HGI Moves a Step Closer to Making Interoperable Smart Home a Reality

Standards organisation publishes software modularity requirements for smart home HGI Open Platform 2.0 15 May 2014. HGI, a leading organisation responsible for setting requirements for the smart home, has published a landmark document which brings service providers a step closer to making the smart home a reality.

HGI-RD048, titled HG Requirements for HGI Open Platform 2.0, sets out updated guidelines for modular software deployments onto the Home Gateway. It updates RD008-R3, published in 2011. The publication is vital for the smart home because it allows modular software applications to run in a dedicated virtual execution environment and avoid conflicts and interferences with the natively installed software. Compared with RD008, the new RD048 provides considerable additional requirements, including a new Java Virtual Machine (JVM) profile for Home Gateways.

Manufacturers wishing to build and test their devices to the new HGI requirements have already been able to take part in a remote test event. Products that have already met the HGI test criteria have earned the right to carry the HGI Open Platform 2.0 logo. Those companies are shown at test.homegateway.org.

“The smart home concept is moving ever closer to becoming a reality and manufacturers meeting the new RD048 and associated test requirements will meet the service providers needs and reduce their time to market delivering an appropriate smart home solution,” said Duncan Bees, Chief Technology and Business Officer, at HGI. “Service providers are deploying next generation applications like home automation, energy management and diagnostics. HGI’s work in the smart home is truly enabling a worldwide approach to making this service vision achievable.”

As well as updates on referred standards, this document also adds basic requirements to support USB based hardware extendibility for smart home services, details for usage for OSGi technology and system clock management, and JVM minimum requirements for HG.

Software modularity is one of HGI’s main areas of focus. The organisation holds an annual Software Execution Environment (SWEX) test event, which was made available remotely for the first time in 2013. For 2014 the test event has been renamed the HGI Open Platform 2.0 test event.

Publishing the document comes ahead of HGI’s next quarterly meeting, which is taking place in Tokyo, between Monday, June 2 and 6.

Andreas Sayegh, of Deutsche Telekom, has played an integral role in bringing the RD008 and RD048 documents, as well as the associated testing programme, to fruition.

“The cooperation and input of vendors and service providers in HGI has made this document possible,” he said. “The requirements set out will allow service providers to make progress, applying what has been learned to real world conditions. For consumers, the document will mean the provision of tangible new services.”

During the same ballot HGI also approved a second requirements document looking to address IP-PBX Module Technical Requirements.This document provides a set of requirements to add a multi-line IP-PBX capability to a gateway. To date HGI has focused on the needs of the mass residential market, but with home gateways already used by some small businesses which have additional requirements, particularly with regard to supporting multi-line voice; this document seeks to address these additional needs.

A copy of both new documents is available on the HGI website at www.homegatewayinitiative.com.