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Industry Leaders Discuss Simplifying High-Definition Home Networks (10/5/2007)

Restoring simplicity for the consumer with High Definition home networks was a primary topic of discussion at CONNECTIONS(tm) Digital Home Conference & Showcase at the Santa Clara Convention Center. A special session on "Making High Definition Home Networks Easy," hosted by Pulse~LINK, Inc. on Wednesday, May 2, at 11 a.m., featured a panel representing content providers, consumer electronic manufacturers and semiconductor companies working together to enhance the HD experience for consumers.

Years ago, all you needed to do to watch TV was connect one wire and pick up one remote. Then came the set-top box, VCR, DVD player, home theater system, game console, media center PC and more. Unfortunately, many of these devices also came with yet-another remote control and a growing rat's nest of wires to connect them. Modern AV systems deliver a far richer experience, but they have become so complex that consumers have difficulty installing and using them. The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) is cutting the Gordian Knot presented by today's systems, bringing back the simplicity of one-wire and one-remote while leveraging the most exciting developments in HD technology.

"The networking of multimedia devices throughout the home represents a common objective of content and service providers, CE companies and technology solutions providers," states Bruce Watkins, Pulse~LINK President and Chief Operating Officer. "While the technologies evolving to serve this objective are a commonly discussed topic, if deployment of these technologies confuses the consumer they will meet with questionable success - which is bad for everyone. The good news is, as an industry we face a true opportunity to combine new frontiers in functionality with a return to simplicity that consumers will unquestionably appreciate."

Moderated by Harry Wang, Senior Analyst for Parks Associates, the panel comprised HANA representatives from companies and organizations including CEA Home Networking, NBC Universal, Pulse~LINK, Samsung, Texas Instruments and 4HomeMedia. Members detailed how one wire, one remote, and whole-home interactive HD networks will be delivered.

"Consumers really want a hassle-free in-home networking solution so that they can watch their favorite programming wherever they want in the home," said Wang, "HANA's unique approach will be examined and debated during this session to help potential adopters understand its value proposition."

Pulse~LINK, a leading Ultra Wideband (UWB) semiconductor company, joined HANA as a contributing member when the organization was first formed in 2005 and will host the special session at CONNECTIONS(tm). Pulse~LINK's product is a CWave(tm) UWB chipset used in home-networking devices to provide very high bandwidth with End-to-End Quality of Service for High Definition content to be accessed and shared throughout the home over both wired and wireless networks. Devices enabled with Pulse~LINK's CWave(tm) technology allow HD content located anywhere in the home to be shared across the existing coax backbone with wireless connectivity in each room. Pulse-LINK showcased its award-winning technology at the conference by demonstrating multi-room connectivity featuring high-quality 1080p HD content streamed across hundreds of feet of standard RG59 coax to replicate a typical home set-up. Demonstrations included IPTV functionality with menu navigation and interactive control capabilities. In addition, Pulse~LINK demonstrated unmatched wireless performance by streaming 1080p content with menu navigation and "Trick Play" (pause, fast forward, fast rewind) functionality. Connected devices include HDTVs, Blu-ray Players, DVRs, Media Center PCs and Multimedia Storage devices using both 1394 and Ethernet protocols simultaneously over both coax and wireless networks.

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