Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) Going Green

Obviously, a byproduct of the growing number of consumer electronics devices in the digital home will be increased power consumption. We've heard about some initiatives in Europe regarding standby power requirements for devices such as appliances and televisions, but this is the first I've heard of efforts aimed at CE equipment such as routers, modems, adn residential gateways.

According to a press release from the Home Gateway Initiative, they played an important role in developing the latest European Commission (EU) Code of Conduct on energy consumption of broadband equipment. This work has involved defining the operation states of customer premise equipment (CPE), as well as providing targets for the power consumption values of each functional component of the home gateway.

In line with the recommendations made, the HGI is now working on specifying low power mechanisms that allow the home gateway to consume the minimum power corresponding to its current level of activity, by looking at the individual subcomponents and assessing the existing power modes, and evaluating the implementation of additional low power modes. The work of the HGI on energy efficiency also extends deeper into the home network, involving the home gateway’s unique role as an always on device, orchestrating home automation.