Abstract
In recent years the converging digital technologies of television, publishing, telephony and computers, the so-called multimedia revolution, have prompted the deployment of a multitude of high-speed applications from streaming video to the World Wide Web to desktop video editing. An immediate impact of this evolution is the ever-increasing demand for Internet bandwidth, the more intelligent use of already available resources and the use of overlay networks in the home. Because of the emergence of the home networks, the nature of networking itself is changing dramatically. It is moving away from supporting mainly home business and education applications and into the infotainment world where video and audio are now predominant and IPTV is emerging as the “killer app”. This module will review the Home Networking standards from transmission, like the popular 802.11 wireless, to middleware like OCAP or MHP. It will of course review the important IP protocols, like those related to Quality of Service, that make Home Networking and IP based entertainment possible.

Educational Course Subject Areas
Computer Engineering ,  Networking ,  Software ,  Communications

Keywords
Broadband Communications ,  Home Area Network ,  Internet appliances ,  internet datagram transport ,  Internet protocols ,  MAC layer ,  Media Access Control ,  Multimedia ,  OSI layer ,  OSI Model ,  Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model ,  Network ,  Personal Area Network