There should be less confusion surrounding the increasingly important home networking environment now that the HomeGrid Forum and HomePNA Alliance have merged to create a new HomeGrid Forum.
The combined organization is focused on promoting the shift of home wireline networks to the ITU-T G.hn standard and, as such, one of the first pieces of business was to certify a chip from Sigma Designs.
"This is great news for the industry," John Egan, president of the HomeGrid Forum said in a press release announcing the certification. "In a month where good news just keeps on coming, announcing another source for certified silicon should be no great surprise to the market and shows that G.hn is really starting to roll."
The Sigma Designs' silicon will enable "every power outlet, coaxial outlet and phone jack in the home" to become a network connectivity point, said Gabi Hilevitz, Sigma Designs' vice president and general manager of the home connectivity business unit.
"HomeGrid Forum certification gives our customers the confidence they need to develop systems with the highest performance, flexibility and reliability," he added.
Sigma Designs' silicon joins Marvell's digital baseband process and baseband analog front-end G.hn chipsets which were certified in November of last year. Several other silicon companies "are finalizing preparations to have their chipsets undergo certification testing," the press release continued.
The fact that HomeGrid Forum has become bigger with the addition of HomePNA Alliance also helps sharpen the focus on a standardized home networking specification, added Eran Gureshnik, president of HomePNA Alliance in a story carried by Digital TV Europe.
"Service providers over four continents have achieved great results with HomePNA-based products and we have gained considerable experience in deploying home networks. However, the obvious future direction for all wireline home networking is to migrate to G.hn. Therefore, it made sense for us to merge the HomePNA Alliance with the HomeGrid Forum at this time, providing a clear, strong vision to existing new customers."
The new organization, which will have more than 70 members, including 28 services providers, promised to continue to support an installed base of over 40 million HomePNA devices--just with an emphasis on G.hn.
"Our deliverables are all on track and really providing what the market needs," Egan said. "With Sigma, a long-time leader in the G.hn movement, achieving silicon certification, we have another source with a strong product offering."
For more:
- Digital TV Europe has this story
- see this press release
Related articles:
HomeGrid, HomePNA Alliance merge under one umbrella
Marvell's silicon gets G.hn certification