HomePNA Begins Work on 320 Gbps over Coax and Phonelines

The HomePNA alliance is developing significant enhancements to the HomePNA 3.0 specification, aiming to deliver up to 320 Gbps over exising wires in homes. The HomePNA 3.1 specification, which builds upon HomePNA 3.0 technology standardized by the ITU in May 2005, is intended to provide the highest speed option for in-home distribution of new triple-play services such as IPTV.



HomePNA 3.1 will retain the significant features that make HomePNA 3.0, including QoS, low cost, robust performance, and the ability to operate simultaneously over both phonelines and coax cables. The highly efficient protocol will enable user throughput close to the data rate while additional enhancements will enable HomePNA 3.1 to also support multi-band operation for even higher network throughput.



Work on the new specification is expected to be completed summer 2006. HomePNA member companies intend to present recommendations based on version 3.1 to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) after it has been released to the membership.



HomePNA also announced new executive officers to its board of directors. David Alsobrook, Director, IPTV Products at Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company, takes on the role of Secretary, and Jaime Fink, Director of Product Marketing at 2Wire, takes on the role of Treasurer for the alliance. Rich Nesin, VP of Marketing at Coppergate Communications, will continue in the role as president of HomePNA. Additionally, the HomePNA board selected Phyllis Anderson, technical standards manager at AT&T Labs, to serve as chairperson of the HomePNA technical committee.

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