Residential Gateway
Resources
Articles
Ultimate Convergence
RG's Save Energy Costs
What is a Residential Gateway?
Overview of RG's
Energy Gateway
Case Study - Sweden

Press Releases
Coactive Connector
Energy Monitoring

Standards
Standards Library

While an increasing number of companies, large and small, battle over just what a residential gateway is (See What is a Residential Gateway? and Overview of Residential Gateways), the answer is beginning to take shape in the form of real services being offered to real households.

The residential gateway, simply, is an intelligent piece of technology that connects various home devices, systems, and appliances to the Internet and to one another.

The residential gateway is the heart - or you could say the circulatory system - of the smart, connected home. In the end it comes down to services that make our lives more convenient, fun, and safe. What actually flows through the gateway can be categorized in three areas:

Data / information - Access data from your PC on the TV screen, or network all your PCs together with a printer. While many tech-savvy homeowners have already installed basic networking, the gateway is a more elegant and expandable approach.

Control / telemetry - Remotely monitor and control your home security system, your heating or AC, and household appliances. The need for energy management has recently increased interest in telemetry applications even further. (See Residential Gateways to Remedy Energy Cost and Deregulation Woes and Help Conserve Energy and Cut Costs.)

Entertainment - Enjoy sound and images - music, video, and more -- from the Internet, from your cable TV provider, from your digital camera, and enjoy it when and where you want it. (See Ultimate Convergence - Entertaining the Future.)

Within a few short years residential gateways will become a pervasive part of the consumer experience. Yet though they will make it possible for millions of consumers to enjoy a multitude of enhancements to everyday life, many end-users will remain blissfully unaware of this transparent technology - the heart of the connected home.