At the recent IEEE 5G++ Summit in Dresden, German developer Teleconnect showed how a home gateway can be used to isolate various independent functions securely.

The use of G.hn as a backbone for 5G and IoT services showed significant momentum at the summit, with Teleconnect using G.hn as the backbone via its GHN Som PLC module and Kernkonzept’s open-source secure L4Re hypervisor running different applications.

The demonstration – built by Kernkonzept, Teleconnect and Technische Universität Dresden – illustrated a 5G high performance networking and low-profile energy monitoring use case. This paves the way to a more flexible, reliable, secure and cost-efficient architecture of modern communication systems, directly targeting critical infrastructure and functional and information security.

“The HomeGrid Forum certification of G.hn for industrial environments has opened exciting opportunities for the industry,” said Philipp Rietzsch, head of R&D at Teleconnect. “The demonstration at the IEEE 5G++ Summit gives an example of just one of these opportunities. We are looking forward to driving this technology to create a more sustainable future.”

The proof of concept (PoC) is a result of the publicly funded Jupiter project involving Teleconnect, TU Dresden and Kernkonzept leveraging the certification of the GHN Som PLC module by the HomeGrid Forum for industrial IoT applications.

The gateway was converted into a universal edge-cloud node able to run home automation services, such as energy control, and network functionalities, such as software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV), up to Kubernetes and OpenStack, whereas the secure hypervisor L4Re provided strong isolation between the components consolidated on a single platform.

The GHN Som PLC is a small form factor and retrofit module for improving the performance of IoT and connected devices through mimo-enabled powerline communications.

G.hn works seamlessly through existing wiring to provide low latency connectivity that is suitable for handling two-way, high bandwidth and real-time traffic, including environmental sensors and video surveillance. HomeGrid Forum G.hn certification ensures commercially available products comply with ITU-T G.hn standards and the interoperability requirements set out in the HomeGrid Forum certification test plans.

“The DIN-rail mounted PoC with a powerful processing platform marks another exciting milestone for G.hn industrial IoT use cases, highlighting the digital transformation of the industry,” said HomeGrid Forum president Livia Rosu. “Using G.hn as the backbone for IoT network management and SDN-based systems accelerates the deployment of additional devices inside the energy distribution structure of the household and the multi-dwelling units connected through powerlines to ultimately enable IoT home automation. The HomeGrid Forum industrial IoT task force sees the importance of energy control and ensuring sustainability in the IIoT setting, driving G.hn innovation and deployments for these applications.”