ITU approves home powerline communications standard

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 11 October 2009 10:38

IT Industry - Strategy

The International Telecommunication Union's telecomms standards arm (ITU-T) has agreed upon the key components of the G.hn specification for carrying broadband communications, and other types of traffic over in-home mains wiring
 
According to the Home Grid Forum, the industry body that has backed the technology, "the standard is now stable enough to allow silicon manufacturers to confidently move forward with their development programmes and bring products to market. The outcome of this meeting marks another step in the steady adoption of G.hn and reaffirms the desire to unite a fragmented industry which currently uses a variety of incompatible technologies that typically address only single types of household wiring options – coax, phone line, or power line."

Matthew Theall, president of HomeGrid Forum, said: "G.hn will empower service providers to deploy new offerings, including IPTV, more cost effectively; allow consumer electronics manufacturers to network all types of entertainment, home automation, and security products throughout the house; and greatly simplify consumers purchasing and installation processes."

According to Malcolm Johnson, director, ITU's Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau. "The sheer weight of industry support behind this innovation is testament to the extraordinary potential of this standard to transform home networking."

The HomeGrid Forum is also developing a certification programme for G.hn that, it says, will help semiconductor and systems manufacturers to build and deliver standards-compliant products to market by using the HomeGrid-certified logo.

Late last month the US National Institute Standards Technologies (NIST) approved the G.hn technology for use in smart grid applications. The Home Grid Forum claims that "most devices that consume or monitor energy and that are connected to AC power can benefit from G.hn technology. Examples include smart electricity meters, heating and air conditioning systems, electrical appliances, lightning systems, TVs, and other devices. G.hn can also be used to establish a secure communication channel between plug-in electrical vehicles and electric vehicle supply equipment found in distributed charging stations."