A system to monitor elderly people remotely, using the power line network

In the developed countries, including Japan, the proportion of elderly people in the population is very high. In such countries, the lack of a caregiver is a very serious problem, and many elderly people live in residential or nursing homes, where they are cared for intensively. However, one has to consider their quality of life. Often, it is recommended that they stay at home, and in such cases, they may require care at home. Therefore, the authors propose a remote monitoring system, using the power line network. This system can be located anywhere in the home, even in older houses, allowing caregivers to monitor elderly people from anywhere in the world via the Internet. The authors evaluated the power line network system experimentally. The results showed that the transfer rate depends on the electronic noise in the power line and on the distance between computers even if it was fixed. The authors compared this system with a 'traditional' Ethernet system. Although more time was needed, data transfer was completed without problem.