ホームネットワークの最新技術と将来動向

抄録

With the outstanding growth of communication and device technologies, various kinds of digital appliances have been introduced into home, and expectations toward home network which interconnects and controls such appliances have been rapidly emerging. This article describes the latest technologies and future trends on home network in which wireless network including wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) such as sensor network plays a vital role. The network includes wireless LAN, Ultra Wide Band (UWB), ZigBee sensor network and Power Line Communication (PLC). ECHONET which is a defacto standard for accommodating energy efficient legacy appliance control is also briefly introduced. As one of the key functions for seamless interconnection of digital appliances, protocol standardization is essential. This article addresses the defacto middleware architectures such as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Digital Living Networking Alliance (DLNA) and Open Service Gateway initiative (OSGi) which involve the standard protocols and message formats. Finally, seamless integration between in-house and outdoor networks, and in-house network interconnection between e.g. wireless LAN as a backbone and sensor network as a branch are presented as a future image of home network environment.