Just some research into an open-source home-automation solution using the Linear HUSBZB-1 device on Linux

gistfile1.txt

GOAL: an open-source stack (OS, Drivers, Applications, Integrations) for home automation.

GOAL: self-hosted, and not allow private data to be exploited by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, or other (vendor-provided)
cloud-computing systems that offer services for integration and automation, but leach private data into corporate servers

GOAL: host on a Raspberry Pi, or similar Linux server host

GOAL: use radio device(s) that speaks directly to the Raspberry Pi (Linux host) without using a vendor-provided bridge.
This means I would prefer a USB device for Zigbee or Z-Wave, without using any device similar to the Samsung "SmartThings"
Hub, and thus can avoid it's requirements for subscription into Samsung cloud, with the benefit? of avoiding Samsung's
non-standard "SmartThings" Framework.  


Hardware.

I have purchased a USB dongle which supports both major wireless protocols, Zigbee and Z-Wave+. This is the Linear HUSBZB-1.
It is known to work on Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems.
- Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GJ826F8/
- Newegg Link: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35A-001P-00001
(The "Linear" HUSBZB-1 is also branded by Nortek, Go-Control, and other home-automation technology brands.)

The HUSBZB-1 Uses the 'Ember' EM3581 chipset, which allows applications to communicate by using the EZSP protocol over 2
serial UART's. (1 port for Z-Wave+, 1 port for Zigbee)

On Linux, by default, the ports look as follows:
- /dev/ttyUSB0 is zwave,
- /dev/ttyUSB1 is Zigbee-Home-Automation (ZHA)

Device Documentation:
- http://www.nortekcontrol.com/pdf/manuals/husbzb-1-instructions.pdf
- http://www.gocontrol.com/manuals/HUSBZB-1-Operation.pdf

From my Linux host.  This is the dmesg output related to when I plugged in the HUSBZB-1:
[   14.512558] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial
[   14.512700] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
[   14.763068] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for generic
[   14.776134] usbcore: registered new interface driver cp210x
[   14.776318] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for cp210x
[   14.776539] cp210x 1-1.2:1.0: cp210x converter detected
[   14.813681] usb 1-1.2: cp210x converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[   14.813985] cp210x 1-1.2:1.1: cp210x converter detected
[   14.852266] usb 1-1.2: cp210x converter now attached to ttyUSB1

This is the "lsusb" output for the device:

dkaiser@box:~$ lsusb -v -d 10c4:

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 10c4:8a2a Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x10c4 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc.
  idProduct          0x8a2a 
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           1 Silicon Labs
  iProduct                2 HubZ Smart Home Controller
  iSerial                 5 C0F00486
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           55
    bNumInterfaces          2
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              3 HubZ Z-Wave Com Port
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        1
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              4 HubZ ZigBee Com Port
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0020  1x 32 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0020  1x 32 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)
dkaiser@box:~$ 

Running Miniterm identifies the devices:

dkaiser@box:~$ miniterm.py 

--- Available ports:
---  1: /dev/ttyUSB0         HubZ Smart Home Controller
---  2: /dev/ttyUSB1         HubZ Smart Home Controller
--- Enter port index or full name: 



Software.

It appears there is an Eclipse framework for Smart Home.  https://www.eclipse.org/smarthome/  This is good, as the
Eclipse Foundation generally has very good goals, and good management of software product development, and will not
allow vendors to introduce features or code which prefers or favors the use of private cloud services.  It remains
to be seen if device vendors will support an open standard Smart Home framework instead of each trying to build their own.


There are two differing (competing?) open-source software stacks which so-far look to be reaching enough critical mass
(ongoing development activity, and plenty of innovation for integrating new capabilities):

- OpenHAB:  http://www.openhab.org/
  * Java codebase.  Supports the Eclipse Foundation Smart Home Framework.

- Home Assistant:  http://hass.io/  (redirect to: http://home-assistant.io/)
  * Python codebase.
  

OpenHAB, a Java project, has support for this device. https://github.com/openhab/org.openhab.binding.zigbee
In the openhab repository, search README for 'coordinator_ember'.

The OpenHAB Zigbee binding code contains an EZSP implementation, which comes from a maven package sourced here:
https://github.com/zsmartsystems/com.zsmartsystems.zigbee

The README on com.zsmartsystems.zigbee mentions some issues around baud rates.
If you use the Java approach, you'll need to make sure the com.zmartsystems.zigbee library is newer than this
pull request which adds the HUSBZB-1 support:
https://github.com/zsmartsystems/com.zsmartsystems.zigbee/pull/39  (June 23, 2017)


On the Home-Assistion.IO front, it is a Python project.
The zwave binding is here: https://home-assistant.io/hassio/zwave/

Ths HASS.io zwave binding uses Bellows, which is a GPL Python codebase for EZSP:
https://github.com/rcloran/bellows  
(this Github page includes links to the EZSP protocol docs)


Someone has found a way to use this HUSBZB-1 and perform a factory reset on Philips HUE light bulbs:
https://github.com/vanviegen/hue-thief 
- I guess this unlocks them from only communiating with a Philips bridge device, so that the Philips bulbs can then be
joined to any network? (Needs to be verified what this actually does.)
- The hue-thief is a small Python project and a simple example code-base for how to use Bellows for EZSP/Zigbee
communications.