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| EMagazine Volume 5 Issue 2 April / May 2000 |
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The era of home networking has definitely arrived – the challenge now is to make it simple, hassle-free and “future-proof” – homeowners would be wise to consider all of these options as they begin evaluating home networking as a solution for their needs. |
Penny B. Johnson is Director of Marketing at Avio Digital, Inc. She leads the multimedia home networking vision into consumer electronics, telephony, computing, and home control industries. |
The long-anticipated digital future is finally here - nearly every U.S. home now has access to broadband Internet connectivity via cable modem or DSL, whether they take advantage of it or not. Entertainment technology, including cable television, online gaming, and Internet audio is attracting more and more consumers into the wired world and helping to lessen the digital divide. In addition, approximately 34% of PC-owning homes now have two or more active systems. Consumers already need to connect together a wide variety of multimedia devices and services in order to enjoy them from any room in the home at any time, regardless of the physical location of the devices. Cable television, broadband Internet connections, and other digital media should be accessible simply by plugging in the device that will receive the signal. Structured wiring is being hailed by many as the panacea by which digital media can be distributed throughout the home. Is it really the answer to the question of digital distribution? It depends on whom you ask.
What is Structured Wiring?
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A typical structured wiring system also uses RG-6 dual coaxial cables instead of the conventional RG-59 cable that runs from the curb to the box. With dual RG-6 cables, each TV can receive its own signal or share it with other TV or computer monitors, and can receive and send images from cameras (for security or monitoring systems) and the Internet. The 18-gauge cable also loses less of the signal than RG-59.
While this wiring scheme can certainly be implemented in older homes via retrofitting, it is typically installed in new homes. If it is installed before the home’s walls are in place, the rubble, dust, and rebuilding that occur in retrofitting are avoided. For users who are confident that this is the type of wiring system that they need in their homes, however, many companies who provide this type of retrofitting have recently come into existence.
Pros and Cons
A central access point for data entry into the home is a good idea. Even home networks that are designed to use existing Category 3 telephone wiring can benefit from the installation of Category 5 wiring in both the distance between devices and increased speed. In the case of Avio Digital’s MediaWire™ home network, Category 5 wiring triples the effective distance between devices on a typical home network and increases the speed of the network to 100Mbps. Installing a structured wiring system in new homes before the walls are put into place is also inexpensive (around $1,000) and can be offered as an added feature that is absorbed into the home’s mortgage.
The best-case scenario for a structured wiring system is to have the homebuyer select specific options before the system is put into place. A home security system, speaker wire for multi-room audio, and wall-mounted control pads could be among these options. The main point is that unless every conceivable type of wiring and option is put into place from the outset, the possibility that the home will need to be retrofitted for these options later discounts any other capabilities that are put into place during building.
Retrofitting is really the downfall of structured wiring and is also the main reason that many companies involved in home automation are looking at solutions such as using existing wiring and wireless technologies. For home automation and networking to reach the masses, a plethora of solutions must be made available. Because the technology is new, consumers will be wary of having walls torn out, holes drilled, and wiring plumbed. They fear that, a year or two after the dust clears; they won’t have the correct wiring in place and may have to have the installation process repeated to accommodate the next great technological advance. In reality, the wiring used in these systems is fairly generic and may never have to be replaced. The adoption of such a wiring scheme by the masses will itself guarantee that devices will be designed to take advantage of it.
Wiring the masses
In 1999, 5.2 million existing homes were sold, compared to 875,000 new homes, which means that, even if every single new home sold had structured wiring installed, it would still account for less than a fifth of the housing market. Structured wiring is a great idea that every new homebuyer should be able to take advantage of. However, for digital home technology to really hit its stride, other means must be made available for homeowners who are living in or buying existing structures. Retrofitting a structured wiring scheme in an existing home is both expensive (around $500 per room) and disruptive in comparison to using existing wiring or making use of a structured wiring scheme that was put into place while the home was built. To reach a broader market, it is important that other means of digital delivery are made available to the public. When consumer confidence and perceived need come into play, digital home networking technologies will be as common as telephone service. To achieve broad deployment of these technological advances, the technology needs to be as close to “plug-and-play” as possible. Few consumers would have adopted devices such as CD players, DVD, and personal computers if purchasing them meant that they would have to turn their homes into construction zones to use them.
The best solution for home networking is a scheme by which users can take advantage of this technology today whether they buy a new home or want to network an older home. MediaWire technology from Avio Digital (www.aviodigital.com) can be implemented regardless of whether a home has been built or retrofitted to accommodate a structured wiring scheme. Using existing Category 3 or Category 5 wiring, MediaWire is capable of distributing all types of digital data throughout the home at speeds of up to 100 Mbps in the first-generation product. Using MediaWire, a single telephone line can simultaneously deliver thirty-two 24-bit audio channels, eight high-quality MPEG-2 video channels (6 Mbps each), sixteen phone or ISDN lines and over 12 Mbps of serial control or TCP/IP (Internet) data, in a typical home network. With MediaWire, one “phone-style” connector provides all of these services. Individual devices can be up to 33 meters (over 100 feet) apart on Category 3 wiring, 100 meters (300 feet) apart on Category 5 wiring and 400 meters (over 1200 feet) apart on coaxial wiring. With up to 100 devices of different types, the MediaWire home network is capable of supporting a total cable length of more than 10,000 meters (approximately 6.2 miles)—which is more than enough cabling to network even the largest homes.
A MediaWire home network can support many different types of devices and is designed to carry many different types of media and data. Supported data formats include:
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Nearly any type of digital audio including AC-3 (digital surround sound) and new high-sample rate formats such as DVD audio.
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MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video streams including DVD video and HDTV (high definition television) signals.
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Voice telephony, fax signals, or ISDN lines which are encoded as low data-rate digital audio.
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Serial data such as RS-232.
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TCP/IP (Internet) data.
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MediaWire commands for network management.
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Many other standard data formats including MIDI, CE IR, IrDA, X-10, and others.
For the broad acceptance of home networking, the solution needs to be inexpensive and easy-to-configure. Because MediaWire is self-configuring, the network can be put to use by home users without additional installation costs or hassles. Whether or not a structured wiring scheme is in place, consumers need to be able to set up a network without hiring a professional installer. Superior wiring is great, but consumers won’t take advantage of it if the underlying networking technology is difficult to implement.
The era of home networking has definitely arrived – the challenge now is to make it simple, hassle-free and “future-proof” – homeowners would be wise to consider all of these options as they begin evaluating home networking as a solution for their needs.
