REDMOND, Wash., June 15, 2000 — Today Hewlett-Packard Co., Honeywell Inc., Intel Corp., Lantronix Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Panja Inc. demonstrated Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)-enabled home networking solutions at a meeting of the Universal Plug and Play Forum, which now includes more than 180 companies representing virtually all classes of devices and appliances for the home. Demonstrations at the meeting included securing door locks and setting alarm systems remotely, and collaborating and printing using a wireless handheld PC. In addition, Microsoft introduced the Universal Plug and Play Development Kit and the Universal Plug and Play Interoperability Lab. These tools will help manufacturers easily implement and test the UPnP architecture for all kinds of devices and appliances and will help accelerate the process of bringing UPnP-enabled products to customers.
“Today marks a significant step toward realizing the vision of Universal Plug and Play and delivering the benefits of simple connectivity to customers,”
said Salim AbiEzzi, chairman of the UPnP Forum and home networking business development manager at Microsoft.
“The incredible work shown here by forum members in products and standards definitions and the set of tools now available demonstrates that UPnP is real, tangible and ready for manufacturers to build with. Microsoft is thrilled to see the industry’s commitment to making UPnP the common denominator for home networking.”
UPnP Members Demonstrate Simple Connectivity
Leading companies representing the PC, Internet appliance, and home automation and security industries showcased simple, useful networking solutions, illustrating that companies are actively implementing UPnP into their products.
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Honeywell demonstrated how several existing home control products, such as heating and cooling systems and lighting and security systems, bridge together, connecting them to the homeowner and outside world. This application shows how customers can use existing investments in home control technologies and build on them.
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HP used UPnP to demonstrate network device discovery to enable simple appliance networking. The demonstration showed how printers, mobile devices and other appliances can easily interoperate.
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Intel, illustrating UPnP’s operating system independence, demonstrated how users can connect a Microsoft® Windows® Millennium Edition-based PC to a home music server and residential gateway to listen to music from the Internet.
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Lantronix showed how UPnP-enabled device servers can be integrated with existing home security and automation solutions.
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Panja showed how digital media can be streamed from the Internet to existing home audio and video equipment using UPnP for discovery and control.
“Honeywell is excited to be pioneering the implementation of UPnP into our home security and control products, providing a natural extension of functionality for our customers,”
said Russ Straate, director, Residential e-Infrastructure Solutions at Honeywell.
“Other companies can begin building UPnP 1.0 into their products with the assurance that it contains the architecture to build successful, network-ready products.”
UPnP Developer Tools Now Available
It is now easier and more cost-effective than ever to build UPnP capability into devices and appliances and test for interoperability. Microsoft today introduced the Universal Plug and Play Interoperability Lab, a workroom located on Microsoft’s Redmond campus that helps member companies test and troubleshoot their UPnP-enabled products for compatibility with other UPnP-enabled solutions. The lab will help ensure simple, foolproof networking capabilities.
Microsoft also announced the availability of the Universal Plug and Play Development Kit, which provides device manufacturers with how-to guidelines and resources for incorporating the UPnP architecture into devices and appliances. The kit includes documentation, sample code and tools to assist device manufacturers in the development of UPnP devices, and was delivered today to all forum members.
Universal Plug and Play
Consumer interest in home networking is increasing as PCs, information appliances and the Internet play a larger role in day-to-day activities such as entertainment, communication, education and shopping. Making it easier to network a variety of devices in the home will spur consumer adoption and market growth. Microsoft is among more than 180 companies leading the UPnP initiative, which will make connecting multiple devices easier by building on existing Internet standards and technologies. UPnP is network-media-independent and encompasses all types of networked and traditional peripheral devices, including PCs, home entertainment systems, new smart appliances, home automation systems, networked peripherals and Web-based services without the need for a centralized server to manage the devices.
The UPnP Forum was formed in June 1999 to help define solutions that simplify device interconnectivity standards and the networking of intelligent devices. The forum aims to enable the emergence of easily connected devices and to simplify the implementation of home and corporate networks. The forum will achieve this by defining and publishing UPnP device control protocols. A list of forum members and information on joining are available at the forum Web site, http://www.upnp.org/ .
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