Articles and whitepapers

1/9/2002

Home Networking Standards Proliferation and Efforts Toward Convergence

By N. Chu and D. Baddeley of Motorola USA and Motorola Switzerland

Abstract: Broadcast and Internet services enter the home through a variety of devices. Existing standards and specifications in the works are reviewed. The appropriate network architecture is described for support of the desirable flow of control and usage within the home. The right mixture of cable and wireless installation are examined. This paper reviews the standards and technologies for the establishment of broadband home networks.

Introduction

The convergence of DVB and Internet distribution prompts the questions: "What is the optimal networking standard for home use?" and "What configurations and operational scenarios are acceptable to the consumer?"

Broadcast and Internet services enter the home through a variety of devices such as gateways, set-top terminals or routers, via competing network providers. Consumers see the convenience of connectivity to their video devices, computers, laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, etc., with these services, and they may also benefit from connecting up controllers or sensors used around the home. Various usages manifest five categories of digital applications: video, audio, data, telephone, and automation. Each category employs different technology with inherently different price/performance requirements.

Existing standards and specifications in the works include various versions of Wi-Fi: 802.11 (a/b/e/g/h/i/j), WPAN: 802.15, and BWA: 802.16, DECT, Bluetooth, HiperLAN, DVB-WIN, HomeRF, CableHome, HomePlug, and BWIF under the auspices of DVB, ETSI, IEEE, IETF, ITU, and other industry forums. Although each addresses some aspects of the user needs and application performance requirements, none completely satisfies the needs for all applications. No de-facto standard has emerged either in the last few years to dominate in any part of the home network arena.

A standard is an agreement on technologies and protocols that have been debated openly in committees. The standardization initiatives for home networks have not had enough market orientation. With the rise and fall of Smart House, HomePNA, HomeRF, and others, management of these standards/technologies becomes a challenge, often confusing target products and real market acceptance.

Since standards need to be validated, they should normally have been implemented in partial or whole products. Consumers, as well as CE (Consumer Electronics) manufacturers view networking as a back-stage task, which should not interfere with their usage behaviour. However, current IP networking technology requires technically savvy home users, which goes against mass-market intuition. Network demarcation, transport media architecture, and control have been much touted in open discussions, and management and operations of (segmented) networks have mostly assumed automatic tools which are as yet not well defined. Hence the ownership of the home network will be different for different groups of consumers due to testing, deployment and operational issues which suit their needs or capabilities.

For facilities within a home, a mixture of copper wire and wireless will be inevitable in forming an economic and convenient package for consumers. Wireless benefits from portability, hence is the most convenient. While power line, phone line and coax wiring have been installed in many homes, how difficult is it to include this wiring in an architecture of connectivity? Many connectivity options are available, but none can be used readily to fully support all possible applications at once. The appropriate network architecture will have to support all the desirable flow of control and usage within the home.

Furthermore, choices of applications (be it broadcast or streaming video, Internet, games, VoIP), commercial rights protection and security are extremely important factors from the content provider's perspective.

This paper surveys the standards and technologies for the establishment of broadband home networks. A series of profiles is suggested to approach customers' needs from the entertainment video perspective. Constraints based on frequency allocations and economics are described. An analysis model suggests directions for various standards to be re-assessed, based on non-uniform demands of the home users.

Home Network Environment

A home network is assumed to be a simple, short distance communications system designed for the residential/family environment, where many home electronics devices can exchange control, based on a standard protocol. At one extreme, a home network may get by with very low bandwidth and low power transmission for controls/automation. At the other extreme, a home network can be geared to large-screen video transport functions, with heavily interactive games. Therefore, a home network cannot be automatically assumed to be aLocal Area Network based on coverage; Personal Area Network based on information; Mobile Network based on flexibility; nor Broadcast Network based on content. Within this environment, bandwidth, operating spectrum, security, reliability, plug-and-play devices and associated costs are challenging factors, not because of the number of users in a home, but the nature of the diversity of applications based on spontaneous use by home members, particularly for entertainment. Therefore, conventional communication needs have to be considered in the context of home entertainment/relaxation, although there are always niche markets of home school or home business (SOHO). These activities performed at home, in a typical order of significance, are listed below.

