Netopia yesterday announced it has adopted Analog Devices’ Fusiv network processor and new ADSL2+ bonding reference platform as the foundation for Netopia’s MiAVo (Media in Audio/Video out) bonded ADSL2+ gateways. The announcement comes one week after Netopia announced its entire MiAVo product line, which can operate off of a VDSL2, ADSL2+ or fiber access network.

The company currently is positioning the gateway as a sort of director for in-home networks. Besides equipping it with virtually every feasible LAN technology, the gateway also is positioning it as a true network element in the triple play pantheon.

“In order to deliver-triple play service you really need to have quality of service built into that gateway,” said Jeff Porter vice president of product marketing for Netopia. “Now more than ever, you really need to have TR-069 for the management.”

For the bonded ADSL2+ version, the gateway is ADI’s design, but also includes Netopia’s firmware. The design blends ADI’s Fusiv network processor and two or more EaglePlus ADSL2/2+ PHY devices, which are based on Aware’s StratiPHY2+ and StratiPHY-Bonded intellectual property.

In its VDSL2 version, Netopia is using both Ikanos and Conexant Systems’ chip sets. Porter noted that with both technologies being as new as they are, it makes more sense to use the same chip vendor on both the CPE and the DSLAM.

“In early stages of WAN technology, chip set to chip set virtually guarantees interoperability,” he said.

Inside the home, the company is laying out a smorgasbord of options including HPNA3, MoCA, wireless and even Plastic Optical Fiber. Instead of opting for a single technology, Netopia would rather have the carriers decide which options they want and then build to that specification. Currently, however, there doesn’t appear to be any consensus on transmitting high-bandwidth traffic around the home.

“Depending on which carrier you’re working with, there are quite a few different views on how that’s coming together,” Porter said.

Among the wireline options, Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) is getting perhaps the strongest interest from Swisscom and other European operators while many in the U.S. are looking at MoCA and HPNA.

“They don’t have coax as widely deployed [in Europe] so the MoCA and HPNA don’t look so good,” Porter said. “They typically have older homes and they haven’t run phone wires everywhere to the extent we have in the U.S. So they can snake a POF cable through the electric conduit. [For the U.S.] we’re very enamored with MoCA. Obviously there’s a big carrier that’s interested in this.”

On the wireless side, the gateway initially will ship with Netopia’s 3D Reach technology, which supports the various flavors of Wi-Fi. However, Porter said carriers are aggressively pursuing Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology to the point that that some may not wait for standardization.

“What we’re seeing is a heavy interest in MIMO technology, mostly because it’s believed that you can start streaming video around the house with it,” he said. “Carriers usually don’t deploy technology without it going through standards. It may be that there’s enough interest in it, though, that they may break that rule.”