HomeGrid tests interoperability in Hull as it readies for global launch
The two industry groups merged in May and the plugfest was key to providing system-level compliance and interoperability for the standard. The G.hn community of system vendors, silicon companies and HomeGrid Forum’s accredited test house, TRaC Global, teamed up to run various G.hn systems through exhaustive testing, to both assess the current state of the products, and do final validation of the HomeGrid system tests.
Th Plugfest provided the opportunity for system vendors to evaluate their G.hn implementations alongside those of others on the official lab test bed. It acted as a dry run for the system level interoperability testing needed as part of product Certification. Good interoperability was achieved between a wide range of products, with a few areas for fine-tuning being identified. The Plugfest was also part of the validation of TRaC as the HomeGrid System Certification lab.
“We are on the eve of an important breakthrough in the adoption of G.hn,” said John Egan, President of the HomeGrid Forum. “We have taken a methodical path towards our goal of certifying silicon and systems, ensuring we have verified all the tests and processes along the way. It is fantastic news that our test specifications are now complete, the test lab accredited, and systems ready for Certification; the first Certification testing is expected in June. Service providers can now move forward with their procurement and deployment plans as certified products will be available very soon. They will also be appearing on the shelves for consumers. The G.hn revolution is happening now.”
HomeGrid has been finalizing its product test suite over the past few months, culminating in this event. The Plugfest was held at the headquarters of HomeGrid’s accredited test house, TRaC Global, in Hull, UK. Participants validated their designs against the others on TRaC’s test bed using the HomeGrid test plans and pre-certification results were also gathered to allow final preparation for formal HomeGrid Forum Logo Certification testing. HomeGrid Forum
member engineers reviewed the test plans, and TRaC Global’s processes and test bed.
G.hn provides high-speed home networking over any type of wire, enabling high definition, multi-media distribution throughout the home with excellent quality, without the cost and disruption of having to install new wiring. The HomeGrid Forum (HGF) merged with the HomePNA Alliance in May 2013, to form an industry alliance of over 70 members including some of the world’s largest Service Providers, system manufacturers, and silicon companies. While supporting the existing base of HomePNA deployments, the combined organization promotes the smooth transition of all wireline home networking technologies to a single, unified, multi-sourced home networking technology, G.hn, over coax, phone wires, powerline, and plastic optic fiber. HomeGrid Forum provides silicon and system certification through its compliance and interoperability testing programs to ensure that service providers and retail customers can have confidence in all G.hn and HomePNA products.
www.homegridforum.org