Entertainment
Devices involved: TV, game station, stereo ...
Network access involved: access to cable, terrestrial, and satellite broadcast networks as well as internet video streaming.

Telecommunications
Devices involved: telephone, facsimile terminal, cell/mobile phone ...
Network access involved: telephony networks, mobile networks.

Information
Devices involved: PC, PDA, laptop ...
Network access involved: Internet.

Home Control
Devices involved: wall switches, thermostat, timer, security system, utility meters ...
Network access involved: power line network,

Each functional area has networks operated by traditional companies, new entries or other service providers. Each conventional network in place has been perfected for its dedicated purposes over a long period of time. The characteristics of these networks are compared in Table 1.

Table 1 - Differences between Home Network and other existing networks

A home network should not carry the burdens of all other networks, however, it should contain the most optimal network/terminal functionalities for home members to transparently enjoy video, data and voice services. Considering various sizes of home in various environments, home networks should have many profiles instead of one size that fits all, which could end up with being the most demanding, un-affordable size.

It has been pointed out in Reference [8] that home network technologies have been promoted as a 'do it yourself' solution. However, a home network does not exist by itself before or after installation. Frequency allocations, standards, network interface to typical carrier networks with sophisticated and robust operations are all integral parts of its acceptance with its own demand on the ease of operations within the home. In the meantime, network operators of various media have considered running home networks as an extension of their existing network service. Thus, a home network can exist in two forms, one run by the home owner and the other by the network service operator. Each involves distinct issues, as later sections will elaborate.

Wireless has been intrinsic in the home environment. The TV remote controller, cordless phone, laptop, garage door opener, etc., have been in popular use. The sections that follow describe the wireless aspects of frequency allocations and standards involved with home networking.

Issues with Wireless Networks for Home Networking

Wireless technology is the most convenient and exciting technology for creating home networks. There are however, several considerations which are often overlooked and which can impede rapid market uptake until they are resolved. These are spectrum or regulatory issues, QoS, throughput and range, and security. The QoS/throughput/range are highly dependent on the spectrum regulations.

Spectrum/Regulatory Issues

Frequency Bands

The frequency bands used for home networks should allow free deployment unburdened by bureaucratic licensing rules. They should ideally also be available under similar no licence fee conditions globally to encourage a large mass market with minimum impediment to free circulation of terminals and low cost. There exist two different categories of frequency band fulfilling this:

• ISM bands (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) which were originally defined by the ITU for miscellaneous non-communications use, but which are now frequently used for short range communications. Users may not claim interference protection from any of the other users (provided the usage respects the enacted regulations). ·
• License-exempt bands shared with other Primary or Secondary services where the types of service have been determined to be able to co-exist. e. g. 5GHz or UWB. This category is a relatively recent development in regulatory practice, necessary due to the shortage of suitable spectrum and due to the recognition that, given proper co-existence rules, spectrum sharing is possible with low risk of mutual interference between certain designated services. Actual national regulatory practice for this category varies among countries, and it would be too complex a task to compare approaches here.

For the purpose of broadband wireless transmission using bands with a limited number of channels, and where deployment of transmitters is at random locations close enough to interfere as is the case in high density residential zones, the frequency band must allow:

• 1. sufficient bandwidth on a channel for a suitable bit rate
• 2. sufficient power for a useful range
• 3. enough channels so that in a dense deployment an interference-free channel can be found such that service quality is perceived to be high

Modulation schemes under typical conditions of C/(N+I) achieve in the order of 2bits/s/Hz efficiency. Assuming air interface transmission rates of about 32Mb/s are required for good quality large screen video (actual throughput above the MAC layer will be about 60-70% of that), channel bandwidth of 16-20MHz is needed. High density residential deployment will cause co-channel interference unless the interfering stations are sufficiently far apart, which implies that sufficient channels are available to enable frequency re-use patterns of at least 4 (i.e. adjacent cells are on a different frequency and the same frequency is not re-used until a sufficient distance away to not interfere). In fact a study by the HiperLAN/2 Global Forum indicates that as many as 20 channels will be required when wireless home networks supporting all the potential services achieve a high rate of penetration.

