Markets & Solutions / Overview

“The number of home media servers sold in the United States will quintuple from about 11 million in 2006 to almost 50 million in 2010.”
-- Parks Associates Report

“The number of whole-home DVR installations is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 100 percent from 2006 to 2008.”
-- In-Stat

“The big news comes in the form of a speed jump from 128 Mbps to 320 Mbps, which pushes [HomePNA] above competing networking standards … for the title of fastest networking tech outside of gigabit Ethernet and makes it a more attractive option for triple-play providers.”
-- Ars Technica

Meeting – and Future Proofing – Market Demand

services, such as IPTV, voice and Internet access in North America and large parts of the world. It blends low-cost, high-speed, robust performance with the ability to operate simultaneously over existing home wiring - phone lines and coax cables.

By deploying HomePNA technology, service providers can meet – and drive – consumer demand while reducing installation, operational expenses and even end-user costs.

Benefiting from the HomePNA Solution

HomePNA providers and consumers both benefit from the HomePNA solution. Providers eliminate the labor costs of new-wire networks, can remotely monitor and update home networks, and potentially push new services to the home remotely. Consumer costs drop when services are bundled and installation costs minimized.

Looking to the Future – the Hybrid Home Network

HomePNA is evolving with the home networking market. In the future, HomePNA technology will provide a high-speed backbone for whole-home IPTV deployment and leverage the capabilities of wireless LANs and emerging technologies, such as UWB, in a hybrid home network.

Triple-play service that enters the home over fiber or DSL will be distributed using HomePNA technology, possibly bridging the last few feet wirelessly to a set-top box and providing greater component placement flexibility and accessibility. Wireless LAN technology bridged to the HomePNA 3 backbone can be used where it is best suited, providing connectivity to PCs for Internet access or to cordless phones.

Technology Highlights

HomePNA is the only technology that operates simultaneously over existing phone lines and coax cable wiring and:

• Enables triple-play services – voice, video (IPTV) and Internet access –delivered by the same service provider at a single, economical price for the consumer. Wireless can be bundled into the package to achieve quadruple play.
• Guarantees QoS by eliminating all network data collisions, which ensures delivery of each data stream with defined bandwidth, latency, jitter and error rate.
• Provides the highest data rates of any home-networking standard (up to 320 Mbps) to enable whole house distribution of IPTV streams with personal video recorders (PVRs).
• Accommodates future bandwidth requirements of service providers as they enhance their offerings with additional features and capabilities.
• Supports service provider remote management; exceeds requirements defined in the DSL Forum’s TR69 recommendation.
• Is transparent to Broadcast and Satellite TV and phone services by utilizing separate frequencies to operate over the existing coax cable and phone lines without affecting normal voice, video and data phone operation.
• Provides multi-spectrum operation, adding VDSL coexistence to the ADSL, POTs and broadcast TV channel spectrum coexistence provided by the HomePNA 3.0 specification. Multi-spectrum operation also allows multiple HomePNA networks to coexist on the same wiring.
• Is compatible with other technologies and emerging home Internet access solutions, such as wireless, DSL and satellite.
• Is the only open standard that is recognized by the ITU.
• Builds on generations of proven HomePNA technology with over five million nodes shipped.
• Offers the lowest equipment costs. Does not require expensive high-frequency radio frequency components.
• Reduces provider installation cost and time.
• Allows up to 63 networked devices within the home.
• Operates with CE equipment, computers and devices up to 1,000 feet apart, making it ideal for homes up to 10,000 square feet.

HomePNA Home Networking Trends Forecast

1. Telco TV deployments accelerates worldwide with large telephone company deployments of pure IPTV technology.
2. The home network becomes an extension of the telco’s access network for distribution of IPTV services inside the home.
3. To meet consumer “quality of experience” expectations, IPTV is deployed over reliable next generation home networks that provide QoS guarantees.
4. Guaranteeing the IPTV QoS enables service providers to leverage the same home network for additional services.
5. Telcos rely on “truck-rolls” (the term for a service call) to install the new equipment and focuses on minimizing installation time and effort.
6. Telcos continues to invest in new methods to reduce operational expenses and improve customer support with remote diagnostics and management for the access and home networks.
7. Home networks that operate over both coax and phone line allows Telcos to employ existing in-home phone lines to further reduce installation costs.
8. Deployment of hybrid wired/wireless home networks grows.
9. Effective data rates (the actual data rate after overhead and delays are subtracted) continue to increase to over 100 Mbps to support multiple HDTV channels and networked PVR features.
10. Telcos require standardization of the protocols by accredited standards organizations such as the ITU or IEEE.