System and method for a smart home system

A method for providing control of a smart home system, comprising:

• providing a computing device including a display;
• connecting a universal device to the computing device via a wired or wireless connection, wherein the universal device comprises:
• a transceiver for sending data to, and receiving data from, the computing device, and
• a crystal oscillator configured to produce a sinusoidal wave comprising control information;
• connecting one or more system modules to the universal device via a power line connection, the one or more system modules and the universal device communicating using an open source protocol, wherein the one or more system modules comprise circuitry for performing unique functions based on the control information;
• transmitting a command, from the computing device, to the universal device, the command configured to cause the universal device to generate control information and to request, based on the control information, the initialization information from the one or more system modules;
• sending a sinusoidal wave comprising a message from the universal device to the one or more system modules requesting initialization information via the power line connection, wherein the sinusoidal wave comprises a plurality of phase inversion spikes, and wherein the plurality of phase inversion spikes are each generated at an interval determine based in part on the open source protocol;
• sending a message from the one or more system modules to the universal device including the initialization information, the initialization information including information regarding one or more unique functions of a corresponding one of the one or more system modules and control parameters of the one or more unique functions;
• creating a user interface on the display of the computing device, the user interface including control surfaces which, when manipulated by a user, cause a change in a value of one of the control parameters associated with the one or more system modules;
• receiving, via the user interface, user input;
• and
• transmitting to the universal device, based on the user input, a second command configured to cause the one or more system modules to execute the one or more unique functions.

A smart home system for providing ubiquitous control, comprising:

• a computing device for sending commands which are interpreted by a protocol;
• a universal device operatively coupled to the computing device, the universal device comprising:
• a transceiver for sending data to, and receiving data from, the computing device;
• a crystal oscillator configured to produce a sinusoidal wave comprising control information, wherein the sinusoidal wave comprises a plurality of phase inversion spikes, wherein the plurality of phase inversion spikes are each generated at an interval determined based in part on a protocol;
• and
• a non-transitory storage medium containing the protocol and instructions thereon;
• and
• one or more system modules connected to the universal device via one or more power lines, the one or more system modules each configured to perform one or more unique functions based on the control information, the one or more system modules communicating with the universal device using the protocol via the one or more power lines;
• wherein the instructions, when executed by the universal device, are configured to:
• receive a command, from the computing device, to generate control information;
• request, based on the control information, initialization information from the one or more system modules via the one or more power lines;
• transmit to the computing device the initialization information;
• generate data for creating a user interface based on the initialization information, the user interface including one or more control elements which correspond to the one or more unique functions identified in the initialization information;
• receive, based on user input received via the user interface, a second command configured to cause the one or more system modules to execute the one or more unique functions.