If at least 4 channels of 20MHz are needed for successful broadband video networks and looking at the spectrum bands available, only the 2.4GHz ISM band and the 5GHz bands are suitable, with UWB possible for limited range WPANs. These bands are further discussed below.

2.4GHz ISM band
The license-exempt ISM band at 2.4GHz is available in nearly every country. It is however used by many different products including microwave ovens, cordless telephones in the USA, IEEE802.11b WLAN, Bluetooth WPAN, and lighting. The frequencies allowed are 2.40-2.4835GHz, or 2.471-2.4975GHz in Japan. Some countries restrict the number of channels available and the channel bandwidth for frequency hopping. The IEEE802.11 standards take into account the different regulatory domains allowing these parameters to be set by the user. Thus at best there are 4 channels of 20MHz available here, with a high probability of interference from different types of other device. For low duty cycle packet communications (e.g., Internet, Ethernet) this may be adequate, but for quality streaming video, it will prove to be insufficient for technology development projected in the next few years.

5GHz bands
The band 5.15-5.25GHz is available in most world regions, and is shared only with the Primary Service mobile satellite earth-space feeder links. The band 5.25-5.35GHz is shared with radio-location / navigation and earth exploration satellite services. It is available also for WLAN in most regions along with the 5.15-5.25GHz band, so that with the exception of Japan there is 200MHz of continuous spectrum in this band.

Europe is the only region to date to have allowed 5.470-5.725GHz for WLANs, but the allocation globally is a topic addressed by the next World Radio Conference WRC-03 under agenda item 1.5.

The ISM band 5.725-5.825GHz is currently only suitable for WLAN use in the USA and Canada because in other regions the short range applications are restricted to stringent low power requirements, e. g. 50mW in Europe, although this situation is likely to change in the medium term.

Other license-exempt bands
Other license-exempt bands may be identified in the future, but the amount of unallocated spectrum is very limited. Although there are ISM bands above 10GHz, the path loss, as frequency increases, reduces the range for reasonable transmit powers with omni-directional antennas. Potential future developments may therefore see use of smart antenna technologies.

For low data rate home control/automation use, ISM bands around 400MHz. and around 900MHz are useful.

Quality of Service - QoS

Generally speaking Quality of Service is taken to mean a measure of the upper bound on parameters such as end-end packet delay and jitter that influence the perceived quality of real-time applications such as video conferencing. On a wire or fibre network, various protocols exist which address the issue. However, in a wireless network, the extra problems associated with the use of a wireless medium require special solutions. The wireless medium can produce long error bursts, and in certain zones in a building, it can even fade completely. With the contention based protocols like 802.11 interference can cause long indeterminate packet delay. For a home network to support good quality large screen video, these issues must be mastered by the technologies and implemented in products which are easy to install and operate. Most of the problem must be resolved at the MAC and PHY layers. Hence the IEEE is developing enhancements for QoS for 802.11 in committee TGe (IEEE 802.11 e). HiperLAN/2 already addresses delay and jitter by the use of fixed frame size in similar fashion to ATM, and the radio transmission resource can be allocated by a scheduler. The likelihood of error bursts is countered by strong forward error correction techniques.

Security

In the wireless network context, the specific security issue that has to be addressed separately is admission control into the network. The wireless segment is physically more difficult to secure than for a wired network. Users want privacy and security that confidential information cannot be eavesdropped. Service suppliers want security for the content they deliver, and assurance that it is not "stolen" by unauthorised access.

