Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
So-called “home” networking is designed to minimize the complexities of cabling and wireless
configuration by providing users with a sort of instant network that requires no additional wiring and
configures with little technical understanding.
The two major standards in this area are
•
HomePNA
—Uses existing telephone wiring
•
HomePlug
—Uses existing power lines and outlets
HomePNA
Other than using Ethernet (wired or wireless), the most popular form of home networking involves
adapting existing telephone wiring to networking by running network signals at frequencies above
those used by the telephone system. Because HomePNA is the most developed and most broadly
supported type of home networking, this discussion focuses on the HomePNA standards that the Home
Phoneline Networking Alliance (
www.homepna.org
)
has created. This alliance has most of the major
computer hardware and telecommunications vendors among its founding and active membership.
The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance has developed three versions of its HomePNA standard.
HomePNA 1.0, introduced in 1998, ran at only 1Mbps and was quickly superseded by HomePNA 2.0
in late 1999. HomePNA 2.0 supported up to 32Mbps, although most products ran at 10Mbps, bringing
it to parity with 10BASE-T Ethernet. Although some vendors produced HomePNA 1.0 and 2.0
products, these versions of HomePNA never became popular. Both of these products use a bus
topology that runs over existing telephone wiring and are designed for PC networking only.
With the development of HomePNA 3.1 in 2007, the emphasis of HomePNA has shifted from strictly
PC networking to a true “digital home” solution that incorporates PCs, set-top boxes, TVs, and other
multimedia hardware on a single network.
HomePNA 3.1 is the latest version of the HomePNA standard. In addition to telephone wiring,
HomePNA 3.1 supports coaxial cable used for services such as TV, set-top boxes, and IP phones. As
shown in
Figure 17.20
,
HomePNA 3.1 incorporates both types of wiring into a single network that
runs at speeds up to 320Mbps, carries voice, data, and IPTV service, and provides guaranteed quality
of service (QoS) to avoid data collisions and avoid disruptions to VoIP and streaming media.
HomePNA
refers to the ability to carry VoIP, IPTV, and data as a “triple-play.” HomePNA 3.1 also
supports remote management of the network by the service provider.
