Gigle Networks Home-Networking Technology Delivers Four Times the Performance of Other Powerline Alternatives in Independent Lab Tests

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., BARCELONA, Spain and EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Gigle Networks, the leading developer of intelligent multi-PHY switching technology for both wired and wireless entertainment-grade home networking, today announced that Tom's Networking Guide, an independent laboratory and Internet channel that fully tests new standards-based products and publishes home-networking product reviews, has released extensive test results highlighting the superior performance and coverage of Gigle Networks-enabled powerline home-networking products.

Tom's Networking Guide tested Belkin adapters featuring Gigle Networks technology with their latest firmware implementation, against other commercially available HomePlug AV products, in a real-world, home-networking environment.  The test environment consisted of a traditional home layout with a living room, bedroom, garden, office, work area and attic.  Additionally, the same triple-play benchmarks were run in the noisy environment of a multi-dwelling residential unit in downtown Munich. The Gigle Networks-based Belkin adapters delivered up to 275 Mbps of transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) throughput, which was three to four times higher performance than the nearest competitors under identical conditions.  Average throughput across a range of test connections between points around the home was 150 Mbps, which represented best-of-class performance and was as much as two to three times better than other products. The Gigle Networks-based Belkin adapters scored highest in the overwhelming majority of test cases.

"Belkin's Gigabit Ethernet Powerline Adapters using Gigle Networks technology are a real milestone in home networking," said Arno Kral, editor-in-chief for Tom's Networking Guide. "Our tests showed the Gigle Networks-powered Belkin adapters with the latest available firmware outperformed any existing powerline technology," Kral added.  "Over the range of test conditions, the Belkin adapters exceeded the performance of all other HomePlug® AV devices ever tested by Tom's Networking.  The Belkin adapters are also ideal for ultra-quick transmission of multiple video streams, and they deliver particularly robust performance in Voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications."

"We are delighted to have received Tom's Networking's affirmation of the superior coverage and performance of Gigle networking technology," said Jed Hurwitz, chief technology officer with Gigle Networks.  "We have worked diligently to provide best-in-class performance with our baseline HomePlug® AV / IEEE 1901 implementation and to enhance the performance, network coverage and reliability further with our Mediaxtream® and Xtendnet™ technologies.  In addition, with our software-upgradeable architecture, manufacturers will be able to add current and future enhancements over time, to further improve their products' capabilities and feature sets."

Gigle Networks' Mediaxtream® enables home-networking devices to deliver wireline Gigabit performance by operating over any combination of powerline, phoneline and coaxial cable  mediums.  Xtendnet™ enables traffic from one or more of these channels to be aggregated, effectively improving coverage, bandwidth and QoS as compared to single-medium or single channel solutions.  In addition, Xtendnet™ can work in concert with WiFi to allow IP streams to be intelligently managed across any of the wireline transports, while aggregating the traffic with a WiFi stream.   The software-upgradeable architecture has enabled the company to offer the first silicon solution that incorporates IEEE 1901's Inter System coexistence Protocol (ISP) and is designed to comply with recently announced IEEE 1901 draft specification for powerline communications.  

Tom's Networking Guide was founded in 2004 as an independent networking theme channel for Tom's Hardware Guide, one of the most widely read online publications covering the computer industry.  In addition to sharing content with Tom's Hardware Guide, Tom's Networking Guide performs rigorous laboratory testing of network components in real-world, small-to medium-sized business (SMB) and small-office-home-office (SOHO) applications, using IxChariot and other leading benchmarking programs. Tom's Networking Guide Deutschland's complete review of the Belkin adapter using Gigle technology can be found in an English translation at:

http://www.tomsnetworking.de/EN/content/tests/j2010a/test_belkin_gigabit_plc_adapter_f5d4076_fw_20/index.html.

About Gigle Networks: Plug into the Fun

Gigle Networks provides System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated circuits and complete system solutions for multimedia home networking that can extend wired and wireless Ethernet everywhere in the home – without the need for new wires. Targeted for applications such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), broadband TV (BBTV), video on demand (VoD), and voice over IP (VoIP), Gigle Networks' products offer superior performance, coverage and Quality of Service (QoS) when compared to alternative communication technologies, and are designed to be easily integrated into consumer electronics and networked products. Gigle Networks is a strong supporter of open standards, a board member of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, and an active participant in the IEEE 1901 standards body and the ITU-T G.hn wireline standardization initiative. Gigle Networks has offices in Redwood City, Calif., Barcelona, Spain, and Edinburgh, UK.

SOURCE Gigle Networks