Universal Plug and Play brings you one step closer to a connected home

Home networking is moving out of the duct tape, drills, and wire-under-the-carpet phase, and surging ahead into a new epoch in which home devices and appliances are part of the Internet. Imagine your alarm clock accessing the Internet and retrieving a report of the local weather, traffic, and your stocks; then translating this data to speech and presenting you with a personalized morning report. Or, imagine your calendar at work setting your alarm clock at home when you have an early conference call with Europe. Developers at Microsoft are working to make such networking feats possible, beginning with Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), a component of Microsoft's .NET framework.

Universal Plug and Play is an architecture and a collection of device control protocols that allows different types and brands of computers, devices, and appliances to be seamlessly networked with one another. UPnP is supported by Microsoft and more than 250 industry-leading companies in consumer electronics, home appliances, home security and automation, and computer networking and peripherals. UPnP is supported in Windows Me.

Meet the future of UPnP—in person
Networking visionary Salim AbiEzzi of Microsoft is chairman of the Universal Plug and Play Forum. He says that someday soon, music playlists on your home computer will be accessible from a stereo system or from wireless headphones anywhere in your home. Also, digital slide shows or personal video clips stored on your computer will be able to be displayed on any TV in your home.

And what is Microsoft’s role in this networked vision? "Microsoft wants to be the premier software provider for all kinds of devices, not just desktop PCs," says AbiEzzi. "We also plan to provide powerful tools for software developers to tap their creativity in developing applications that add value to connected devices. More importantly, we plan to provide services that bring value to consumers based on these connected devices."

Where Windows Me fits in
Perhaps you’re confused by how the Universal Plug and Play standards featured in Windows Me are different than the standard Plug and Play support in Windows 98. AbiEzzi explains that Plug and Play is a set of specifications that covers computer-to-peripheral connectivity. UPnP takes connectivity a step further, and lets devices and appliances automatically discover and communicate with each other in a peer-to-peer fashion, and with no need for device drivers.

Although some UPnP technologies are yet to be deployed, there are ways you can start taking advantage of UPnP right away with Windows Me. Using existing phone wires in your home, for example, you can plug in a web cam that connects to your computer from any room that has a phone jack. Windows Me automatically discovers the camera and puts it in your Windows Me Network Neighborhood. Then, while you're working in your home office, you can check in on your baby in the bedroom by simply clicking an icon on your screen.

Back to the Future
"We're in the first step of a long journey to start realizing the vision," says AbiEzzi. "We plan to add features that allow hosting software-based devices on your computer, such as a virtual photo album and virtual music jukebox that will be discovered and presented by your TV and stereo system, respectively." AbiEzzi's team will work to control devices from outside the home, as well. To explain how this might work, AbiEzzi says, "If I'm browsing an electronic program guide while traveling, I should be able to order a specific program to be recorded on my [personal video recorder] at home."

Eventually, your home’s appliances, heating and cooling systems, lighting and blind controls, and security systems will all be based on UPnP to form a powerful and coherent system for both the end user and service providers. UPnP will bring invisible networking to the home of the future, and this technology will contribute to security, entertainment, productivity, and convenience. Life at home will become so efficient, we may all regain some of that long-lost leisure time. As far as AbiEzzi and his team are concerned, the home of the future will do just about everything but scrub your back in the shower.