home networking technologies for today and tomorrow sandy teger and david waks co-founders,...

Home Networking Technologies for Today and Tomorrow

Sandy Teger and David WaksCo-Founders, Broadband Home Central &

System Dynamics Inc.

Copyright © 2007

FTTH Conference 2007

October 3, 2007

Copyright © 2007 Slide 2

About Us: Professionally

• Sandy– 18+ years with AT&T; multimedia strategy director

• Dave– 13 years with Prodigy Services Company; founder and R&D director

• Together as System Dynamics Inc.– More than 10 years as specialists in residential broadband

– Consult for companies affected by residential broadband• Strategy, business economics, competitive analysis

– Operate www.BroadbandHomeCentral.com as industry resource• "100 BEST Undiscovered Web Sites" PC Magazine

– Free monthly Report on the Broadband Home

• www.bbhreport.com

• Subscribers in ~100 countries

– Broadband Home Labs• Integrated in our lives

• Test new products

http://www.bbhcentral.com/



http://www.bbhreport.com/


Fiber to the Home: Roadblock Ahead?

Fiber TO the Home Is Great

But What’s Inside?


Where Were We?

Outside cable plant (coax)

Telephone plant (twisted pair)

Inside coax

Inside twisted pair

Broadband routerwith Wi-Fi

orDAT

A

VIDEO

VOICE


How Does Fiber Connect Today?

Fiber To The Home


ONT

DATA

Inside coax

Inside twisted pair

VIDEO

VOICE


Devices Are Isolated Into “Islands”

Inside coax

Inside twisted pair


ONT

DATA

VIDEO

VOICE

DataIsland

VoiceIsland

VideoIsland


Everything Is Changing At Once

Content

YouTube

iTunes

Movielink

ABC

Disney

Amazon Unbox

Comcast Fancast

Transport

Twisted pair

Cable

Satellite

FTTN

FTTH

3G

Wi-Fi

WiMAX

BPL

Home Networks

EthernetFast Gigabit

Wi-Fi 802.11g 11n

HomePNA

MoCA

Power Line Communcations (PLC)

HomePlug

UPA

CEPCA

Ultra WideBand (UWB)

Devices

Analog digital

Media crossing devices

New kinds of “set-top boxes”

New categories of devices

Media Center PCs

Portable media players

Home media servers

Cameras with wireless comm


Mismatch Between Old and New Worlds

Old World New WorldAnalog services and devices Now all digital

Video went only to the TV Video goes to and from many different devices

In-home networks had modest bandwidth requirements

Home bandwidth needs growing rapidly

Best efforts networking was sufficient for data

Digital video needs QoS

Media stays within controlled islands

Customers expect devices will work together and content can move between devices


Video Content Sources Increasing

• Subscription video: cable, satellite, telco

• Packaged media: DVD, HD DVD, BluRay

• Personally created (camcorder) video: SD HD

• Internet video– User-generated content: YouTube, …– Movie subscription/purchase services: Movielink, Starz Vongo,

CinemaNow, Xbox Live, Amazon Unbox, iTunes, …– Content provider “bypass”: CBS, ABC, Disney, …– Internet video services: Babelgum, Joost, Veoh, …


New Digital Media Devices Proliferating

Vista Media Center PC

•PVR functionality•DVD/Blu-ray•Cable content

Portable Media PlayersMobile “Phones”

Digital Cameras and Camcorders

Home Media Servers

Digital A/V Players•Apple TV•Xbox 360•Slingbox


Video Increasingly Crossing Islands

YouTubeiTunesMovielinkABCDisney

Apple TVXbox 360Slingbox

PVR functionalityDVD/Blu-rayCable content

Portable Media PlayersMobile Phones

Digital Camera and Camcorder

Amazon Unbox

Comcast Fancast

Media Server

“VOICE”

“DATA” “VIDE

O”


Consumers Want “Anything to Anything” Connections

Consumers want theirdevices to work together

and share content

Consumers want theirdevices to work together

and share content

MEDIAPre-Recorded Content

Personal Media

MOBILE MULTIMEDIAEntertainment,

Personal Pictures and Video, Services

BROADCASTServices,

Entertainment

BROADBANDEntertainment,IPTV Services

Home Network Needs to Home Network Needs to Connect Anything toConnect Anything to

