Issue 26 Articles

HomeGrid Forum - Any wire. Anywhere. It just works.G.hn: the Backbone for Wireless Video Delivery in the Consumer Technology Space

By Donna Yasay, President of HomeGrid Forum

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Donna Yasay, President of HomeGrid Forum
Donna Yasay
President of HomeGrid Forum

Donna Yasay joined the board of HomeGrid Forum and was elected president in March 2015. She is Business Development Director at Marvell Semiconductor.

Donna has over 20 years’ experience in the telecoms industry working in engineering, sales and business development roles in both operator and vendor organizations, including AT&T, D-Link and Ikanos.

She began her career as a systems engineer at AT&T and Internet Connect before going into technical sales at D-Link and gradually moving into business development roles at Netopia, Tzero Technologies and Asoka USA Corporation and now her current position at Marvell. Her previous roles in engineering, sales, network services and business development, means Donna brings a knowledgeable, broad vision to her role as leader for HomeGrid Forum.

Her past experience in home networking in both LAN and WAN domains, fuels her desire to provide the consumer community with the right technology to enable a better quality of experience in their homes.

The consumer technology industry is continuing to boom, with shipments of 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV sets in the US having reached an estimated four million by the end of 2015, more than 200% up on the previous year according to the Consumer Technology Association.

Not only are we seeing major uptake in the latest TV sets, “second screens” such as tablets are increasingly common, and consumers are snapping up phones faster than ever. These devices allow consumers to stay connected for both personal and work use, anywhere within the house, and when venturing outside. This is likely to involve multiple wireless access points which need to be interconnected by some kind of backbone.

Consumer purchases are driven primarily by cost, and so many households will end up with different devices from competing manufacturers and operators. With more and more consumers opting to purchase the very latest in TV and second screen technology, the need for cohesive industry standards within the consumer technology space to ensure reliable, wireless-attached video delivery is critical.

The key question is “how can the consumer technology industry and standards bodies ensure existing networks are able to cope with this constant influx of new devices?” What’s more, consumers have come to expect and rely upon faultless wireless communications and video delivery over their networks. Standards bodies need to ensure that the consumers’ requirements are met.

Railway broadband application
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G.hn: The Backbone That Meets Consumers’ Needs

The International Telecommunications Union’s Telecommunication Standardization sector (ITU-T), supported by HomeGrid Forum, developed G.hn to consolidate the plethora of approaches to wired home networking.

G.hn is the backbone for the fastest and most reliable in-home network available today and can very simply extend wireless connectivity throughout the home and maintain the level of service needed for video delivery. Able to operate over any existing type of wire, G.hn networks support the latest service innovations, such as multi-room, multi-screen ultra-HD video.

The beauty of G.hn is that it works over all types of existing in-home wiring, including coaxial cable, phone extensions and power lines. Given the sheer number of different devices the modern consumer owns, multiple types of networks need to be established to enable all the devices to communicate with another conveniently and efficiently. G.hn technology is the backbone that supports the connection between multiple wired and wireless network segments.

Providing the Backbone

Devices certified by HomeGrid Forum bring significant improvements for today’s customers. Key elements include HomeGrid Forum’s commitment to interoperability amongst different chipset providers, as well as guaranteed speeds between different devices; standards bodies do not address these aspects in any detail.

HomeGrid Forum recognized the need for Interoperability, Performance (IOP), and Compliance Testing based on real consumer market requirements. HomeGrid Forum is the industry group achieving these objectives for G.hn, and all its members are developing G.hn products and technologies. There is a continuing need to keep track of new requirements and market trends to maintain the relevance of industry standards.

G.hn was originally targeted at the carrier market, where consistent, reliable performance is key. HomeGrid Forum’s goal now is to bring the benefits of this carrier influence to the retail market. HomeGrid Forum G.hn product certification enables a robust, high-performance backbone which provides vital support for the whole home, wireless attached video distribution that the consumer expects.

Consumers expect flawless video delivery and wireless communications throughout their home, and we will continue to work to provide and develop the backbone to underpin these requirements.

HomeGrid Forum - Any wire. Anywhere. It just works.For more information visit:
www.homegridforum.org
@homegrid_forum

HomeGrid Forum (HGF) is an industry alliance that brings together the world’s best in technology innovators, silicon vendors, system manufacturers and service providers to promote G.hn, a globally recognized gigabit home networking technology based on ITU-T standards. Over 70 members promote the global adoption of G.hn, a single unified, multi-sourced networking technology – over coax, copper pairs, powerline, and plastic optical fiber – while continuing to support HomePNA deployments and their transition to G.hn. HomeGrid Forum provides G.hn silicon and system certification through a strict compliance and interoperability testing program.
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