In summary - wireless is what we want, but issues remain to be resolved

The various wireless standards covered above satisfy some of the needs, but the solutions to all the requirements are still being developed in the committees and in product implementations. Although most companies have targeted the 2.4GHz ISM band for first generation, the 5GHz bands will become increasingly important as bandwidth and service quality demands increase. IEEE802.11e still has to complete the QoS enhancements to the classical contention-based MAC which has been the bread and butter of Ethernet since its inception. Markets for services that rely on the denial of unauthorised access to the delivery network will not start until security issues are felt to be under control.

Alternative Standards

Many standards have been updated worldwide for use in home networking. These official or un-official standards include: IEEE 802.11 (a/b/e/h/g/i/j), 802.15, and 802.16, DECT, Bluetooth, HiperLAN, WIN, HomeRF, CableHome and BWIF under the development of DVB, ETSI, IEEE, IETF, ITU, and other industry forums. Status of major standards and technology development is briefly described in sections that follow.

IEEE 802.11[1]

IEEE 802.11 is described as a WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network. IEEE 802.11 is now a set of evolving standards originally developed as an extension to Ethernet 802.3. The 2.4GHz 802.11b version is currently shipping in volume promoted by WECA's Wi-Fi label and sold retail to consumers. The higher rate 802.11a in 5GHz bands is starting to be available, and 802.11g for higher data rate in 2.4GHz is in development. Improvements to network security and to the MAC for improved QoS are being addressed in new extensions 802.11i and 802.11e respectively.

HiperLAN2[2]

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) developed the HiperLAN2 standards with the same OFDM modulation as 802.11a, and MMAC in Japan developed HiSWANa with the same modulation scheme. Most of the differences in the radio specifications were due to different regulatory environments in the US, Europe and Japan, but it is hoped that some harmonization will be achieved in this area through ongoing work in the ITU-R and national administrations.

IEEE 802.15[11]

The IEEE 802.15 group develops Personal Area Network standards for short distance wireless networks - WPANs. IEEE 802.15.1 corresponds to Bluetooth. IEEE 802.15.3/3a are high data rate WPANs. IEEE 802.15.4 is intended for low rate low power applications such as domestic controls/automation. A WPAN differs from a WLAN in its smaller coverage area and the need to reduce power consumption for battery energy sources as well as reducing network administration overhead so that little expertise is required to install and maintain a WPAN.

IEEE 802.16.3 and ETSI BRAN HIPERMAN Protocol

The IEEE 802.16 efforts were geared toward fixed wireless access specification for outdoor communications initially. However, recently their effort was extended to cover un-licensed frequency spectrum of 2 to 11GHz. The IEEE 802.16.3 was formed for this development. The specification initially drawn for operation at 11GHz to 60GHz was modified for the lower frequency range and the application was introduced for also in-home usage.

Due to the large overlap in memberships, the desire to harmonize standards, and a significant level of commonality, IEEE 802.16 and ETSI BRAN HIPERMAN joined force in the specification for most PHY layer functions. The commonality is described in Reference [7] and the major points are listed below:

• The Transmission technique is based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) as in DVB, Hiperlan2, 802.11a and HiSWANa. 2.
• TDM and TDMA have been adopted for the downstream and the upstream channel, respectively, as in DVB. 3.
• Adaptive modulation schemes of QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM are used for the downstream channel, and QPSK, and 16-QAM for the upstream channel. Adaptive coding is used to regulate the finer granularity in terms of Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise ratio: S/(I+N).

IEEE 802.16.3 also takes advantage of the DVB-T specification to include both an OFDM-based PHY and a single-carrier PHY layer specifications. In the process of compromise, the OFDM-based PHY contains an OFDM/TDMA and an OFDMA mode. Thus, it incorporates 3 different transmission and multiple access technologies[7]. The specification does not converge to a single standard, however, it narrows down the choices.

A summary of current WLAN and WPAN standards is given in Tables 2 and 3. Note that certain of the parameters actually depend on operational restrictions controlled by national regulations e.g. transmit power, frequency channels.

