Want a home network? It's already installed - In the Home

Electronic News, Feb 18, 2002 by Peter Brown, Alex Romanelli

It may look like an ordinary home, but it certainly won't be used like one. And while that may create some challenges for homeowners, who will have to get used to networking their computers through existing power lines and some day programming their appliances, it will present some great opportunities for small semiconductor vendors.

The concept of power-line networking has been around for-years, but much has changed in terms of what can be connected and what it can do. Power-line network technology involves using standard power outlets--the ones already in every house--rather than wireless technology or landline-based phone networks. Virtually whatever can be plugged into a wall socket can be connected to the network, according to the HomePlug Alliance. Think toasters, refrigerators, coffee makers, televisions, DVD players, PCs and even digital telephones.

Already, there are a number of small semiconductor companies in this business that are ready and waiting for it to take off. But will this next-generation home network be any more successful than the home network offerings that have come before it and failed?

The odds are pretty good. One of the main problems that companies have encountered in the past with developing networks for the home is actually bringing a viable product to market that meets the home consumer requirements. Among those requirements are cost-effectiveness, ease of use and functionality. Prior offerings have been cumbersome, while not adding many features a user couldn't get from a PC. Add to that a hefty price tag and the whole model fell apart.

"The telephone-connection way for networking has not been a driver for connecting everything in the home," said Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts in Tempe, Ariz. "HomePlug, while it took awhile to get here, is finally becoming practical. And it does not require that a phone jack be present in every roam to connect to a network."

One of the other benefits, Strauss said, is that this may actually enable telephony throughout the home regardless of whether there is a phone jack in a room or not.

"If you are on a power-line network, you can connect to the Internet from anywhere and enable videoconferencing or enable phone conversations from any point in the house," he said. This has been a sticking point with other networks that required a phone jack or network outlet in order to utilize some of the basic functionality.

Many analysts are bullish on the home networking concept. The Yankee Group, for example, forecasts that 12.4 million households are willing to adopt a home network offering if it's the right one. The analyst firm also predicts that users will be more open to the idea of home networks if they can link their computers with other household and consumer devices.

HomePlug Alliance believes the opportunity is especially attractive now because of declining costs in broadband services, new Internet devices and smart appliances, and the fact that homes now have multiple PCs and other Internet-ready devices that could be networked.

Not everything is ready to go, however. There are still some potential problems that need to be addressed, such as enabling appliance makers to convert to building power-line network-capable machines. Strauss said all this would take is adding the right software for some devices, while for others it would require the use of a flat-panel display and other interfaces beyond just a software bump.

And then there's the marketing effort. While the common standards and specifications aspect is being worked on by the HomePlug alliance, the public still has to buy into it. If the companies creating chips and enabling the technology for power-line networking do not make things as easy as they claim, the technology will be stalled and this next-generation home networking idea will die like the many that have come before it.

"The idea is that [HomePlug] will look very much like a LAN but will be much easier than prior home network ideas," Strauss said. "There will still be at some point the need for a software protocol in every machine you try to connect to the network. But still this has better prospects than just hanging the phone line everywhere in a house."

A number of semiconductor companies agree and already have products available and ready to go. Cogency Semiconductor Inc. in Toronto is one of four or so companies that are developing chips to enable HomePlug networks. The company has the financial backing of Cisco Systems, Compaq Computer, Intel, Motorola, Panasonic, S3 and 3Com as well as numerous financial banking firms.

Meanwhile, Warren, N.J.-based Enikia Inc. has developed power-line reference designs that support audio, video, voice and data over existing power-line infrastructures.

Intellon Inc., in Ocala, Fla., has developed PowerPacket technology that will allow up to 14Mbits/sec. downloads, equivalent to Ethernet networks, without having to install additional wires. Intellon already has signed agreements with Microsoft and SonicBlue and plans to sign up even more companies in this year.