacturers in the 2.4G WiFi 4/6 chip field include GaoTou, Realtek, Broadcom Integrated, Broadlink, Southern Silicon Valley, and AoJie Technology. For 2.4/5.8G WiFi 6 1×1 chips (1×1 refers to a single antenna for WiFi connection, indicating data transmission and reception through a single channel), the main players are MediaTek, Realtek, Airoha, WiQee, and Xiwei Technology; the major competitors in WiFi7 1×1&2×2 chips are Qualcomm, Broadcom, and MediaTek.
AoJie Technology’s WiFi data transmission chips are used by many manufacturers, including Xiaomi and Midea. Broadcom Integrated has long focused on developing highly integrated, low-power wireless data transmission and wireless audio chip products, with a wide range of products. Its end customers include well-known domestic enterprises like Midea, Haier, Hisense, and Tuya Smart.
As technology continuously evolves and users demand higher-performance networks, WiFi 6 is also gradually becoming mainstream.
WiFi AP
WiFi AP chips differ from WiFi Station, with a higher design difficulty. Each terminal connected to a wireless network (such as phones, laptops, and other internet-enabled devices) can act as a station, while the AP represents a wireless access point, the network’s central node, usually understood as a wireless router. Since AP chips have higher requirements for transmission speed and stability, their design difficulty and technical threshold are correspondingly higher.
In the WiFi 5 2×2 chip field, MediaTek and Realtek are mainstream, with Silicon Motion and CYIT shipping products. For WiFi 6 2×2&4×4 chips, the manufacturers include Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek, and Realtek, with MediaTek having the highest market share. The main participants in WiFi7 2×2&4×4 chips are Qualcomm, Broadcom, and MediaTek.
Now, let’s consider Bluetooth chips.
03
Bluetooth Chips for Medium and Short-Range Communication
Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology used in smart home control systems. Bluetooth chips can be used for communication in smart home devices such as smart bulbs, smart sockets, and smart locks. These devices can communicate with smartphones or other smart devices via Bluetooth to achieve control and management.
Bluetooth chips are categorized into Classic Bluetooth and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) based on the Bluetooth transmission standard. Classic Bluetooth chips support audio transmission and are commonly used in wireless headphones, smart speakers, car speakers, and other audio transmission devices. BLE chips are characterized by low power consumption, low cost, and simple connectivity, making them highly suitable for wireless communication in smart home devices. Additionally, BLE chips support broadcasting and scanning functions, facilitating the discovery and connection between devices.
Regarding manufacturers, participants in the Chinese Bluetooth chip industry can be divided into three categories: foreign companies represented by Nordic, Dialog, and TI; traditional integrated circuit companies represented by Broadcom Integrated and JieLi Technology; and Bluetooth chip startups represented by Telink and Peach Core Technology.
Chinese domestic Bluetooth chip manufacturers focus on the low-end BLE market, with most versions being 4.2 and below. In recent years, they have begun transitioning to BLE 5.0 and above, but mainly applied in dual-mode low-power Bluetooth chips for Bluetooth audio. A few manufacturers develop single-mode Bluetooth pass-through chips with Bluetooth mesh and indoor positioning functions. High-end BLE chips have been developed after 2016, and some BLE 5.0 products have been stably shipped in the past two years.
Telink was the first Chinese company to produce BLE chips, launching its first-generation low-power Bluetooth chip in 2014 and introducing multi-mode low-power Bluetooth chips in 2016. Telink’s low-power chips are mainly used in smart lighting and wearable devices. In 2018, its revenue ranked first in China’s BLE chip market and fourth in the global BLE chip market.
Additionally, companies like Feasycom, Shanghai Jowin, Fongwah, Lierda, and JieLi Technology are adapting to the needs of the Chinese market. Nowadays, they can develop BLE chips with extremely low power consumption and high connectivity stability. They effectively control costs and closely cooperate with downstream application manufacturers, thus securing a place in the market.
However, it’s important to note that the transmission distance for controlling home appliances using Bluetooth is generally within 10 meters. For remote control, a nearby “adapter” is needed to receive the Bluetooth signal and then transmit it via a broadband network connection. This means that using Bluetooth for control is suitable for short-range wireless communication, such as a user turning off the living room lights from the bed in the bedroom.
04
Voice Recognition Chips for Short-Range Communication
Voice technology is another contactless method for remotely controlling home appliances.
Through voice recognition technology, users can have their smart home systems understand their voice commands, thus enabling intelligent control. For example, users can control a smart speaker simply by speaking, including functions like playing music, accessing news information, and setting reminders. Additionally, users can use voice commands to control their TV, such as searching for programs, adjusting volume, and switching channels, enhancing the viewing experience.
Baidu is one of the early companies in China to venture into voice technology, with its voice recognition technology widely used in various products and services. Furthermore, iFlytek, as a leading domestic provider of intelligent voice technology, has its voice recognition chips extensively used in smart homes, automotive, mobile terminals, and other fields.
Unisound focuses on the research and application of voice recognition and voice processing technology. Its voice recognition chips are widely used in smart homes, automotive, robotics, and other fields. Alibaba Cloud’s voice recognition chips are known for their high accuracy, low latency, and high stability, making them suitable for intelligent customer service, smart homes, car navigation, etc. Since its establishment, Turing-Talent has launched three generations of products: CI100X, CI110X, CI130X, CI131X, and CI230X, which are widely applicable in fields like smart appliances and smart homes that require extensive human-computer interaction.
However, voice recognition technology is also a short-range communication technology, and the accuracy of received information is limited by the volume of the command.
Whether it’s WiFi communication, Bluetooth chips, or voice recognition chips, these chips, upon receiving corresponding instructions, still rely on the main control chip to play the primary role.
05
Main Control Chips: The Core of Data Processing
The main control chip processes instructions and sends control signals to the respective actuators or sensors to fulfill user requests. Consequently, many powerful domestic companies are competing to develop AIoT SoCs for specific application scenarios. In the field of smart speakers, domestic SoCs have already gained a relatively high market share, with participants including Allwinner Technology, Amlogic, Xtreme Technologies, Rockchip, JieLi Technology, and others.
Smart TVs and set-top boxes are another interactive entry point in smart homes, and the degree of domestic SoC production is also high. The third-party suppliers of smart TV SoCs mainly include MediaTek, Amlogic, HiSilicon, Novatek, Realtek, and others. Among them, MediaTek has maintained an absolute leading position in the market after acquiring MStar. In the past three years, the shipment volume of Amlogic has been growing rapidly.
Overall, the leading company in the current AIoT SoC chip market is Rockchip. Its RK3588, mass-produced in 2022, is the most powerful chip in the domestic AIoT field, directly competing with Qualcomm’s QCS8250. Both of these chips are general-purpose SoCs aimed at AIoT applications and are close in performance. In 2022, this product was adopted by over 200 customers in more than 400 projects, laying a solid foundation for 2023.
Other companies like Horizon Robotics, Amlogic, and Allwinner Technology also shine in different sub-sectors.
Related:
- Qualcomm Faces IP Setback as ARM Withdraws License
- Exploring WiFi 5 to WiFi 7: Next-Gen Networking Unveiled
- WiFi 1 to 7 Compared: Key Differences Explained Today
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