Power Line Network

The Power Line Network concept was initiated in the late 1990s as one of the first architectures considered for home networking. The concept has been associated with Smart Home where networks could be built together with new residential constructions. The market can be significant as statistics indicate new home starts at about 1.6 million per year, in the USA[12] and in Europe[13]. Powerline networking throughput is competitive with other wired home-networking technologies such as HomePNA Phoneline 2.0, which uses existing phone lines in the home. It is as simple to install by plugging an adapter into any AC power outlet at home, as if the home network has always existed behind the walls without asking, totally transparent to the user.

Several standards are being introduced such as by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance[14] or the Consumer Electronics Association[15].

Ethernet Home Network

The specification for an Ethernet Home Network Segment [4] based on 100BASE-T has been worked on by the DVB-IPI AHG. The Ethernet Home Network Segment is based on a star architecture, with use of Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cabling to connect between nodes. A Home Network Connecting Device (HNCD) is introduced which can act as a bridge, router or gateway. The 100BASE-T Ethernet network may be connected wirelessly or using IEEE 1394[16].

RJ45 Ethernet sockets are used for the Ethernet Home Network Segment. The Ethernet Layer is specified in IEEE 802.3u[5], which also specifies the MAC layer. The Link Layer is specified in IEEE802.2[6].

ITU CableHome

ITU-T Study Group 9 has generated CableHome specifications[3] based on digital cable networks, extending from carrying video to the use of IPCableCom with QoS capability to carry voice in conjunction with data. The physical layer is based on J.112 cable modem specification for DOCSIS. Requirements for the higher layer functions are specified in 5 categories:

• 1. Service Provisioning
• 2. End-to-end Network Management
• 3. Quality of Service Support
• 4. Security
• 5. Network Address Management

These are further broken down into more detailed tasks as illustrated in the first column of Table 4.

The ITU specification is proposed to a cable centric audience (ITU-T/SG9, contribution headed by CableLabs, USA.) An evaluation is attempted, as shown in Table 4 of these requirements against the ownership of a home network.

Other technologies including Mobile/Cordless/Fixed Wireless Seamless Operation

Several other options are available to consumers at home. The European cordless telephone technology DECT satisfies its primary function well, and products are available to provide limited wireless data networking capability and access to the PSTN or ISDN. Bluetooth is becoming popular on many consumer products such as cameras and on cell phones, allowing access by Bluetooth equipped devices to the Internet via the cellular network, which is starting to introduce 2.5G GPRS and 3G service.

Broadcast satellite and terrestrial digital TV (DVB-T) are one-way broadcast services which are being enhanced with a return channel via the PSTN, the cellular network or other to create hybrid interactive services for the home.

Alternative Architectures

For new homes, any of the above mentioned standards and technologies can be a choice. The decision will be driven by cost and convenience. For old homes, new wiring is difficult, therefore, re-use of copper wire, cable and power outlets provides an advantage over sometimes almost impossible installation. For old homes, Broadband Wireless Internet also provides an attractive, brand new option. The architecture bases for each scenario can be: 1.

• Cable HFC with MPEG based protocol, 2.
• Fibre to the home with ATM based protocol (A note of observation: Fibre to the home, exists in very few small deployments in the world. In general they are more experimental than commercial. They have not been demonstrated to be economically viable so far.) 3.
• Un-shielded copper wire Ethernet with IP based protocol, 4.
• Shielded copper wire with DSL/PSTN based protocol, 5.
• Satellite/Wireless with mixed MPEG/IP protocols, 6.
• Broadband Fixed Wireless with IEEE802.11/15/16 based protocol, 7.
• Power line with Smart Home based protocol.

Home Networking Profiles

Proliferation of standards and technologies reflects a highly competitive market participated by a plethora of manufacturers from diverse industries: TV, computers, consumer electronics and mobile phones; in addition to the intense competition among the service providers (cable, DBS, terrestrial broadcast, DSL, broadband wireless.) In an over-crowded market and suppliers' space, who will be the likely winners? The answer has to be sought out from the user's perspective. Economics is the top priority if the mass market is considered.

