Wi-Fi Alliance and HomePlug Powerline Alliance Join Forces for Smart Grid Interoperability

The last few months have been filled with exciting announcements in the wireless space. From Wireless DisplayPort, to Direct Connect, to the opening of the airwaves for a new Wi-Fi Spectrum, the wireless industry is seeing a wave of movements promising great opportunities for developers. Now, the Wi-Fi Alliance and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance are bringing us a new cause for celebration. The organizations have announced that they are partnering to create joint standards, allowing for interoperability among connected home applications. These standards will also allow developers to conduct interoperability testing for new products.

This new partnership aims to facilitate seamless interoperability between Wi-Fi and HomePlug devices in  smart grid applications across home networks. These organizations, both members of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP), are looking to promote Smart Energy 2 Applications Profile (SEP 2.0) across a diverse range of wireless and wired networks. This initial standard will support energy management for wired and wireless home networks. The organizations are planning to jointly promote their wired and wireless technologies to homeowners.

“Working with the HomePlug Powerline Alliance will facilitate interoperability between Wi-Fi equipment and devices connected to power line home networks,” said Edgar Figueroa, CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance, in the recent release. “This collaboration will help bring about a great user experience with smart home technology.”

WiGig and VESA Team Up for Wireless DisplayPort

Anyone who has ever set up an IT monitoring station or a living room entertainment system knows that cables can be a nuisance. Luckily, hope is on the way: The WiGig Alliance and Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) are partnering to create wireless DisplayPort, which will allow users to connect high-definition display and audio systems without the use of cables.

This new technology, aimed at consumers and IT professionals, will allow users to connect devices such as PCs, handhelds, monitors, projectors and TVs without the use of wires. WiGig’s 60 GHz technology offers considerably more bandwidth than traditional 802.11n Wi-Fi, and provides bi-directional I/O capabilities to support the DisplayPort v1.2 feature set. This allows the same high-definition quality as a standard DisplayPort cord. WiGig and VESA are currently partnering to develop a certification program.

The WiGig Alliance has completed the 1.0 A/V and I/O protocol adaptation layer (PAL) specifications, which will be published early next year. The A/V PAL (WiGig Display Extension) supports wireless transmission of audio visual data, while the WiGig I/O PALs (WiGig Bus Extension and WiGig Serial Extension) define high-performance wireless implementations of widely used computer interfaces over 60 GHz. Together, these PALs enable multi-gigabit wireless connectivity between any two devices.

Wireless DisplayPort technology is expected to create a whole new class of interoperable wireless products, with the quality and performance of traditionally wired interfaces. We eagerly await the certification program, and look forward to creating a DisplayPort test for developers of new wireless display devices.

Direct Connect, Here We Come! Standards Compliance Testing for Wi-Fi Direct

For times when Internet hotspots aren’t available, the Wi-Fi Alliance is now offering certification for a new way to connect: Wi-Fi Direct™. First demonstrated at CES 2010, Wi-Fi Direct enables devices to connect directly without relying on a network access point. Furthermore, Wi-Fi Direct allows users to share data and sync at the same speeds as traditional Wi-Fi networks – as fast as 250Mbps – and at ranges of up to 200 meters. The new certification program is designed to verify interoperability, and certified products will be able to connect with older Wi-Fi products already in use.

The Wi-Fi Alliance’s video, above, shows the many ways devices can take advantage of Wi-Fi Direct.

With several industry leaders – including Intel, Cisco and Apple – backing the technology, Wi-Fi Direct is expected to be adopted across a wide range of products, including cameras, laptops, smart phones, tables, printers and even home applications such as digital picture frames.

Allion is excited to announce our new role as an authorized test lab for Wi-Fi Direct. We have a long history of providing standards compliance testing services for manufacturers working with IEEE 802.11 benchmarks, and we are excited to begin Wi-Fi logo testing for Wi-Fi Direct.

“Allion is capable of verifying all Wi-Fi standards such as Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and the latest Wi-Fi Direct,” said James Ou, director of Allion’s engineering service division in a recent press release. “Our goal is make the program simple for our customers and to accelerate time to market.”

Web-Connected TVs Set for Takeoff

Consumers are more connected than ever, with Wi-Fi enabled laptops and cell phones providing virtually seamless Internet access. Now analysts are saying that the next wave of networked-enabled devices will be your televisions.

According to a new report by DisplaySearch, sales of Internet-enabled TVs are expected to grow by more than 200 percent over the next four years. The Quarterly TV Design and Features Report forecasts that more than 118 million Internet-connected TVs will ship in 2014, a significant increase from the 15 million shipped in 2009. The growth of network-enabled TVs is expected to occur in conjunction with 3-D TV adoption.

“It’s an exciting time for the connected TV sector,” said Paul Gray, director of European TV research for DisplaySearch, in the report. “It’s a battleground where TV set makers, Internet video companies, free-to-air broadcasters, pay-TV and the IT industry are all rushing to stake their claims. IPTV [Internet Protocol Television] is moving from being a technology to becoming recognizable service offerings.”

The burgeoning IPTV industry offers plenty of options for designers looking to take advantage of new market opportunities. New service platforms are being developed, with connectivity levels ranging from app-enabled TVs – which allow users limited Internet services – to “Smart TVs” offering full browsing capabilities and sophisticated user interfaces. Meanwhile, broadcasters are launching their own standards and portals such as hbb.TV and YouView.

The demand for connected TVs follows the industry movement we have seen here at Allion. We’ve witnessed products become increasingly connected, with our product validation services enabling us to stay at the forefront of these emerging markets and trends. For questions on the challenges facing manufacturers in this sector or to start developing your personalized digital TV test, contact Allion today.

Consumers Eager for Wireless Charging, Despite Barriers

Recently we wrote about the growing market opportunity for wireless charging devices. These products will allow customers to charge mobile devices –such as cell phones, laptops, MP3 players and more – simply by having them touching or within proximity of a shared charging station. Such devices would eliminate the plethora of cords required to power today’s digital gadgets. Furthermore, such wireless chargers could be integrated seamlessly into furniture and cars.

Consumers are more than eager for these types of products to enter the market; in fact recent In-Stat research found that consumers are becoming impatient for this technology to mature. With 44 percent of survey respondents calling current charging solutions an “annoyance” and up to 40 percent willing to pay $50 dollars more for a wireless charging device, In-Stat projects that that this market will reach $4.3 billion in total market revenue by 2014.

However, technological barriers are preventing immediate market growth. The variety of digital devices and brands makes interoperability testing a problem. Furthermore, competing technologies could foster incompatibility. Needless to say, consumers will not want to buy multiple wireless chargers for different devices. Without standardization, it could be difficult to achieve widespread adoption of wireless charging technologies.

Despite these obstacles, the wireless charging market has such great potential and natural consumer demand that we expect it to move forward. Manufacturers will not want to miss this opportunity to provide consumers with cutting-edge charging technologies. Allion will continue to provide more information as it becomes available, and we look forward to testing and validating this new wave of devices.