Financial Challenges of Home Networks
Besides HomePNA, there are two other prevalent methods for establishing a high-bandwidth home network. Ethernet wiring (CAT5) is one option, but laying Ethernet cable throughout the home is time consuming and expensive. Drilling holes in walls for Ethernet cables is also time-consuming and unsightly. Another approach is wireless technology, but Wi-Fi transmission has proven unreliable, especially for video streaming.
By using existing infrastructure - coaxial cable and phoneline - HomePNA tackles the issues of time, expense, and reliability. HomePNA’s “no new wires” solution offers service providers a way to reduce deployment costs and more quickly profit from triple-play broadband service delivery. HomePNA, in fact, has cut the installation times and costs of major Telcos by up to 50%, which means they can significantly reduce their operational expenses and offer quality services to cost-conscious consumers.
Figure 2:CopperGate’s HomePNA chips enable IPTV on existing wires, thus saving installation costs and time.
Today, four out of the five largest IPTV-deploying Telcos in North America have selected HomePNA and are installing it at a rate of 120,000 homes per month. CopperGate Communications has shipped nearly 10 million HomePNA chips. These chips are embedded in a full ecosystem of devices, including intelligent network interface devices, residential gateways, set-top boxes, bridges, optical network terminals, testing equipment, and masters and endpoints for multi-dwelling unit solutions. Service providers are installing these devices in homes to deliver triple play and other IP services enabled by HomePNA.
Figure 3: HomePNA chips are embedded in a full ecosystem of devices such as the Actiontec HomePNA Ethernet-to-Coax Network Adapter, suited for large rich media files like HDTV, video on demand, movies, music, and photos.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) adopted the first no new wires home networking standard in 2001. HomePNA 3.1 is the ITU’s latest standard (G.9954). It is supported by the HomePNA Alliance, a consortium of leading technology companies working together for an existing wire home networking standard. While the HomePNA Alliance is not a standards body like the ITU, it contributes to standards by developing protocol specifications for networking over existing wires. The next-generation HomePNA 3210 chipset, for instance, offers twice the bandwidth of the earlier chip with a TMRI interface and a PHY rate of 256 Mbps. The HomePNA Alliance also determines testing standards for products to be HomePNA certified.
If Walls Could Talk
It’s no secret: There are passageways within our homes - superhighways, in fact - with digital traffic moving at breakneck speeds to ultimately provide every household device with features of tomorrow’s highly connected smart home.
IPTV has brought about game-changing opportunities that improve business for service providers. It has also provided new, cutting-edge home entertainment options for end users. IPTV is but one aspect of a digital revolution that will ultimately change the way people experience life at home - in their smart homes. In the near future, home networking will expand to include smart energy applications, 3D HDTV, and more.
Figure 4: This Cisco set-top box uses a HomePNA chip to enable IPTV.
The HomePNA standard has paved the way for progress with chips that reliably stream data, voice, and video over existing wires. Indeed, if our walls could talk, they would marvel at the digital traffic streaming over coax and phoneline, and they would salute HomePNA for breathing new life into old wires.
References
[1] ABI Research, “At 32%, Telco TV Tops Pay-TV Platform Growth,” January 14, 2009, www.abiresearch.com/press/1346- At+32%25,+Telco+TV+Tops+Pay- TV+Platform+Growth
Eran Gureshnik is the product line manager of HomePNA products at CopperGate Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sigma Designs based in Tel Aviv, Israel, with U.S. headquarters in Milpitas, California. Having previously worked for Marvell, Intel, and DSPC, he is an expert in communication semiconductors with experience in design engineering, chip and platform architecture, platform and product management, and technical customer support. Eran received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