Several profiles of home networking users are proposed having various cost-value propositions. Migration trends are projected. As a result, existing technologies and standards can be weighed to facilitate various life cycle phases in a home. No single technology will win it all. No single standard will dominate. The Consumer has to justify the cost/performance ratio or the worthy replacement value before anything can be integrated under the same standard. These profile proposals are:

1. Home Network Profile 1: Entertainment Oriented
The cable/satellite broadcast facility will be the basis. Combined with IPCableCom VoIP and data broadcast enhancements for Internet access, this network will display new and existing features via a STB controlled television.
Active standards efforts include DVB-WIN (using 5 GHz frequency range) for wireless and ITU CableHome on 2 way HFC plant; both efforts are in progress.

2. Home Network Profile 2: Internet Oriented
The Internet will be employed as the base. PC will be the primary vehicle of control. Dual use of the PC processor and the TV screen will prevail in this environment. The PC can provide receiver and STB functionalities with streaming video.
Active standards efforts include IEEE 802.11/15/16 for wireless and 802.3 for Ethernet.

3. Home Network Profile 3: Telephony Oriented
The existing copper wire will be employed as the base home network. Cordless and Mobile phones are the primary terminal devices. The TV monitor can be used for display in conjunction with phones which functions as the controlling device.
Active standards are UMTS/3G for wireless and DSL for copper wire.

4. Home Network Profile 4: Utility Oriented
The existing power lines will be the base home network. This network is designed for telemetry data transmission. Extending it to carry video, data and voice is questionable in its capability to compete with all other profiles.

Economics Review

Cost is the most sensitive factor in the consumer market. As home networking enters into consumer electronics market, it will have to become price competitive. A price/performance comparison is illustrated in Table 5.

Figure 1 - Modeling of Suitability for Home Networking

Modelling of Suitability

As the determining factors become increasingly complex, the decision to drive a particular standard development to meet full consumer's satisfaction will be challenging for manufacturers and operators. Figure 1 illustrates a model of process to guide the home networking development to market acceptance.

Summary and Future Directions

Development of standards and technologies for home networking has been active for the last 5 years. Standardization initiatives have proliferated across multiple industries and early product development has yet to guarantee the success. This paper exposes many important facets of home networking. It points out areas of overlap as well as oversights in this world-wide endeavour. Guidelines are also suggested for the selection of technologies for home networking.

Essentially, the combined effect of value/cost/ease-of-operation has to be driven in the consumer's favour. Technology issues are complex but not un-resolvable. Manufacturers and operators who try to impose and dominate are not being realistic. The focus should be in the reduction of standards, reduction of complexity and reduction of cost in the end product development for the consumer's ultimate enjoyment.

Home Networking Standards Groups and Consortia

This paper has mentioned some of the most significant developments proposed for the home networking environment, and has indicated that there are a large number of them. In fact there are too many to have been covered in detail. A further list below provides URLs to websites where possible.

Advanced Television Enhancement Forum - ATVEF	www.atvef.com
Application Home Initiative (UK)	www.theapplicationhome.com
Bluetooth Special Interest Group	www.bluetooth.com
Broadband Wireless Internet Forum	www.bwif.org
CABA - Continental Automated Buildings Association (US)	www.caba.com
CableHome	www.cablelabs.com/cablehome
DECT Forum	www.dect.ch
Digital Video Broadcasting	www.dvb.org
European Telecommunications Standards Institute	www.etsi.org
HAVi - Home Audio Video Interoperability	www.havi.org
HiperLAN2 Global Forum	www.hiperlan2.com
HomePlug Powerline Alliance	www.homeplug.org
HomeRF	www.homerf.org
Internet Home Alliance	www.internethomealliance.com
Konnex Association	www.konnex.org
Open Services Gateway Initiative - OSGi	www.osgi.org
Power Line Communications Forum - PLCforum	www.plcforum.com
VESA	www.vesa.org
Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance - WECA	www.wirelessethernet.com

