Sony signs up for powerline networking

Sony has joined the board of directors of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. The alliance oversees the specifications for the HomePlug networking standard that uses existing electrical cords to transmit data, audio or video around the home.

The technology can distribute internet access to different rooms or stream a TV show from a digital video recorder in the living room to another TV anywhere in the home.

A HomePlug-enabled computer or TV requires just a power cord to connect to the network. Several network equipment makers have developed HomePlug adapters that transfer the network signal on the power cable to an Ethernet outlet.

The technology has an obvious advantage over other networking standards in that it uses electrical cables and power plugs that are already available.

Sony's joining the board of the network consortium can give a big push to the technology that has been overshadowed by Wi-Fi. The consumer electronics manufacturer is by far the largest member of the consortium, which also numbers Sharp and ISP Earthlink among its board members.

"Right now HomePlug has not really had a champion in the marketplace," Jim Reeber, the Alliance's marketing chairman, told vnunet.com.

"For Wi-Fi we had Intel doing television commercials. Sony could be that corporate champion for HomePlug."

HomePlug devices have been available since mid-2001, since when over two million HomePlug-enabled devices have been sold, according to the Alliance.

The Alliance is set to deliver its next-generation AV specification this summer, boosting networking speeds from the current 14Mbps to 200Mbps. The new version offers sufficient bandwidth simultaneously to deliver four to five high-definition television streams.

The first appliances using the high speed powerline networking technology are expected to be available later this year.

Reeber expects that the AV specification will give HomePlug a major boost. It will differentiate the technology from competing wireless standards such as Wi-Fi and Ultra Wideband (UWB). Wi-Fi lacks the bandwidth for delivering high-definition television and UWB has a limited range of up to four metres.

He predicted that several wireless networks will co-exist. In five years from now, when consumers will want to connect several computers, scanners, printers, TVs and audio players, an easy to use technology like HomePlug has a good chance, according to Reeber.

Kurf Schert, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates, agreed that home networks will not comprise just wireless technologies.

"Wireless is not going to be the only game in town," he told vnunet.com.

The analyst expects that adoption rates will pick up after the AV standard is released later this year. In addition to the high bandwidth, he believes that the ease of use will be a major benefit.

"[HomePlug] is one of those concepts that consumers are going to grasp," he said. "It really is going to be as simple as plug-and-play. That alone is going to be a significant benefit to consumers."