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Infineon Technologies, Intel, Panasonic, and Texas Instruments have launched the HomeGrid Forum, an organization aimed at promoting and a worldwide standard for networking digital content, such as movies, music, and pictures, over home wiring.

The Forum will be a companion to ITU-T G.hn working group, supporting the interests of service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, PC OEMs, and other networking companies to create a single MAC and PHY protocol for transporting multimedia across a home's existing wiring to include coaxial cable, power lines and phone lines. HomeGrid Forum is contributing next-generation technology requirements to ITU-T G.hn, quickly developing consensus around one worldwide standard. ITU-T is the standardization sector providing global telecommunication standards in the International Telecommunication Union.

"HomeGrid Forum was created to support the development of a single standard for transmitting multimedia over coax, power and phone lines," said Matthew Theall, president of HomeGrid Forum. "The forum will promote HomeGrid-certified products and ensure interoperability."

"A single, unified technology for multimedia networks over power lines, coaxial cable, and phone lines has the potential to enable a simple, easy-to-use means of networking devices together in the home," said Kurt Scherf, analyst with market analyst firm Parks Associates. "We believe today's announcement is an important step towards eliminating fragmentation in the industry, and achieving the vision of a networked home."

Three work groups have been established:

• An ITU-T G.hn contribution work group
• A compliance and interoperability work group to ensure that any product with a HomeGrid logo will work reliably in customers' homes
• A marketing work group to promote HomeGrid-certified products worldwide.

HomeGrid Forum has 11 founding members. Infineon, Intel, Panasonic, and Texas Instruments will serve on the board of directors. Aware, DS2, Gigle Semiconductor, and Pulse~LINK will serve as promoters; and Ikanos Communications, Sigma Designs. and Westell will serve as contributors.

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