Ten industry suppliers participated in a CableLabs tru2way home networking interoperability event held at CableLabs March 28-April 1. The companies demonstrated sharing of premium cable content over the home network in a secure manner.
 
Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certified device manufacturers included Samsung Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and Sony Electronics. DLNA technology component suppliers included ACCESS Systems, AwoX, Irdeto and NDS. Tru2way host device manufacturers were represented by Cisco, Motorola and Samsung. Program guides that integrate tru2way technology with multi-room DVR capability from Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner Cable were also used in the event.

Representatives from seven CableLabs member companies attended the interoperability event open house and observed multi-vendor, multi-device demonstrations. Participants demonstrated sharing of premium DVR content over a home network in a secure manner using DTCP/IP among multiple tru2way set-top boxes and DLNA devices, such as connected TVs, game consoles, and PCs.

Participants also demonstrated use of a DLNA application on a mobile phone to control devices on the home network. The mobile phone was used to select content from a home network device, and to control playing that content on another device, such as a television set. The mobile phone also controlled features such as pause, rewind and fast forward.

Devices on the home network communicated and shared content using Ethernet, MoCA 1.1 (Multimedia over Coax Alliance), or Wi-Fi technologies. MoCA 1.1 technology utilizes in-home coaxial cable to tunnel Ethernet traffic, thus alleviating the need to run new wiring within the home. MoCA can support multiple streams of HD video and offers 175 Mbps of throughput.

The tru2way software reference implementation was also included in the multi-vendor interoperability scenarios. The tru2way software is developed by CableLabs with support from the OpenSource community on java.net and integrated into tru2way devices. The reference implementation allows manufacturers to quickly implement tru2way technology in their devices, and provides cable operators with a robust software implementation for developing their program guides and other tru2way applications.

“CableLabs and participating vendors created an environment where premium content could be discovered and accessed over the home network using both cable set-top boxes and non-cable devices such as game consoles, connected TVs and PCs,” noted Doug Ike, VP/ Advanced Video & Applications Engineering, Charter.

CableLabs issued the latest version of the Home Networking extension specification as part of the Bundle 1.1.5 release in February 2011. Associated test suites and reference implementation were also released.

Integrating home networking into the overall specification enhances the tru2way platform, making premium content sharing possible among multiple set-top boxes and DLNA Certified devices within a home network. The DLNA Interoperability Guidelines are the foundation of tru2way home networking specifications. The premium cable content is protected using DTCP-IP as it is transmitted over the home network.

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