DISQUS

Clarification Needed · 1 year ago

Hi Dean...one clarification. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T) formed a workgroup about 2 1/2 years ago called G.hn, to develop a generic home networking standard for next generation connectivity. As a next generation standard, G.hn is analysing many different proposals for connectivity over coaxial cable, phoneline, and mains power, with the ultimate goal a single chipset for next generation home networking needs over any of those three types of home wiring. Thus, to clarify, G.hn is working on a unified standard for coax, phone, and power lines, *not* a unified standard for MoCA, phone, and power lines.

The multi-room activities to which you refer are driving more and more of a desire for whole-home connectivity; as you note, with nearly 20% of U.S. homes not having ubiquitous coax availability (and with coax having less penetration in other countries outside the U.S.), any next-generation solution that promises whole-home connectivity must truly address the whole home. The belief of most G.hn participants is that the best way to do so is with an approach that addresses the problem holistically, drawing best-of-breed contributions from the power, phone, and coax communities, rather than re-purposing an existing specification. Whole-home content sharing applications such as those enabled by DLNA can tax existing home networking technologies; the advent of multi-room HD video streaming will put a further burden on existing networking solutions. Hence, the need for a next generation approach.

Also, the HomeGrid Forum is the industry alliance working to promote the G.hn specification, similar to how the Wi-Fi Alliance is the promotional body for the IEEE 802.11 specification. The technical work itself is conducted by the ITU membership, many of whom are HomeGrid members.