Residential gateways are hardware devices that connect the home or small office network to the Internet. They are also known as Internet gateways, home gateways, broadband routers and access devices. They provide a platform for integrating different broadband access technologies and several home networking solutions like Ethernet, wireless, etc. A digital DSL or cable modem connects the residential gateway device to external Internet or network backbone. The digital modem downloads and uploads data, voice, and video, and provides Internet access to the home network. Different devices like PCs, TVs and other digital information appliances connect to the residential gateway device to share the Internet connection and network amongst each other through LAN protocols. Residential gateways can also provide Firewall functionality to secure the underlying network.
By Kevin Hawkins, Texas Instruments Inc. Consumer and industrial markets have exploded with users’ demands for application devices that have more intuitive features and the ability to connect to any device, anywhere.
