HomeRF:

Bringing Wireless
Connectivity Home
Jim Lansford
Wireless Systems Architect
Intel Corporation
Technical Committee Chair
Home RF Working Group

March 9, 1999
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Intel’s
1 Labs
 Where does wireless fit?
Part of the home intranet mix
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• Core home networking capabilities, including internet,
anywhere in and around the home
• Share wireless voice and data
• Review incoming messages
• Activate other home electronic systems by voice
• Needed in countries where phone lines cannot be
used Intel’s
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2 Labs
Home Networking Solutions Designed
for the Home User
● “No new wires”
● Simple to Install
● Easy to Use
● Low Cost: ~$200 for
2 PCs
● Bandwidth To Support Common
Home Applications
● Industry Standards
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Intel’s
3 Labs
Home Networking Needs 1 Mbps
100,000
(100 Mbps)

10,000
Bandwidth (Kbps)

(10 Mbps)

1,000
(1 Mbps)

100

10

1
Internet

Real Audio G2

MP3 Audio
Drives

Voice
Printing

Gaming

MPEG Video

HDTV
First Home NW
Applications
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Intel’s
4 Labs
 HomeRF™ Working Group
Mission Statement
To enable the existence of a broad
range of interoperable consumer
devices, by establishing an open
industry specification for unlicensed
RF digital communications for PCs
and consumer devices anywhere, in
and around the home.

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Intel’s
5 Labs
 Establishing SWAP-CA
Shared Wireless Access Protocol - Cordless Access

Standards body
e.g., ITU, IEEE, ANSI

Industry leadership
and dedicated forum
e.g., IrDA, TAPI, USB
SWAP-CA

It happened one day

e.g. ISA, Soundblaster
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Intel’s
6 Labs
 70+ Member Companies
Broad, cross industry support
l Communications
l Consumer Electronics
l Home Control/Home Automation
l Networking
l Peripherals
l Personal Computer
l Semiconductors/Components

l Software
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Intel’s
7 Labs
 Partial Membership Roster
(70+ companies are now Participants)
l 3COM lIntel l Primax
l Alps lIntellon l Philips Consumer
l Advanced Micro Devices lInterval Research Communications (PCC)
l Aironet lIndustrial Tech. Research l Proxim
l Apple liReady Systems l Raytheon Wireless Solutions
l Broadcom Corporation lKansai Denki l RF Monolithics
l Butterfly lLG Electronics l RF Micro Devices
Communications lMatsushita Electronics l Rockwell Semiconductor
l Systems
Casio lMatsushita Works
l l Samsung Electronics
Cirrus Logic lMicrosoft
l l Sharp
Cisco Systems lMitsubishi
l l ShareWave
Compaq lMotorola
l l Siemens
Ericsson Enterprise lNational Semiconductor
Networks l Siemens Microelectronics
lNEC Corporation
l Fujitsu l Silicon Wave
lNortel
l Harris Semiconductor l Symbionics
lOki
l Hewlett-Packard l Symbol
lOsitis Software
l Hosiden l Texas Instruments
l IBM l WebGear

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Intel’s
8 Labs
 SWAP Product
Development
The following member companies are
developing SWAP products:

l Butterfly l Microsoft
Communications l Motorola
l Compaq l Proxim
l Hewlett-Packard l OTC Telecom
l IBM l RF Monolithics
l Intel l Samsung
l iReady l Symbionics

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Intel’s
9 Labs
Enabling the Vision
Grandma’s Brownies
3 cups flour

HomeRF SWAP 1 cup grated chocolate

1 cup sugar
1 stick butter

Control Point

USB
Phone
Camera Game Pad Printer Cable
1394

Stereo Camcorder VCR TV

Multimedia (e.g. 1394)

HomePNA

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Intel’s
10 Labs
 The SWAP Network

TCP/IP Based
Network of
Asynchronous
Peer-Peer
? P
? 

P

Devices Internet

HomeRF PSTN
Control Point USB

Main Home PC

Grandma’s Brownies
3 cups flour
1 cup grated chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter

Other Home Networks

(HPNA,phone,AC)
Isochronous Clients
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Intel’s
11 Labs
 HomeRF Origins
802.11 DECT
Uses CSMA/CA Uses TDMA
Good for Data Good for Voice

SWAP
TDMA + CSMA/CA
Good for Voice & Data
Optimized for small networks (in home)
Simplified radio & protocol to reduce cost
B oth voice and data are important for home R F
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Intel’s
12 Labs
 Why a new protocol?
l It handles voice like DECT or PHS, but...
uFrequency hopping
u20 ms frames (better for data)
uinterleaved up and down links
uRetransmission (single)

l It handles data like 802.11, but...

uRelaxed PHY layer specs to reduce cost
uBeacons to manage isochronous traffic
uSimplified protocol (no PCF)

•IP data at up to 2Mb/s and supports cordless telephony

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Intel’s
13 Labs
 SWAP Features
l Range: >50 meters indoors
l Speed: dual speed - supports TCP/IP
traffic at over 1Mb/s
l Voice: High quality voice channels
with retransmission
uHigh quality cordless telephones
uVoice recognition

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Intel’s
14 Labs
 Device Types Grandma’s
3 cups flour
1 cup grated chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
minutes.
HOME INDEX

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Isochronous (I node) Asynchronous (A node)

> minimum latency - > TCP/IP traffic
telephones, etc.

