G.hn's Data Link Layer gets ITU nod

G.hn's promise of being an end-all-be-all home networking standard may be the subject of great debate in the industry, but its supporters have come one step towards a standards reality. During a recent meeting of United Nation's International ITU-T in Geneva, the Data Link Layer (DLL) achieved consent to combine the Physical Layer and coexistence protocol to finish off the standard. What's more, the ITU advanced the G.hn Smart Grid profile for home control and plug-in electric vehicle applications.

This latest development comes after the ITU approved the Physical Layer and architecture components of the G.hn home networking specification in October. Now that it has completed the Physical Layer, DLL and coexistence protocols, G.hn says it has the pieces in place to offer the vendors and service providers one common home network technology. However, other industry groups and even some service providers have argued that G.hn's promise is simply not practical.

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