Ed Arrington, initiative manager, Anywhere in the Home at Intel, moderated this panel and stated that although the current in-home network market appears confusing, many of the technologies being presented could and should work together.

Arrington was joined by Cyrus Namazi, the product marketing manager for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) and the chair of the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA). Namazi spoke about the phoneline initiative and its predominant goals – to deploy low-cost phoneline networks rapidly.  Ben Manny, director of residential technologies for Intel and chair of the HomeRF Working Group, stated that their vision is that no PC will be needed to spur the network and that the wireless technology being developed by HomeRF should extend the reach of wire-restricted networks.

Although unable to attend in person, Eric Buffkin, vice president of marketing for Intellon Corp., presented via telephone. Buffkin said that Intellon is developing a powerline technology to be used as a telephony pipeline to serve as an extension of the Internet to every electrical outlet in the home. This session ended with a HomePNA demonstration illustrating how the technology worked in conjunction with a high-speed DSL modem and allowed concurrent voice and data traffic. Part 2 of Session 4 included Evan Price, president of Domosys Corp. Price spoke about the Home Plug & Play initiative and discussed how interoperability, certification, and labeling would be critical for the networking business.

Peter Meechan, director of business development for Sony, spoke of the Home Audio/Video interoperability (HAVi) initiative currently underway. Meechan stated that digital TV (DTV) would fundamentally change the way in which consumer electronics devices interoperated with each other.  Joseph Mouhanna, group manager for Windows Networking Architecture at Microsoft Corp., spoke on the Universal Plug & Play initiative and how audio/video applications would play a major role in offices of the future. Microsoft’s goal, Mouhanna stated, is to open the Internet to all devices.

Jim Waldo, a Jini™ architect for Sun Microsystems Inc., discussed Sun’s network proposition – that is, that "the network is central." Jini, he explained, exploits the ability to move Java code around so new devices on the network can announce themselves to the rest of the network.

Session 5: Mapping the Future – Real Solutions for Real Homes

This session was moderated by Ron Zimmer, executive director of CABA. David King, chairman and CEO of Proxim, discussed his company’s success in the area of wireless networking and how Proxim’s products would converge with the solutions coming forth from the HomeRF work.

Hyeon Lee, manager of residential networks for Lucent Technologies, discussed "infrastructure as indoor plumbing" to deliver bits of information throughout the home. Lee stated that the cellular phone model of distribution (primarily relying on subsidization) might be the most effective approach in the new networked world.  Dave Martella, vice president of Radio Shack, continued the distribution discussion, arguing that customer aftercare "is critical in the broadband age." Martella said that Radio Shack was continuing to pursue a service-oriented distribution model, arguing that the vast majority of US consumers have changed from "Do-It-Yourself" to "Do It For Me."

Finally, Mary Walker, general manger of residential technologies for IBM, stated that her company’s experience had taught her that the "do-it-yourself" model would not apply in this early market. She cautioned attendees that the market was still at a stage where consumers were still seeking to connect "like systems." Stage 4, where the connection and management of "unlike systems" occurs, is "still far off," Walker asserted.

CONNECTIONS’99 wrapped up with the special session on European and North American Activities. Sigma Consultants of France brought 20 industry representatives from Europe, inviting several to speak on current European projects.

Speakers included Roger Torrenti, general manager of Sigma Consultants, Yves Rene De Cotret of the European Commission, John Avard from the US Department of Commerce, Brian Anderson from Industry Canada, Ron Zimmer from CABA, and Tricia Parks from Parks Associates. European industry speakers included Pierre-Yves Danet from France Telecom, Bernadette Thomas from EDF, Alberto Ruiz De Olano from Ikerlan, Anastasia Andritsou from Intracom, and Alain Anglade from Ademe.

For more information about CONNECTIONS, CABA, or Parks Associates, please visit www.parksassociates.com  or www.caba.org 

Proceedings include the conference materials, a CD of all presentations, and audio tapes to the sessions. For more information about CONNECTIONS, please contact Steve Harvey at 972-490-1113 or David Dern at 613-993-6760 or 888-798-CABA