15 September, 2010 – The Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) today confirmed the agenda for its third quarterly meeting - addressing key issues impacting the deployment of services in the digital home.

The HGI meeting- which takes place in Vancouver from 27 September to 1 October - will provide a forum for its members to identify major changes shaping the requirements for broadband services and equipment.

The changes include the increasingly complex mix of services consumed in the home, resulting in a need for advanced Quality of Service (QoS) tools, diagnostics support, software modularity, and testing.  Plus major shifts in network architecture due to the rollout of fibre to the home and IPv6 are bringing new requirements, whilst energy efficiency continues to spur major initiatives in the broadband industry.

Duncan Bees, chief technology and business officer at HGI, commented: “The HGI QoS toolbox, which focuses on identification of service classes, has made a big impact on the industry. With the evolution of broadband towards higher access speeds and sophisticated over-the-top services, service identification is correspondingly complex. HGI plans to update the QoS toolbox to match the latest requirements from service providers and capabilities of the equipment vendors.”

The meeting will also see HGI members review service provider models and specific requirements for IPv6 support, as well as finalise the test plan for HGI’s second annual test event, taking place from November 22 to December 3 in the UK.

Duncan added: “Our test event in November will allow vendors to validate the Home Gateway capability and performance, and during the Q3 meeting we aim to finalise the test plan on software modularity, IPv6, QoS, and energy efficiency.”

“Concerning energy efficiency, we’ve recently completed a requirements document for home gateways to consume less power. This needs to be turned into deployment reality. Meanwhile, service providers are turning to advanced energy management and control services and HGI is at the forefront. All these topics will come together in Vancouver in what promises to be an exciting HGI meeting.”

Founded in 2004, HGI is the world’s leading member-led organisation devoted to translating broadband service providers’ service plans into published technology requirements for home enablers.

For further information regarding this event, please visit www.homegatewayinitiative.org or email [email protected].