GENEVA – The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has accepted the first global standard offering an in-home, high-speed network capable of delivering room-to-room HDTV.
The standard, published under the G.hn banner, promises high quality multimedia over power, coaxial, phone and other home network wiring. It will provide “up to 20 times the throughput of existing wireless technologies and three times that of existing wired technologies”, the press release said.
The specifications will be used by chip manufacturers to build transceivers that can be incorporated into set-top boxes, residential gateways, home computers, home audio systems, DVD players, TVs or other devices that might be connected to a network now or in the future. G.hn-compliant products could be on the market as early as 2010.
"There’s a clear market need for a unified networking approach," said Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU’s telecommunication standardization bureau. "With G.hn, every wire in every home around the world can become part of a home entertainment network. This will enable seamless communication between computers, HDTVs and telephones over existing wires. I expect that this exciting new technology will also foster innovations such as energy efficient smart appliances, home automation and telemedicine devices."
