New forum brings focus to home networking

The ATIS Home Networking Forum is working closely with other industry groups, including the Digital Living Network Alliance, the Universal Plug and Play Forum and the Broadband Forum, Lightfoot said. “Representatives in our groups were participants in those groups,” he said. “We are trying to get as much activity from those groups and awareness as we can. ATIS is making sure that the 34 groups we identified are all aware of what we are doing and as much as possible, we can hopefully enhance their activity with their forums.”

To encourage broad participation, all meetings of the Home Networking Forum, which begin Feb. 3, will be virtual, Lightfoot said, being conducted via Web and voice conferencing. “That way, travel costs aren’t an issue for anyone,” Lightfoot said.

The Home Networking Forum hopes to become the “de facto industry group of home networking standards,” Lightfoot said, and that will require working openly with consumer electronics companies and organizations. “We think they are eager to work with us,” Lightfoot said.