Omega · Home Gigabit Access

Gigabit Home Access Networks are a pivotal technology to be developed if the EU Vision of the Future Internet is to be realised. Consumers will require such HANs to be simple to install, without any new wires, and easy enough to use so that information services running on the HAN will be just another utility, as, for instance, electricity, water and gas are today. The OMEGA HAN is centred round the needs of the user: gigabit RF and optical links, combined with more robust wide-area RF and visible-light communications will provide wireless connectivity within and the home and its surroundings. Combined with power-line communications this provides a home backbone without new wires. A technology-independent MAC layer will control this network and provide services as well as connectivity to any number of devices the user wishes to connect to it in any room in a house/apartment, and further, this MAC layer will allow the service to follow the user from device to device. In order to make this vision come true, substantial progress is required in the fields of optical-wireless and RF physical layers, in protocol design, and in systems architectures. For OMEGA, an interdisciplinary team from leading institutes and companies in this broad range of technologies has been assembled. OMEGA will provide a substantial consumer pull for next-generation broadband by enabling the sharing of large-date user-generated content, which will, in turn, raise the expectation for higher data rates. Also, at the same time, a push from service providers will take place, as they see the possibility of delivering new high-bandwidth services to the user throughout the home. OMEGA will present significant market opportunities for all the EU actors in the communications industry, but most importantly empower citizens by offering access to novel emotional experiences while addressing ageing, isolation, and health challenges, and thus making an important contribution to the vision of FP7.