In other words, where broadband goes, home networks follow

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C O N S U L T I N G
Market Segments www.cazitech.com
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Broadband
The term broadband implies fast, or at least
faster than dial-up, but what does it really
mean? Broadband lets you do more of the fun
stuff, and it's more than just speed. Providers
are starting to converge data, entertainment and
voice content with services that drive more
subscriptions and generate more revenues. As
people adopt broadband, they'll next want to
share the high-speed connection among other PCs.
In other words, where broadband goes, home
networks follow.
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Data Networks
The home networking market is driven mostly by
data networks that let several PCs share
broadband connections, Internet access, printers,
files, and other resources. Most of these
networks are based on some form or Ethernet,
either over Cat.5 cabling, existing phone lines
(HomePNA), power lines (HomePlug), or radio
signals (Wi-Fi). But because these data
networks generally lack quality of service (QoS)
guarantees, they have problems supporting
telephony apps with strict latency requirements,
or entertainment apps with time dependencies.
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Voice Networks
There's no world standard for cordless phones, so
the recent demise of the HomeRF Working Group is
disappointing. HomeRF had many technical
advantages over Wi-Fi, especially for voice and
entertainment apps. It also fit into a vision of
next generation phone systems, with the potential
of becoming the global cordless phone standard.
But HomeRF never got enough market traction to
succeed due to the overwhelming success of Wi-Fi,
even though Wi-Fi still can't do what HomeRF
could.
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Entertainment Networks

• As entertainment goes digital, it brings up new
  issues, including
• Digital Rights Management vs. Fair Use
• Consumers and Artists vs. Record Label,
• Set-top Boxes vs. PC Media Servers
• Broadcast vs. Video-on-Demand
• Terrestrial Broadcast vs. Cable Satellite
• Fee-based vs. Advertising business model
• Convergence with voice and data
• According to Allied Business Intelligence, 33.4M
  STBs were sold in 2002, with nearly10 having
  DVR functions. By 2008, theypredict that 72.5M
  STBs will ship, and about 68 will have DVR
  capabilities.

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Control Networks
Home automation networks control lighting,
appliances, and temperature, with the objective
of improving comfort, convenience, and safety,
and also lowering utility costs. Industry
standards like X-10 make it easy for
do-it-yourselfers to install simple control
networks. The components they need are available
at specialized retailers, online outlets, and
even mass market stores like Home Depot. Also,
several consumer publications have appeared in
the last few years to help the consumer.
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Security Networks
Whether using wiring or wireless, a security
network connects sensors and actuators to a
control unit, and possibly from there to a remote
monitoring service. Inexpensive CCD and CMOS
cameras make surveillance a practical extensions
of this network, and the leading security systems
can now tie into control and voice networks and
even support remote access to these
systems. While a wired system is generally
cheaper, faster, more reliable, and more secure
than wireless networks, but wiring may not be an
option. So, wireless lets consumers retrofit
existing homes.
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Home Wiring
Some 42 of new homes already have Structured
Wiring, which includes CAT-5e cabling for phones
Ethernet, RG-6 cabling for TV, and a wiring
distribution hub. It's not clear, however, that
this advanced wiring will outlast a 30-year
mortgage, given the pace of technology
innovation. This fact, and the large number of
older homes, suggests that there will always be a
large retrofit market. Wireless (and other
no-new-wires) technologies can complement
structured wiring.
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Wireless
As devices get smaller, run on battery power, and
move about, wireless networks let them stay
connected. But its not easy to choose between
different standards that include 3G, 802.11b,
802.11a, 802.11g, Bluetooth, Ultra-wideband and
ZigBee. New multimode, multi-band chip
technologies allow new products to sense and
adapt to different cellular and wireless LAN
networks. gt50 of consumers prefer wireless home
networks, and residential markets are driving
sales of Wi-Fi networks, gaining 55 of the total
WLAN market in 2002.
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Fiber Optics
As fiber cabling extends closer to homes, the
legacy copper and coax cabling gets shorter and
therefore faster. While we encourage deployment
of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), its hard to imagine
applications that need that much
bandwidth. CAT-5e phone wiring already supports
up to 1Gbps, and in a few years, wireless, power
line, and phone line networks will reach 100Mbps
enough for future apps that need that
speed. So, to prepare for the unimaginable, we
simply recommend installing empty conduit between
floors in homes, so its easier to run whatever
new wires are needed later.
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Residential Gateways
The RG is viewed as a Holy Grail for connecting
broadband networks to home networks and for
delivering a rich mix of services. But because
market analysts can't agree on what this device
is and what services it enables, their RG market
forecasts vary from 3 Billion to 7 Billion in
2007. The original vision of a multi-service
gateway that tied in different service providers
has been slow to market, due more to political
and logistical reasons than technical ones.
Instead, companies have introduced other gateway
form factors, including standalone service
gateways, TV set-top gateways, and PC gateway
software.