Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM), a system-on-chip vendor, has taken an early lead in the G.hn product cycle with its CG5110 home networking chipset.
This new chipset development comes not long after the ITU ratified the catch-all G.hn wiring standard that can support a home's three dominant wires: phone lines, power lines and coax.
Although it will take time to back up Sigma's claim with actual field deployments, the vendor claims that its G.hn chipset will enable consumers to run home networks with up to 3 Gbps speeds with each media carrying up to 1 Gbps. But the new G.hn chipset does not advocate a rip and replace strategy as it supports backward compatibility with the established HomePNA and HomePlug AV deployments.
To improve powerline networking performance, Sigma's chipset incorporates its ClearPath Extreme, next-generation MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology. However, neither Sigma or the G.hn supporters are the only camps to support next-gen MIMO as the upcoming HomePlug AV2 standard also support next-gen MIMO as well.
While Sigma may be one of the first G.hn silicon vendors to release product with enhanced powerline capabilities, G.hn has a long way to go until to catch up with well-established powerline standards such as HomePlug AV.
For more:
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