G.hn: The new ITU-T home networking standard

Several wired in-home networking technologies are currently available to consumers, although most of them were designed to cope with only one type of home wiring and are not interoperable with each other. In 2006 ITU-T started a standardization project called G.hn for a unified next generation networking technology, operating over all types of in-home wiring (phone line, power line, coaxial cable, and Cat-5 cable). ITU-T Recommendation G.9960, consented in December 2008, is the G.hn foundation: it specifies network architecture, most of the PHY, and some aspects of the MAC. The complete Recommendation is expected within 2009. Besides residential premises, G.hn is intended for small/home offices and public places such as multiple dwelling units, hotels, and conference rooms. This article gives an overview of G.hn technology focusing on the main principles used to build a single transmission scheme for multiple types of wires.