Many manufacturers now integrate a salt generator with their automation systems. If you want to use salt to sanitize your pool (recommended) and if you want to automate your pool (recommended), then seek this salt generation-automation combined unit.
The use of salt - a saltwater pool - is rapidly becoming a popular sanitizer for pool water; it will soon be the most popular sanitizer for pool water. Regardless of the sanitizer you are currently using, a conversion to salt and the required salt generator is an upgrade. And, for the most part, it's a simple upgrade - just have a salt generator installed, plumbed and wired inline with your pool equipment. Salt is a sanitizer, meaning it will destroy and remove bacteria, pathogens, organisms, algae spores, dirt, debris, particles, and other contaminates from pool water as well as help to oxidize organic matter in the pool water so that the end result is clean, clear, and safe water. More specifically, salt is converted into chlorine, and chlorine is the actual sanitizer. Sanitizing the pool is a requirement for maintaining optimal water chemistry and the resulting water clarity. Although salt is often labeled as an "alternative to chlorine" to sanitize pool water, this is not accurate, because salt generators (also known as chlorine generators) convert salt into actual, albeit manufactured, chlorine. The end-product is chlorine; for all intents-and-purposes, then, salt is chlorine.
Automation is a controller - a glorified system of time clocks - for any mechanical pool equipment with an on/off switch, which will allow you to determine when that piece of mechanical pool equipment will be turned on to operate or turned off. Most manufacturers offer various levels and options for automation, from very basic (to control a few pieces of mechanical pool equipment) to very sophisticated (to control all of the mechanical pool equipment and various pool maintenance tasks and even the landscaping, sprinkler system, outdoor lighting, and entire backyard). Automation is recommended for any pool.
The combined automation + salt units are highly recommended for any pool.
You can read the Pool Manual for more information about sanitizing pool water, salt as a pool sanitizer, salt generators, automation, and combined units for automation + salt.