Manufacturing the heart of connected buildings, Taiwan-based multi-protocol IoT gateway expert Ardomus keeps a key idea in mind: to benefit users with the great convenience of cross-standard IoT communication.

“In IoT and building automation, we are keen to offer our users enhanced connectivity, and bridge them across diverse communication protocols from multiple vendors,” explained Chinru Lin, Co-Founder of Ardomus, “After installed, the Ardomus IoT Gateway offers users a different experience of managing home and building automation.”

At the upcoming SMAhome Expo in Taiwan from April 25 – 27, 2018, Ardomus is showcasing its wired and wireless multi-protocol gateways with live demonstration of building controls. 

The plug-shaped Ardomus IoT Gateway supports multiple protocols including ZigBee, Z-Wave, IQRF, WLAN, and is compatible with KNX and Modbus. The built-in AWS cloud agent supports project and device dashboard, allowing users an easier management of their connected devices.

Ardomus has cooperated with constructors, system integrators, installers, and interior designers on various project-based residential and commercial buildings. “We provide system integrators and our partners who install smart home systems a wider imagination. They are then enabled with even more device combinations and broader possibilities of application in connected home and building,” said Lin. 

With future target in Europe and China, Lin said that European users value the quality of product and software design, whilst China owns a massive amount of potential users. Developing countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, on the other hand, rely on building projects with key builders and developers. 

To better connect device to home network, Ardomus will integrate the high-speed and low-speed transmissions for advanced computing, efficient data transferring, and upgraded application. “From our experience in network connectivity, we believe this integration can bring in better performance of audio visual applications with other connected devices, creating a more-intuitive home experience,” commented Lin. 

Continuing the focus on gateway optimization, Ardomus is expecting to bring its gateway supports to more application areas such as security surveillance and medicare. 

“All of us are part of some kinds of the smart home ecosystem, only integration can make the solutions complete,” concluded Lin, “We are looking into the opportunity at 2018 SMAhome Expo to meet international smart home device makers and professional project owners to discuss all sorts of possibility in smart home. Ardomus is confident to show our value in completing the total solution.” 

To enable a true smart home, it is essential to integrate devices from different brands and running on different protocols into one network, which is a difficult task, and we are still far from it, said gateway manufacturer Ardomus.

“We have not really reached the stage of Internet of everything,” Ardomus co-founder Chinru Lin said, as companies tend to create their own ecosystems so that only their devices can talk to each another. Ardomus wants to solve this problem, by providing a gateway that links everything together, so that devices made by Xiaomi, Haier and Huawei, for example, can all communicate and work together.

Lin said Ardomus wants to facilitate a true Internet of Things, where devices “big or small, fast or slow, wired or wireless, many or few in quantity,” can all be linked together. “It is not an easy task,” Lin pointed out.

Lin believes the notion of smart home is still relatively new. The automation functions, such as turning on the lighting, are only “nice to have,” but not addressing any pain points, he said. In the end, it needs to bring greater convenience to people’s lives, or to make it an indispensable “service.”

But reliable network is the foundation of good services. Ardomus aims to provide a robust connectivity to ensure the indispensable smart services go uninterrupted when they become available.

The company makes wireless and wired gateways which can link different smart devices at home and support various protocols like ZigBee, Wi-Fi and RS485. The gateways then connect to a router and therefore the Internet, to enable control through user interface like mobile apps.

Smart home is expected to grow increasingly popular. There are currently two business modes in the emerging industry; companies either serve the DIY market or the professional installation market.

Ardomus is in the professional installation market, and participates in project-based home construction, where desired smart home functions are designed and built into new houses.

The company works with system integrators that install various devices and appliances. Ardomus may perform customization work to link to all the devices and appliances in a project. Every family may have different needs, and a different gateway will be required in each case.

There is something delicate at play. The gateway has to not only connect different communication protocols, but also separate them at times. For example, the network used for Internet surfing is better separated from the network reserved for IP camera, air conditioner or lighting devices. This can prevent the latter home network from being compromised if the former is hacked.

Ardomus’ wireless gateway supports protocols like Zigbee, Z-Wave and IQRF. The company’s wired gateway supports protocols like RS485 and RS232 needed for building automation.

To fulfill the function of a gateway, Ardomus will continue to improve its interoperability ability, in order to be able to communicate with more protocols and devices, Lin said.