DS2 Blog

CeBIT 2010: Two new DS2-based home networking products from Billion

Billion will launch two DS2-based Powerline models at CeBIT Hannover 2010. The   BiPAC 2093 R2 (Pocket-sized 200Mbps PLC Ethernet Wall Plug) and BiPAC 2094 R2 (200Mbps PLC Ethernet Wall Plug with Noise-filtering Power Outlet) provide instant connectivity in the home and are great for connecting different devices such as modems, routers, PCs, set-top-boxes, IP Cameras, and game consoles using existing power cables. Using DS2's unique smart routing and repeating functions these products offer Smart Route to find the best transmission path and Smart Repeater to extend the connection for 100% coverage in larger homes and buildings. The BiPAC 2093 R2 and the BiPAC 2094 R2 include Smart Power Saving technology  that reduces power consumption when the units are not in use. Both products will be available early in the second quarter of the year.

Billion anticipates compatibility between these new products and future G.hn -based products. DS2 has demonstrated compatibility of its current UPA-based Powerline technology with its new G.hn prototypes. 

DS2 at the cutting edge of chip design

DS2 is at the cutting edge of chip design according to the on-line magazine España, technology for life (supported by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade).  A feature article published this month looks at DS2 past, present and future.  The article reflects on the company's growth and expansion driven by pioneering R&D in the development of ICs for wireline communications.

"It is not often that a Spanish company enjoys a position of leadership in the area of microcircuit design. But the company Diseño de Sistemas en Silicio (DS2) is at the cutting edge…"

Woxter wins with DS2

Woxter's VideoLAN ™ is a CES 2010 Design & Engineering Award Honoree.  

This multi-room HDMI extender offers a compact, plug and play, cable-free solution to connect any AV source: set-top-box, multimedia player, Blu-ray player, with HD TV’s throughout the home.

VideoLAN integrates DS2´s AITANA++ chipset. Existing electrical wiring is used to offer a full HD home theater experience anywhere in the home.

G.hn: reducing chip count by 50%

There is a growing interest among Telco/Cable Service Providers in deploying networks that can take advantage of all the existing wires available in the home (power lines, phone lines and coaxial cables).

Until recently, there was a number a proprietary technologies for wired networking, but each one of them was designed for one single medium (ie, one technology for powerline only, another for coaxial cable only, and so on).

Each of these technologies is fundamentally different from each other, so networking chips have to be specialized: For example, a chip designed to operate over coaxial cable cannot work over powerlines.

Why are the chips different? In many cases, the reason is simply that they were designed in separate groups, inside closed organizations, which took different decisions when choosing technical elements such modulation type, Forward Error Correction, QoS architecture, Security architecture, etc.

IEEE Communications Magazine paper on G.hn

With the recent approval of G.hn at ITU last week, IEEE Communications Magazine couldn't have chosen a better timing for the publication this month of the paper "G.hn: The New ITU-T Home Networking Standard", by my friends Vladimir Oksman (Infineon Technologies) and Stefano Galli (Panasonic Corporation).

Oksman and Galli are some of the most active participants at the ITU group in which Recommendation G.9960 (the Physical layer of G.hn) was developed. The paper, which is available for download at the HomeGrid Forum website, provides a good overview of the G.hn standard, including the overall architecture, the Physical Layer (Recommendation G.9960) and the Data Link Layer (Recommendation G.9961).

The paper provides interesting information on the issue of the Forward Error Correction (FEC) used in G.hn.

IBM Global Financing to Speed up Broadband Access to Rural America With New Financing That Benefits IBEC and DS2

IBM Global Financing, the lending and leasing business segment of IBM recently announced a financing agreement with DS2 and International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc (IBEC).  DS2 provides important integrated chip technology to IBEC for the manufacture of Broadband over Power Line Regenerating Unit (BRU) smart boxes. IBEC´s smart boxes which are about the size of an ordinary desktop computer tower,  are attached to a common electric utility pole and activate to provide high-speed Internet signals to households that previously had only limited or dial-up access to the Internet.

Reactions to NIST's endorsement of G.hn for Smart Grid

Last week's publication of the latest draft of the "NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards", which included G.hn in the list of "standards identified for implementation" has had a significant impact on the industry.

Brian Santo at CED Magazine has a good story on the long term implications of this decision::

Thinking several moves ahead of the game, the HomeGrid Forum is on the verge of getting the new G.hn standard approved for use in Smart Grid applications by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). [...]

G.hn becomes one of the Smart Grid "standards identified for implementation" by US Department of Commerce's NIST

Everybody involved in the Smart Grid industry was yesterday paying close attention to the expected publication of the "NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards" draft. This document includes the standards that NIST (an agency of the US Department of Commerce) has identified as key elements of the Smart Grid Initiative.

The NIST report presented by US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke validates many of the ideas that DS2 has championed during the last months: that the Smart Grid should be based on IP standards, and that G.hn is the best standard for powerline communications for Smart Grid applications.

DS2 technology powers new multiroom IPTV service from Telefonica

Telefonica has recently upgraded its IPTV service Imagenio by adding a multi-room service that uses DS2 powerline technology to distribute Imagenio servicio to any room.

Customers of Imagenio now have a solution to end family disputes as the new service adds the ability to simultaneously access distinct content: football, movies, children´s TV channels.

An introduction to G.hn security

G.hn is the new standard developed by ITU for high-speed networking over existing home wires (power lines, phone lines and coaxial cables). One of the key elements in a communication standard is the security mechanism that ensures that data confidentiality is protected and that external users cannot get access to users’ data.

G.hn’s security architecture is composed of four major elements:

1. Data Encryption: a procedure to encrypt data with a secret key
2. Data Integrity: a procedure to ensure that messages are not altered after they have been transmitted
3. Authentication: a procedure to ensure that only authorized nodes/users can access encrypted data
4. Key distribution: a procedure to distribute secret keys to authenticated devices in the network