Broadband consumer electronics networking and automation

Although a critical mass of households worldwide have access to the information superhighway, the broadband consumer networking and automation market is still evolving very slowly. Two reasons may be identified for this delay. The first one is related to the lack of broadband home data networks. Consumer electronics networks either do not exist at all or they are not able to support multimedia communications. The second reason is the large variety of ad hoc consortia or (un-)authorized standardization bodies that have been defining independent, in many cases non-interoperable specifications for residential networks. In this paper, we analyse and compare some of the most widely accepted, foreseen or advanced current and future broadband consumer electronics networking technologies able to support home automation and multimedia in-home appliances. Technologies and standards are categorized in three groups based on their physical medium requirements. Moreover, we discuss technologies that are independent of the lower layers, and aim to provide convergence between multiple in-home and access networks. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.