Qualcomm Atheros (QCA), one of whose acquisitions invented HomePlug, made it very clear it intends HomePlug to be the major player in powerline networking globally.
Representatives of the Qualcomm Atheros product management team us this week that it is developing and will soon announce a powerful HomePlug AV2 chip that it claims will surpass G.hn’s powerline chips in performance. They said QCA’s upcoming AV2 chip will be suited not just for powerline adapters. It is aimed at a much bigger market ‘ the embedded market in which CE makers build networking into their TV sets and other devices. They said the new AV2 chip will ‘break the tradition’ of price and power performance for embedded devices.
QCA already knows about the embedded market. It has a deal with TV set maker Hisense, which has embedded the current HomePlug AV chip into some of the smart TVs it ships in China. Other CE devices with HomePlug AV built-in are a Netgear music extender that streams audio to a stereo/surround sound system, Lea’s media player that streams video to a TV set and a D-Link Wi-Fi router.
This brings up an interesting question. With China Telecom planning to deploy G.hn network adapters nationwide and with Hisense and perhaps others shipping TV sets with HomePlug built in, there’s going to be a collision in the home network. Can G.hn and HomePlug both function on the same powerline?
QCA said it has a different and better vision for optimizing multiple functions into a single chip (SoC). It has three optimization goals: minimize the size of the footprint, reduce power consumption and remove as much manufacturing cost as possible from making the device. As an example, it said it integrates 802.11 MAC and PHY into the SoC rather than leaving those to be added with external chips, which would increase the size of the footprint and increase the cost of making the device.
The chip will also be equipped with 1905, which means it can synch with the home’s Wi-Fi network too. Think about plugging a smart TV into the electrical outlet and it automatically connects to the home’s wireline (MoCA and/or HomePlug) and Wi-Fi network. The chip will also be validated by the recently announced nVoy Certification Program that will test compliance to the 1905.1 specification. The 1905 spec has received final approval from IEEE so you the ‘P’ in front of 1905 is no longer needed.
QCA is not quite ready to announce details and availability of the new AV2 chips but it sounds as if it will be soon. As it relates to 1905, Qualcomm mentioned having over 25 designs underway at various networking equipment makers ‘ quite an impressive number for such a new technology. They also said that a number of telcos in the US and Europe have completed field trials.
The HomePlug Alliance announced the availability of the HomePlug AV2 specification at CES in January 2012 and AV2 certifications are expected to begin as early as the 3rd quarter of this year.
QCA makes much of 1905, as it should because 1905 allows four home networking technologies from different manufacturers to synch with each other: HomePlug, MoCA, Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
We still have questions about whether the 1905 software that is currently available will work with the latest versions of HomePlug ‘ AV2 ‘ and the latest 2.0 version of MoCA. Since QCA and Broadcom did most of the development of 1905, we assume that it does or that if it currently does not, it will soon.
This is not the last we’ll hear of 1905. It is going to be in the news frequently. QCA and Broadcom, otherwise fierce rivals in Wi-Fi and HomePlug, are using it to their advantage in competing against G.hn products, which are not included in the 1905 spec but are determined to be ‘ even if they have to write their own 1905 (see earlier article about HomeGrid to see its response to 1905).
1905 is a major barrier to G.hn. G.hn’s HomeGrid Forum has said it will develop a version of 1905 that includes G.hn (HPNA as well) but that does not mean the IEEE group set up to oversee 1905’s development will accept it ‘ and QCA and Broadcom seem to be the committee’s most influential members. Even if G.hn gets included or develops its own 1905.1 spec, it is highly unlikely it will be included in the nVoy Certification Program.
QCA also said there is growing interest worldwide in HomePlug because of ‘the Internet of things.’ Devices that are connected to ‘the Internet of things’ will also need Wi-Fi and 1905 will be essential for that. They said G.hn is primarily focused on CE devices being used for entertainment. HomePlug has a significant leg up in this with Green PHY silicon already announced that will be interoperable with HomePlug AV/2 as well as 1905.1 which will bring Wi-Fi connected smart energy devices into the mix.
Asked about G.hn’s highly reported sales activities in Asia, specifically China, they said that QCA is involved with HomePlug with telcos in Asia, the Pacific Rim and North America. This interview occurred prior to China Telecom saying it is committing to deploying G.hn-based home network gear.
They said it’s not possible yet to test HomePlug’s AV2 version against the powerline version of G.hn because there are not yet any G.hn products they can purchase. Additionally, an independent third party is needed to conduct the comparison. They said they are very confident in the AV2 spec and that QCA can show in the real world that the QCA implementation of AV2 will be superior to G.hn.
Asked about whether G.hn being an ITU standard gave it an edge, they said 1905 is an IEEE standard and IEEE is the overseer of Wi-Fi.
QCA said the spec for the AV2 version of HomePlug has higher performance levels than G.hn and that HomePlug AV2 will beat G.hn head-to-head in powerline ‘ plus it and Broadcom have that 1905 advantage over G.hn. We’ll see.
Our big take away from the interview is that Qualcomm Atheros has its sights set on makers of CE devices.