Beaverton, Oregon, USA. August 28, 2012 – UPnP Forum, the global standards body working for seamless connectivity between more than a billion devices, has announced its new UPnP+ initiative. This aims to enhance functionality and increase customer satisfaction in the evolving market for always-on connectivity.
For more than a dozen years, UPnP technology has supported connectivity between consumer electronics and computing devices. UPnP+ will focus on expanding its capabilities as new models for connected mobile computing evolve, including cloud-based service delivery, smartphone content sharing, and the internet of things. Key areas UPnP+ will address include:
* Full integration of IPv6 with seamless backwards compatibility to IPv4
* Integration of content and services from the cloud
* Access to UPnP devices and services from web browsers
* Improved support for low-power and mobile devices
* Grouping or pairing of similar devices and services
* Bridging to non-UPnP networks (e.g. ZigBee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, ANT+) for a broad range of applications including health & fitness, energy management, and home automation
James Brailean, PhD, president and CEO of PacketVideo Corp., says: “As a company, our goal is to create consumer software products that work seamlessly across platforms, operating systems and standards. Part of our solutions include working with the UPnP standard and we look forward to contributing and working with this new UPnP+ initiative. We see this as an opportunity to better integrate solutions beyond devices into the products, apps, cloud and web services that consumers are currently utilising and demanding. With this new initiative, the ultimate winner will be the consumer.”
UPnP is best known as the set of audio/visual and firewall control standards used in consumer electronics and residential gateways. However, many UPnP standards go beyond just media and networking, including standards for connected thermostats, lighting, remote user interfaces, telephony, and device management. Additionally, UPnP standards are being integrated into web browsers and applied in healthcare and energy management applications around the world. UPnP+ builds on all these existing standards with new features and capabilities in a complete, integrated solution that will enable the next major phase of UPnP functionality.
“UPnP Forum has taken a key role in the technologies and standards market for device interoperability,” comments Jinpil Kim, the team leader at Standard Technology and Development Team, LG Electronics. “LGE has been contributing to developing UPnP standards and deploying UPnP capable devices: the UPnP based SmartShare is becoming the crucial feature for our various types of high-end devices. UPnP Forum is now stretching its step toward expanding the ecosystem with the UPnP+ initiative and leading the emerging market by covering the Cloud and bridging distinct protocols. We believe that this initiative will provide a great experience for the consumer and create new values and opportunities for members, and we are happily looking forward to participating in the step forward.”
Ralph Brown, CTO, CableLabs, adds: “UPnP home networking provides the basis for discovery and communication between connected cable equipment and other devices in the home. With UPnP+, UPnP Forum is moving beyond media devices in the home to provide connection with cloud services, support for IPv6, integration with new networks of devices (health & fitness, energy management, security, etc.) and implementation in web browsers. We see these features as important strategic ingredients in the development of future cable industry products.”
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Alan Messer, UPnP Forum president andchairman, says: “We believe that work towards UPnP+ will bring UPnP to the next level and greatly benefit our broad membership base. We aim to move forward quickly, so I would encourage current and potential members who are interested in contributing to the UPnP+ effort to become involved as soon as possible.”
If you are interested in participating in the UPnP+ Task Force, please contact
- upnpadmin@forum.upnp.org
For further information about UPnP Forum please go to www.upnp.org
