[photopress:igrs.jpg,full,alignright]This is important if a bit difficult to grasp. There is now a Chinese homegrown technological standard, IGRS, that can make seamless connections between computers, television sets and other electronic products. As the way we use these devices change and become more integrated so such technology becomes important. IGRS has now passed key hurdles with two international standards organizations.
Sun Yuning, director of China’s IGRS Workgroup said the standard, called ‘Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing’ (IGRS), would be the first of its kind for the seamless integration of 3C devices (computers, communications and consumer electronics) to be recognized internationally.
(Note that that this slightly cross with the use of power lines — Power Line Connectivity which is PLC — to carry information and connect devices. However, PLC offers IGRS networking solutions. IGRS is protecting its members’ PLC investments by ensuring that different PLC technologies used by IGRS products cannot interfere with one another.)
The IGRS standard won key votes last week by members of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), two non-governmental international standards organizations.
This means that the standard should be promulgated by the ISO as an international 3C device convergence standard next year.
This will then become vitally important. With IGRS, users can enjoy seamless interconnection of their devices, which can identify the presence of other devices and determine which resources they can share.
China’s IT giants, including Lenovo, TCL and Konka, developed the standard in 2003 and have been upgrading it since.
China’s first 3C device that used IGRS was a computer produced by Lenovo in October 2004. Now, more than 30 kinds of TVs, computers and cell phones use the technology in China. The cumulative sales volume of these products is expected to reach 5 million units by the end of this year. Once it is promulgated as an ISO standard it becomes something for the rest of the world to take up.
Source: China.cn.org
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