The Consumer Electronics Association's Technology and Standards' Home Networking Committee has announced the formation of a new working group to revise CEA 931-B, a remote control command pass-through standard for home networking. CEA 931-B defines a standardized method for communication of select functions between devices in a home network.
Originally created by the R7.5 Audio/Video Networks Subcommittee in 2002, revisions to the standard will include incorporating command transport capabilities. It will also expand the command set and power controls in CEA-931-B to support enhanced remote user interface capabilities in home networks using Web-based protocols.
The recent standard has become the basis for the FCC's new regulations on connecting digital set-top boxes to ensure that they will respond to commands forwarded from a TV or DVR and it is the basic communication platform to control devices on a home network, using a single handheld remote control unit (RCU) from any device on the network to control any other device on the network.
"These additions will add further standard controls to the basic RCU, getting the industry even closer to a true universal remote," said Virginia Williams, director of engineering and standards at CEA.
Jack Chaney, director of DMS Lab Samsung Electronics America, chairs the working group. Participation in the new working group is open to companies and organizations with direct and material interest in its activities. CEA membership is not required to participate.
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