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HomeGrid Forum FAQ

Background:

In April, 2008 Infineon Technologies, Intel, Panasonic and Texas Instruments announced the formation of HomeGrid Forum™. The forum’s objective is to promote a next-generation, single MAC/PHY worldwide standard for networking over home wiring, responding to growing industry need.

Key Messages:

HomeGrid Forum is a companion to ITU-T G.hn, supporting the interests of service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, PC manufacturers, and other networking companies to create a next generation, single MAC/PHY technology for transporting multimedia across a home's existing coaxial, phone line and powerline wires.

Three workgroups have been established:

  • ITU-T G.hn Contribution workgroup, facilitating technical discussion for papers submitted for G.hn review by HomeGrid Forum member
  • Compliance and Interoperability workgroup, developing a certification program to ensure that HomeGrid logo products will work reliably in customer homes
  • Marketing workgroup, promoting awareness of HomeGrid worldwide

Question and Answer:

ITU-T G.hn Consent

Q1: What is the status of ITU G.hn and HomeGrid?
A1: The HomeGrid Forum and the International Telecommunication Union’s Standardization Sector (ITU-T) have announced that the ITU-T has successfully Consented the PHY and architecture portions of the ITU-T G.hn specification at its Geneva meeting, December 1-12. HomeGrid has publicly endorsed the ITU-T’s Consent and showed its commitment to support the development of the G.hn standard for wired home networking.

Q2: What is the International Telecommunications Union?
A2: The ITU is a global standards body that is under the auspices of the United Nations. Comprising more than 185 member countries, the ITU sets standards for global networks. The ITU's Telecommunications division (ITU-T) produces more than 200 standards recommendations each year in the converging areas of telecommunications, information technology, consumer electronics, broadcasting and multimedia communications.

Q3: What is the ITU-T G.hn effort?
A3: ITU-T G.hn is developing a next-generation wired home networking technology that enables transmission of video, audio and data over existing coax, phone line and power line wires in the home.

Q4: How does HomeGrid Forum relate to ITU?
A4: HomeGrid Forum is a companion organization to ITU, one of the world’s foremost standard-setting groups.  ITU is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, and has 189 member states and 660 sector members representing public and private companies and organizations that cooperate for the development of telecommunications and the harmonization of national telecommunication policies. The ITU-T is the standardization arm of ITU, and is recognized as the pre-eminent worldwide telecommunication standards body.  HomeGrid’s charter is to support the development and implementation of the ITU-T G.hn standard, promote its use, and drive important compatibility and interoperability testing thereby ensuring optimal consumer purchasing and installation experiences.   

Q5: Why is the G.hn Consent announcement significant?
A5: HomeGrid Forum members are working diligently within ITU-T G.hn to deliver architectural and PHY specifications in 2008, with a goal of final specification in 2009. Individual manufacturers will independently decide when to introduce products based on this standard.

Q6: Who will benefit from this announcement?
A6: Because the G.hn standard aims to deliver a single unified home networking technology that can run over coax, power lines and phone lines, a range of companies – including service providers, PC manufacturers and CE companies– will benefit. Consumers will also see significant benefits.  G.hn enables service providers to deploy new offerings including IPTV more cost effectively; and allows consumer electronics manufacturers to provide powerful devices for connecting all types of entertainment, home automation and security products throughout the house.  Coupled with the HomeGrid certification program, this greatly simplifies consumer purchasing and installation processes.   

Q7: What is HomeGrid's vision for G.hn-based devices? How will consumers use these products?
A7: Products based on G.hn technology will dramatically transform the digital home.  With increasingly intelligent devices – and the ability to connect these products using any wire, anywhere in the home – people will be free from the hassles typically associated with installing and using consumer electronics.  Imagine doing no more than plugging your DVR into coax jack to be able to instantly watch it on any TV in your home.  Plug your PC into any outlet and have high-speed access to the internet via the power lines.  Dock your iPod and immediately listen to music outdoors with no special wiring required.  These experiences and many more will become much easier with G.hn and HomeGrid Certified products. 

Q8: What is HomeGrid Forum's view regarding backwards compatibility and co-existence with other home networking technologies?
A8: HomeGrid Forum believes that compatibility and co-existence with today’s technologies is an important criterion for next-generation technology development.  We are driving the G.hn standard to seek compatibility where practical considerations allow and make commercial sense, and ensure that co-existence of G.hn-based devices with existing products is also made possible.

HomeGrid Forum Background

Q9: Is HomeGrid Forum creating a specification?
A9: No--the goal of HomeGrid Forum is to support the development of a specification in ITU-T G.hn and to focus on marketing the technology and establishing a compliance and interoperability program for products based on the ITU-T G.hn specification.

Q10: How will consumers benefit from HomeGrid Forum efforts?
A10: Products based on the ITU-T G.hn specification will enable higher throughput than today’s technology and will be available from multiple manufacturers, while also significantly reducing cost over time. HomeGrid will utilize existing wires in consumer homes to enable whole-home connectivity, allowing users to share videos, music and images across devices, brands, and physical media. Doing so will allow customers to easily access all the content and resources on their home network—just plug it in and you’re on the network.

Q11: What’s next for HomeGrid Forum?
A11: HomeGrid Forum continues to recruit additional members and continues making multi-party contributions to ITU-T G.hn. In addition, marketing and compliance and interoperability programs are underway to promote the technology and to ensure the successful rollout of the technology.

Q12: Will HomeGrid Forum seek association with any other alliances?
A12: Yes, in fact, HomeGrid Forum has already signed liaison agreements with other industry alliances to facilitate collaboration of ideas and technology transfers. Some of these liaison agreements, such as the one with the Continental Automated Builders Association (CABA) have already been announced and others will be announced in the near future.