Anything ElseAnything Else

VOICE COMMUNICATIO

NS

VIDEO

DATA

Source: DLNA


Which Creates Issues With Home Devices and Wiring

• “Islands” communicate poorly -- or not at all– No way to move baseband video and audio (e.g., DVD player

output) from one room to another– DVRs can’t talk with each other– Can’t get A/V content from PC to TV screen– Need to physically move digital camera and camcorder from one

place to another (PC, TV)– Weak control over lighting, no connection to HVAC

• Many things we wish we could do but can’t– Record movie on one DVR and play in another room (could do it if

they were same brand) -- needs both media and control solution– Monitor and control lighting and HVAC from outside house– …

• Lacks ease of use and ease of administration– Incredible level of complexity both in trouble shooting and

whenever we want to do something “a little different”


Home “bandwidth budget” growing

• “Bandwidth budget” is total pipe size needed to accommodate all the information being sent around the home– Includes bits from all the things that people want to interconnect

• Just like any budget, it keeps expanding!– People want to connect more devices

•Not just PCs, but digital camcorders, MP3 players, PVRs, games,..

– Each device is getting richer information•Digital cameras going from 6 to 8 to 10 megapixels•TV going from standard definition to high definition•Computer files going from data to incorporate video, special effects

• Consumer interest in entertainment will keep driving bandwidth both to and within the home


…Creating New Requirements for Home Networks

• Carry high-speed data– “Fast Ethernet” sets the standard 100 Mbps

• Carry primary digital voice (VoIP)

• Carry multiple channels of high-definition video

• Voice and video much less tolerant than data – Need low bit error rate (BER), latency, and jitter – Isochronous very time sensitive– HD video requires high data rate: 10 to 20 Mbps per channel

(more during “trick play”)

• Cost effective for mass consumer market– Large – preferably global – ecosystem – Multiple chip and hardware makers – Standards-based

• Likely to include some combination of technologies– Each serves a purpose– Should interconnect– Should not conflict/interfere with each other


New Homes Are Easy

• Structured cabling still best choice– Coaxial cable: RG6 for analog video (and RF

digital video)– Unshielded twisted pair (UTP): Category 5e or 6

for analog telephones, digital data, whole-home audio, and IP video

• Gigabit Ethernet runs at 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) and getting cheaper every day

• Cat 6 cable has sufficient capacity for foreseeable future – will support 10 Gbps

• Structured media centers now widely available– Leviton and Telect on show floor

• Should be “no brainer” for new construction– But need to get message across to builders

• Expensive to retrofit in existing homes– “No New Wires” is the mantra


New Technologies Arriving

• Many entering the market nearly simultaneously– Ethernet: 100 Mbps Gigabits per second– 802.11n: next generation of Wi-Fi – over the air– MoCA: over coax– HomePNA: over coax and phone line– HomePlug AV: over power line– UPA / Opera: over power line– HD PLC: over power line– UWB: over coax, power line or the air (“Wireless USB”)

• All claim to be suitable for multi-channel high-definition video– Incorporate high bandwidth, QoS– Performance claims need to be verified

• New standards for media interoperability– DLNA and Microsoft Rally for consumer networks


Networking Technology Decisions Need Analysis

• Not just getting digital video from ONT to digital set top boxes– Need to enable interconnection among media devices (almost

everything including cellphones) including legacy devices

• Many Choices of Networks– Five types: new UTP; wireless; existing coax, phoneline, powerline– Multiple “flavors” of each

• Not “One Size Fits All”– Probably need a combination of technologies

• Criteria to be applied– Fit with application– Current and future data rates– Number and location of outlets– Useful life time– Standardization– Cost– Timing– …


Today We Covered The “Tip of the Iceberg”

Join us Thursday morning for a 3 hour Workshop

Everything You Needed to Know About Home

Networking

…and Were Afraid To Ask

Visit the Home Networking Zone to see these technologies in action

www.BroadbandHomeCentral.com

sandy @ bb-home.com dave @ bb-home.com

For More Information:

home networking technologies for today and tomorrow sandy teger and david waks co-founders,...

Documents

slingbox slide

data video voice slide

dlna slide

home devices

twisted pair video voice

new digital media devices

little different slide

wireless comm slide