Broadcom, Tut Team Up to Link Home Gadgets

Jumping into the burgeoning home-network arena, chip maker Broadcom Corp. and networking company Tut Systems Inc. unveiled technology Monday that promises to turn any residence into the fantasy Jetson home.

Irvine-based Broadcom, the leading supplier of chips for cable modems and set-top boxes, said its MediaShare technology helps information race over common copper telephone wires at previously unattainable speeds.

Broadcom and Tut Systems, which makes equipment for companies that offer high-speed Internet access over traditional telephone wires, collaborated in developing Broadcom’s new MediaShare line.

The companies unveiled MediaShare at a trade show Monday. Later this year, Broadcom plans to roll out a line of products that will allow users to plug their computers, televisions, stereos and other devices into a single network.

“We’re not shifting away from cable or copper. We’re merely expanding their characteristics,” said Henry Nicholas, chief executive of Broadcom.

With this technology, users ideally could create home networks that link appliances--ranging from computers and DVD players to nanny cams and televisions--through standard telephone jacks, Nicholas said.

Data would stream through the networks at speeds of 10 megabits per second, or 10 times as fast as the current industry standard, Broadcom and Tut Systems employees said.

Later versions would be improved to run at up to 60 megabits per second and would allow videoconferencing and programming for digital television sets, Nicholas said.

Analysts say the move is an extension of Broadcom’s existing networking business and fits with its focus of building chips for broadband systems.

Broadcom “is doing something they already do well: leveraging technology internally,” said Allen Leibovitch, a senior analyst with the research group International Data Corp.

Home networks have become a hot industry lately. IBM Corp., for example, is working with several California real estate developers to install and promote its solution. Half automation system, half computer network, IBM’s Home Director system lets users switch on air conditioners, program a VCR and flip on a DVD player with a simple click of a remote control.

Though the demand for high-speed connectivity and gee-whiz features may be high, the adoption rate for systems such as IBM’s has remained low because they require consumers to spend thousands of dollars retrofitting their homes with expensive wiring.

Hoping to quicken the adoption rate of home networking technology, several industry consortiums are trying to find ways around the price barrier.

The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance is developing a high-speed home-networking standard that runs over ordinary phone lines and doesn’t interfere with existing services.

That networking specification is based on technology developed by Pleasant Hill-based Tut Systems, which recently completed a successful initial public stock offering.

As the cost of home networking technology and infrastructure drops, analysts at Forrester Research predict, the market will boom--reaching an estimated $2 billion by 2002.

Like Broadcom, many manufacturers are latching onto the growing vendor craze for home networking gear. Last month, Intel Corp. announced plans to build phone-line-based home networking products, slated for delivery in the spring.

3Com Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Compaq Computer Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are also gearing up to connect PCs and other digital devices in the home.

“Anything that requires you to knock holes in drywall is not going to work,” Nicholas said. “This has to be plug and play, or consumers are not going to buy into it.”