The HomeGrid Forum announced its endorsement of a new draft standard (ITU-T G.9963) called G.hn-mimo that
adds state-of-the-art MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology to the G.hn standard for high-speed networking over existing home wiring.
MIMO significantly increases robustness, rate, and coverage, making G.hn by far the premier home networking technology, especially in very challenging noise environments such as powerlines in the home.
MIMO works by using the multiple paths available because power wires have 3 conductors (phase, neutral and ground). G.hn-mimo standard devices will be able to send traffic streams over multiple paths simultaneously and thus increase throughput rates and noise robustness. In cases where a communication path is affected by impairments, other paths can be used to compensate and hence ensure full coverage and persistent delivery of content.
ITU-T G.9963 is the first powerline MIMO specification to be developed by an international SDO (Standards Development Organization). As G.hn-mimo is an enhancement to G.hn, G.hn devices with MIMO are fully interoperable with devices built to the G.hn standard approved in 2010.
