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New ITU standard opens doors for unified ‘smart home’ network
G.hn standard for wired home networking gets international approval
Geneva, 15 October 2009 — ITU has approved a cutting-edge technical standard that will usher in new era in ‘smart
home’ networking systems and applications. Called ‘G.hn’, the new standard will
enable service providers to deploy new offerings, including High Definition TV (HDTV) and digital Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), more cost effectively. It will
also allow consumer electronics manufacturers to seamlessly network all types of home entertainment, home automation and home security products, and greatly
simplify consumers’ purchasing and installation processes.
G.hn-compliant devices will be capable of handling high-bandwidth rich multimedia content at speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s over household wiring options,
including coaxial cable and standard phone and power lines. It will deliver many times the throughput of existing wireless and wired technologies.
Approval of the new standard will allow manufacturers of networked home devices - set-top boxes, residential gateways, computers, audio systems, DVD
players, household appliances and any other device that might be connected to a network - to confidently move forward with their R&D programmes and rapidly
bring products to market. Experts predict that the first chipsets employing G.hn will be available in early 2010.
"G.hn is a technology that gives new use to the cabling most people already have in their homes. The remarkable array of applications that it will enable
includes energy efficient smart appliances, home automation and telemedicine devices," said Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU's Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau. "The sheer weight of industry support behind this innovation is testament to the extraordinary potential of this standard to
transform home networking."
The physical layer and architecture portion of the standard were approved by ITU-T Study Group 15 on October 9. The data link layer of the new standard is
expected to garner final approval at the group’s next meeting in May 2010.
The Home Grid Forum, a group set up to promote G.hn, is developing a certification programme together with the Broadband Forum that will aid
semiconductor and systems manufacturers in building and bringing standards-compliant products to market, with products that fully conform to the
G.hn standard bearing the HomeGrid-certified logo. Matthew Theall, HomeGrid Forum president, said: "HomeGrid Forum and its member companies applaud ITU’s
Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) for its success in developing a standard that will greatly simplify home networking, provide a platform for new
services, and deliver the next-generation performance needed in the marketplace."
Also agreed at the recent ITU-T Study Group 15 meeting was a new standard that focuses on coexistence between G.hn-based products and those using other
technologies. Known as G.9972, the standard describes the process by which G.hn devices will work with power line devices that use technologies such as IEEE
P1901. In addition, experts say that they will develop extensions to G.hn to support SmartGrid applications.
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Parkes
ITU Media Relations
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+41 22 730 6135 |
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+41 79 599 1439 |
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pressinfo@itu.int |
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Toby Johnson
ITU Senior Communications Officer
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+41 22 730 5877 |
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+41 79 249 4868 |
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toby.johnson@itu.int |
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