Cordless Telephone

•CP - Connection point…can manage a

CP network or act as an A node
• Can be USB, PCI, PC-Card, Device Bay, etc.
PSTN
• CP can place calls even when PC is down

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Intel’s
15 Labs
 Topology
TDMA
I Node TDMA
I Node CP
CP
CSMA
A Node
CSMA
A Node
CP
Grandma’s
3 cups flour
1 cup grated chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
minutes.
HOME INDEX Connection Point* TDMA
I Node
Fridge pad PSTN
HOME INDEX
CSMA
A Node
CSMA & TDMA
A/I Node SWAP Frame CSMA
A Node
• It’s a circuit switched, isochronous network
• It’s a packet switched, asynchronous network
• It’s both - I nodes get priority on bandwidth
Intel’s
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16 Labs
 PHY Features
l Nominal 100 mW transmit power
l Minimum receiver sensitivity of -76 dBm
(2FSK)
u range >50 m in typical homes/yards
u -85 dBm sensitivity typical

l Cost effective filter requirements

uUseMAC to reduce PHY cost
uMakes single-chip integration simpler

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Intel’s
17 Labs
 MAC Features
l MAC provides good support for voice and data
l Leverages existing DECT technology for voice
l Excellent integration with TCP/IP networking protocols
u easy integration with Ethernet
u Supports broadcast, multicast and fragmenting
l Data security - Basic/Enhanced levels of encryption
u Basic: 24-bit Network ID and Frequency Hopping
u Enhanced: Basic + LFSR algorithm
l Extensive power management for ultra-portable devices

Optimizes exis ting technology for home us e

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Intel’s
18 Labs
 The PC interface
l SWAP’s PC connection is designed for use under
Windows 98* , Windows2000*, and beyond
u Wake on ring
u Connection Oriented NDIS (NDIS 5…for Windows2000*)
u A nodes appear as Ethernet devices
u I nodes become Connection Oriented clients

Intel’s
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* Third party brands and marks are
property of their respective owners.
19 Labs
 P C S oftware Architecture
Diagram
Windows2000*
connection- connection-
TAPI 3.0 oriented client
DirectShow*
less client

Windows2000* Windows2000*
NDIS TAPI
proxy RCA filter

connection-oriented I/F connectionless I/F

“Ethernet”
MP/CM
Intel’s
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* Third party brands and marks are
property of their respective owners.
20 Labs
 Voice: Robust clarity
Downlink Slots Control Point Beacon • Service Slot used by nodes to
Page Control Point
Service Slot

B D3 D4 D4 D3 D2 D1

Hop
Hop

D3 D2 D1 Contention period
U3 U4 CSMA/CA access mechanism U4 U3 U2 U1
U3 U2 U1

Superframe - 20ms
CFP #1 CFP #2
Contention free periods
Uplink Slots

• Superframe structure controlled by Beacon

• TDMA slot pairs allocated by the Control Point
• Voice data transmitted in the slots in CFP #2
• Any voice data to be retransmitted is sent:
– In CFP1, after a hop
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– frequency/time diversity & low latency Intel’s
21 Labs
 Data transmission
Service Slot

B D3 D4 D4 D3 D2 D1

Hop
Hop
D3 D2 D1 Contention period
U3 U4 CSMA/CA access mechanism U4 U3 U2 U1
U3 U2 U1

Superframe - 20ms
CFP #1 CFP #2
Contention free periods

• CSMA/CA during the contention period

• Efficient for small networks
• Tolerant of interference
• Data for entire frame if no voice

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Intel’s
22 Labs
 Encryption Algorithm
l Open, royalty free - published in open
literature over 30 years ago
l Low gate count

l Fast “warm up”

l Required for CP in the US market, optional
for other devices and geographies
l Robust
l Similar concept to GSM A5 algorithm, but
“stronger”
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Intel’s
23 Labs
 Usage - Voice Control
• Handset initiates voice
transfer to PC
TDMA
I Node • Application accepts
Application
streaming audio from CP
CP IWU Co-NDIS
• Application performs speech
CP PC recognition and sends
commands back down stack
PSTN • For automatic call
Grandma’s
CSMA
placement, CP dials number
3 cups flour
1 cup grated chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
A Node
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
minutes.

HOME INDEX

and connects handset

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Data traffic can also be active • Handset - PSTN

connection remains until
call teardown Intel’s
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24 Labs
 Usage - ISP Sharing
Voice traffic can also be active
TDMA • PC initiates ISP connection
I Node
(modem, ISDN, UDSL, Cable, etc.)

Application • Applications on host PC can

access ISP immediately
CP IWU Co-NDIS
• Remote A nodes access ISP
CSMA
A Node CP USB
PC through NAT and TCP/IP

• Remote A nodes can also

PSTN share files and printers
Grandma’s
3 cups flour
1 cup grated chocolate
1 cup sugar

• Ad hoc peer-peer transfers

1 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
minutes.

HOME INDEX

Fridge pad
CSMA between nodes do not require
A Node
resources of “server” PC
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Intel’s
25 Labs
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 HomeRF Summary
l Home RF Working group developing
open, royalty free spec
l Over 80 member companies
l NOW is the time to begin
implementation plans
l More info (including membership) at
www.homerf.org
l $4,800 membership fee
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Intel’s
27 Labs