With DLL done, G.hn good to go

Here's more news to inspire the next round of mud-slinging in the home network debate: The International Telecommunications Union has approved the Data Link Layer for the G.hn home networking standard. The approval came at the ITU-T's January meeting, and did not come as a surprise, given that G.hn proponent the HomeGrid Forum said last fall that the DLL likely would be ready for approval this month. In a press release issued today, HomeGrid described the G.hn standard as now "essentially complete," since the PHY layer spec and a co-existence protocol were finished earlier. G.hn semiconductors should be rolling out of manufacturing throughout this year. The ITU-T also prepared a G.hn Smart Grid profile for home control and related applications.

It's going to be a fun year as G.hn moves toward a face-off against existing home networking technologies and non-believers--though even G.hn backers have admitted the new standard is not expected dominate.

For more:
- Here's the HomeGrid Forum press release

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