Acronym

AHG: Ad Hoc Group
ANSI: American National Standard Institute
ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode
ATVEF: Advanced TeleVision Enhanced Forum
BRAN: Broadband Radio Access Network
BWIF: Broadband Wireless Internet Forum
BWA: Broadband Wireless Access
DBS: Direct Broadcast Satellite
DECT: Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone
DOCSIS: Data Over Cable System Interface Specification
DSL: Digital Subscriber Loop/Line
DVB: Digital Video Broadcast
ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FEC: Forward Error Correction
GPRS: General Packet Radio Service
HFC: Hybrid Fiber Coaxial
HiSWANa: Japanese standard for High Speed Wireless Access Network
HiperLAN/2: ETSI standard for High Performance warless LAN
HIPERMAN: ETSI standard for High Performance wireless Metropolitan Area Network
HNCD: Home Network Connecting Device
HomePNA: Home Phoneline Networking Alliance
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force
IPI: Internet Protocol Infrastructure
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network
ISM: Industrial, Scientific, Medical
ITU: International Telecommunications Union
LAN: Local Area Network
MAC: Media Access Control
MPEG: Moving Picture Expert Group
MMAC: Multimedia Mobile Access Communication Systems Promotion Council
OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
PAN: Personal Area Network
PC: Personal Computer
PDA: Personal Digital Assistant
PHY: PHYsical (Layer)
PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network
QAM: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QPSK: Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
RF: Radio Frequency
STB: Set Top Box
SOHO: Small Office, Home Office
TDM: Time Division Multiplex
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access
UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
UTP: Un-shielded Twisted Pair
WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network
WPAN: Wireless Personal Area Network
QoS: Quality of Service
VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol
WECA: Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance
Wi-Fi: Trade mark of WECA
WIN: Wireless In-home Network

References

1. IEEE 802.11x, http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html
2. HiperLAN/2 HEE, http://portal.etsi.org/bran/Summary.asp
3. "Home Networking Requirements for Cable Based Services", Draft Recommendation J.hnwr, ITU-T, SG9, Geneva 2001.
4. "Ethernet Home Network Segment", by R. Galbraith of BT, IPI2001-072r02, TM 2640, ftp://dvbftp:dvb2000@ftp.dvb.org
5. IEEE 802.3 2000 Edition "CSMA/CD Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications" (including 802.3u for 100BASE-T)
6. IEEE 802.2 1998 Edition "Logical Link Control."
7. "Standardization in Broadband Wireless Access", by Hikmet Sari, Juniper Networks, 4-14 rue Ferrus, 75014 Paris, France, hsari@ieee.org
8. "In Home Networking" Section, pp. 112 - 159, IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 40, April 2002.
9. "Home Networks: A Shocking Idea," Stephen Manes, Forbes.com, April 15, 2002.
10. Private Communications with Charles Wu of CWLab.
11. IEEE 802.15, http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/15/
12. "Homebuilding", Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys, Jan. 10, 2002. Courtesy of Jonathan Wu of Ernst &Young.
13. "Housing Statistics in the European Union 2001", by C. P. Dol and M. E. A. Haffner, OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies, Delft Univ. of Technology, The Netherlands, 2001.Courtesy of Jonathan Wu of Ernst & Young.
14. HomePlug Powerline Alliance, http://www.homeplug.org.
15. Consumer Electronics Association: http://www.ce.org.
16. IEEE P1394.1 Draft1.01, "Draft Standard for High Performance Serial Bus Bridges", 6 December 2001.

Narisa Chu works for Motorola USA and David Baddeley works for Motorola Switzerland

nchu@cwlab.com
David.Baddeley@motorola.com
www.cwlab.com
www.motorola.com

This paper was first presented at the International Broacasting Convention, Amsterdam, September 2002 and appears with the kind permission of the IBC and authors.

www.ibc.org