Enough bit-speed to feel the surge?<gg>Broadcom and Tut Systems Demo 10 Megabit Per Second Home Phoneline
February 8, 1999 -- Broadcom Corporation, a
leading developer of highly integrated
silicon solutions that enable broadband
communications to the home and within the
business enterprise, and Tut Systems Inc., a
developer of high-speed data connectivity
solutions over copper wire, today unveiled a
technology demonstration of high-speed
home networking at the Demo '99
Conference in Indian Wells, Calif. Using
existing phone wires within the home, this
technology will allow consumers to create
broadband networks for a variety of new
shared Internet, multimedia, entertainment,
home office/small office, and home security
applications.
Together, Broadcom and Tut Systems are
working within the Home Phoneline
Networking Alliance (HomePNA) to deliver
easy-to-use, interoperable and affordable,
high-speed consumer networking solutions
using existing telephone wire in the home.
Tut Systems is a pioneer in home networking
technology and the developer of HomeRun,
which has been adopted by the HomePNA
as the 1 megabit-per-second (Mbps)
standard. Broadcom Corporation is a
recognized industry leader in broadband
communication and networking chipset
technology. Leveraging each company's
strengths, Broadcom and Tut Systems have
developed a dual-speed network that
supports HomePNA 1.0 specified equipment
as well as a new class of consumer-based
networking appliances for both 1 and 10
Mbps applications.
The new Broadcom technology shown in
this demonstration, called MediaShare, was
developed in partnership with Tut Systems.
Operating in tandem with Tut Systems'
HomeRun technology, through a jointly
developed signaling protocol, the
Broadcom® MediaShare technology is a
multi-megabit, rate-adaptive solution that
runs at speeds in excess of 10 megabits per
second, without interrupting regular phone
service or requiring the installation of new
wiring in the home. Higher speed in-home
networks are needed to support applications
such as multiple broadband Internet
connections, Internet Protocol (IP)
telephony and high-quality digital
audio/video streaming throughout the home.
MediaShare technology will enable
high-speed, robust connections using
standard phoneline wiring at consumer-level
price points. MediaShare is a rate-adaptive
technology, and future implementations will
be capable of scaling to transmission rates in
excess of 60 megabits per second. Data rates
of this order are required for the distribution
of HDTV and high-quality
videoconferencing within the home.
"Broadcom's and Tut Systems' combined
expertise has made it possible to raise the
bar on home networking performance
beyond 10 megabits per second,'' said Dr.
Henry T. Nicholas III, Broadcom's President
and CEO. "This technology is key to the
widespread use of new classes of IP
consumer devices within the home, while
maintaining compatibility with a large legacy
installed base. MediaShare is a driving force
behind seamless interoperability of
phoneline, powerline and wireless networks
in multi-tiered home networks of the future.
Furthermore, its bandwidth scalability makes
it ideally suited as a backbone technology
for these new classes of networks.''
Demo '99 brings together the best new
products and technologies of the year and
presents them to the personal technology
industry's key influencers. The
Broadcom/Tut Systems demonstration
illustrates the breadth of advanced
applications that can be supported by
efficiently combining voice, data and video
traffic on existing in-home phone wiring. In
this demonstration, IP telephony, digital
video and shared web browsing run
concurrently on a single phoneline network
while supporting standard telephony and
dial-up modem operations.
"Standards for home networking technology
and a clear road map for the future are key
factors in the process of delivering reliable,
easy-to-use, and affordable home
networking solutions to consumers,'' said
Kevin Hause, Manager of Consumer Device
Research at International Data Corporation
(IDC). "As such, IDC believes that
phoneline technology will become the
dominant home networking medium for the
next five years.''
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a leading
developer of highly integrated silicon
solutions that enable broadband digital data
transmission to the home and within the
business enterprise. Using proprietary
technologies and advanced design
methodologies, the Company has designed
and developed integrated circuits for some
of the most significant broadband
communications markets, including the
markets for cable set-top boxes, cable
modems, high-speed networking products,
direct broadcast satellite and terrestrial
digital broadcast, and digital subscriber line
(xDSL). Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine,
Calif., and may be contacted at 949-450-8700
or at broadcom.com.
About Tut Systems Inc.
Tut Systems designs, develops and markets
advanced communications products which
enable high-speed data access over the
copper infrastructure of telephone
companies, as well as the copper telephone
wires in homes, businesses and other
buildings. These products incorporate Tut's
proprietary FastCopper technology in a
cost-effective, scalable and easy to deploy
solution to exploit the underutilized
bandwidth of copper telephone wires. The
Company's products include Expresso high
bandwidth access multiplexers, associated
modems and routers, XL Ethernet extension
products and integrated network
management software. Tut's HomeRun
technology, an in-home application of
FastCopper, has been chosen by the Home
Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA)
as the initial specification for in-home
networking over phonelines.
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