News and Reviews....

    Home Network Standard  June 2003

         The lines of communication between devices in a home network may soon improve, thanks to the Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) adoption of a new pass-through standard.

    The CEA-931-A Remote Control Command Pass-Through Standard for Home Networking allows devices on 1394-based networks to share common commands, such as key presses on remote controls, making it easier for users to manage different units from anywhere on their networks.

With this technology, a personal video recorder (PVR) could communicate with a satellite or digital cable box to tune to a particular channel at a specific time, so it can record a program. The PVR's remote control could then send commands to a television. 

The standard looks to supplant infrared (IR) "blaster technology, using the home network to deliver the same level of control without additional hardware or wiring as well as any additional IR setup processes.

CEA-931-A is supported by a consortium of 14 consumer electronics companies that seek to make it a standardized protocol for High-Definition cable boxes (see "Plug & Play/ April 2003).