HomeGrid Announces Series of Baseline G.hn Silicon Qualification Events

BEAVERTON, OR--(Marketwire - Sep 27, 2011) -

News highlights:

• Program of three compliance and Interoperability (C&I) qualification events to happen before end of year
• Telefonica to host the first event, October 3-7
• Five silicon companies scheduled to participate
• Testing and Interop supervision by TRaC Global, HomeGrid's authorized Test & Certification lab
• Test plan includes PHY and MAC interoperability, as well as mixed vendor G.hn networks
• Events culminate December in Qualification tests of G.hn silicon
• Program builds on success of the first open Plugfest held in May 2011

Following the success of its first open interoperability Plugfest held in partnership with the Broadband Forum at the ITU's Geneva headquarters in May 2011, the HomeGrid Forum has announced a structured Compliance & Interoperability Qualification program to complete before the end of the year. The program consists of a series of three events with the first to be hosted by Telefonica, one of the world's largest international telecom operators. The events are scheduled for one week in October, a week in November, and a comprehensive two-week test event in December. Lantiq, Marvell Semiconductor, Metanoia, and Sigma Designs, participants in the first interoperability event, are scheduled to participate. Xingtera is scheduled to join them.

The events' goals are twofold: expand and validate G.hn test plans and run G.hn silicon through a set of stringent Qualification tests. The tests will verify each vendor's silicon standards' compliance as well as test its interoperability with other G.hn silicon and test its functionality in multi-vendor network operation. Silicon passing all mandatory tests, able to interoperate with other compliant silicon, and verified as complying with all baseline requirements of G.hn will be considered Qualified.

Event supervision and testing will be carried out by internationally renowned telecom testing house TRaC Global, selected by HomeGrid Forum earlier this year as the organization's G.hn Test & Certification lab. All tests are based on the ITU-T's G.hn home networking standard. The standard provides a platform for home networking over any wire, and is the fastest wired technology on the market. G.hn-enabled systems from PC manufacturers, appliance manufacturers and consumer electronics companies will be globally deployed by service providers with consumers also able to buy them through retail outlets.

"Significant interest and support is building in the market for G.hn with great anticipation for the delivery of silicon and systems," said John Egan, Vice President of the HomeGrid Forum. "G.hn interoperability as well our test and certification program are critical steps to complete as they ensure conformance to a common standard, wide availability and interoperation. As G.hn sets a new industry benchmark of technology excellence for very high speed any wire home networking, HomeGrid is setting a very high standard for testing and certification. The goal of this year's program is establishing a baseline silicon Qualification and paving the way for system testing and certification in 2012. The fact that Telefonica is hosting our next Plugfest is testament to the support G.hn has at this crucial level in the market -- service providers, who need home networks based on a reliable, robust technology that delivers the quality of service and experience that the end customer is demanding."

Telefónica is one of the world's leading telecoms operators, providing communication, information and entertainment solutions across Europe, Africa and Latin America. The company operates in 25 countries, with over 295 million customers.

"As one of the world's top five telecom operators, Telefónica is constantly evaluating new ways to provide quality services to meet the demands of our customers," said Rubens Cesar Lima Bastos of Telefónica. "We are very happy to support the advancement of G.hn products to market that will deliver fast, reliable services and excellent performance characteristics for wired home networking applications. The HomeGrid Forum's C& I program is helping to bring this technology forward rapidly and we are pleased to expedite this through our support for the planned interoperability events."

About HomeGrid Forum
HomeGrid Forum is a global, non-profit trade group promoting the International Telecommunication Union's G.hn and G.hnem standardization efforts for next-generation home networking and SmartGrid Applications. HomeGrid Forum promotes adoption of G.hn and G.hnem through technical and marketing efforts, addresses certification and interoperability of G.hn and G.hnem-compliant products, and cooperates with complementary industry alliances. For more information on HomeGrid Forum, please visit www.homegridforum.org or follow us on http://twitter.com/homegrid_forum.