BEAVERTON, OR--(Marketwire - January 25, 2011) - The HomeGrid Forum, speaking at today's Smart Energy Summit in Austin, Texas, unveiled an exciting and ambitious roadmap towards the widespread adoption of G.hn as the de facto standard in wired home networking.
Speaking at the Summit, the Forum's co-Chair of Marketing, Chano Gomez, said that first deployments of G.hn products will occur during 2011 and the organization's Compliance & Interoperability (C&I) Roadmap outlines a range of practical steps for service providers and equipment manufacturers. This roadmap includes the appointment of accredited test houses, the first interoperability plugfests, and the first shipments of certified products.
There have been also key developments in G.hnem -- the ITU-T standard for energy management -- during 2011, enabling cost-effective SmartGrid applications such as smart meters, smart appliances and advanced re-charging systems for electric vehicles. While participating in a panel on home gateways, Gomez said that consent of G.hnem is expected during the first quarter of 2011 by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T).
The announcement of HomeGrid's 2011 C&I Program builds on the successes of the last 12 months, a landmark year for the Forum in which the new G.hn specifications (G.9960, G.9961 and G.9972) were formally approved in June 2010 by the ITU-T. 2010 also saw an enormous increase in interest from silicon companies, with eight silicon vendors standing behind the work of the HomeGrid Forum and announcing their support for G.hn. Sigma Designs and Lantiq were the first and second companies to announce their first G.hn-based silicon products. In addition, the HomeGrid Forum signed a collaboration agreement with the Broadband Forum in order to accelerate the G.hn Compliance & Interoperability program and ensure broad support for the global standard.
At the Summit, Gomez also said: "This past year showed a remarkable growth in interest in G.hn and G.hnem, and looking back, 2010 will be remembered as the year that home networking took off. HomeGrid Forum membership more than doubled during the year: a clear indicator of the growth of home networking and the value the industry is placing on G.hn and G.hnem as the technologies of choice for the next generation of home networking and Smart Grid applications."
With multiple vendors recently announcing G.hn silicon, 2011 will see the first volume shipments of G.hn products. The Compliance & Interoperability Program Roadmap outlines the following steps:
- Accredited Test Houses Selected and Approved (H1 2011)
- Certified Logo Design/Guidelines Complete (H1 2011)
- First silicon plugfest held (H1 2011)
Gomez is Director of Business Development at Lantiq North America and has more than 10 years of experience in home networking and SmartGrid applications semiconductor industry, with a special focus on powerline communications for voice, video and data transmission. Since 2008, Chano has been actively involved in the development of ITU-T standards G.9960 and G.9961 (G.hn). He currently serves as co-chair of HomeGrid Forum Marketing Working Group, and previously as chair of the HomeGrid Forum G.hn Contributions Working Group.
About HomeGrid Forum
HomeGrid Forum is a global, non-profit trade group promoting the International Telecommunication Union's G.hn and G.hnem standardization efforts for next-generation home networking and SmartGrid Applications. HomeGrid Forum promotes adoption of G.hn and G.hnem through technical and marketing efforts, addresses certification and interoperability of G.hn and G.hnem-compliant products, and cooperates with complementary industry alliances. For more information on HomeGrid Forum, please visit www.homegridforum.org or follow us on http://twitter.com/homegrid_forum.
Contact Information:
For more information please contact
Brian Dolby
+44 7899 914168
Sheila Lashford
+44 7986 514240
email pr@homegridforum.org