© Eric Flogny
ITU/V. Martin
ITU/V. Martin
ITU at a glance
Dr Hamadoun I. Touré
Houlin Zhao
Malcolm Johnson
François Rancy
Brahima Sanou
Secretary-General
of ITU
Deputy Secretary-General
of ITU
Director of the ITU
Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau
Director of the ITU
Radiocommunication Bureau
Director of the ITU
Telecommunication
Development Bureau
Forum highlights radio interference fears
Non-ITU compliant home network equipment may cause problems
Concerns that home networking products using power
line transmission (PLT) technology may cause interference with radio services led to a Forum held on 27 May
2011 in Geneva to address the issue. Given the variety
of electronic devices in our homes, strict electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements are imperative.
Over-the-air broadcast services in particular could be
subject to interference from PLT systems. The Forum
considered that ITU’s own home networking standard
ITU–T G.hn has EMC and mitigation techniques that go
well beyond those considered essential for protecting
radio services.
“There are PLT products on the market that do not
conform to the necessary EMC standards, and this is very
much a concern,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun
I.Touré. “We are fortunate in ITU to have telecommunication and radio experts from both the private sector,
government and regulators. Together they have agreed
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ITU News  5 | 2011  June 2011
the necessary requirements to ensure that products
conforming to ITU standards do not cause interference,
which may have potentially serious consequences. We
would caution service providers and others against rolling out technologies conforming to specifications that
do not meet ITU requirements.”
The Forum took place in parallel with an interoperability event giving ITU–T G.hn chipset vendors the opportunity to test their products, which will be on the
market later this year. It brought together radio spectrum experts from national regulators, service providers,
and product manufacturers, as well as standards development organizations, and industry alliances including
the European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETSI), the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE), HomeGrid Forum, IARU, NAJO/IAU and
HomePlug.
ITU at a glance
Bigstock®
Commitments and future actions by all stakeholders
to resolve interference issues in the interest of consumers were agreed at the Forum. A key conclusion is that
ITU will act as the focal point for coordinating other
standards development organizations and industry alliances in order to agree on further developments.
John Shaw, representing BBC World Service, said at
the meeting: “For broadcasters, it is extremely important
that products sold do not interfere with the reception of
programmes or reduce coverage. We applaud the efforts of ITU to ensure international acceptance of the
organization’s stringent guidelines on compatibility between electronic communication systems and the use of
the radio-frequency spectrum.” Similar views were also
expressed by representatives of the aeronautical and radio astronomy communities.
Universal Charger made even greener
Industry backing for update that extends device use
ITU’s one-size fits all universal charger has been further
improved to maximize the benefits for end users by extending its use to a wider variety of devices and making it even more energy efficient. It will no longer be
necessary to provide a new charger with every new ICT
device.
A detachable cable with standardized end connectors will allow connection to devices including all
mobile phones and other hand-held devices (such as
MP3/MP4 players, tablet computers, cameras, wireless
headphones, and GPS devices). This also means that
the charger can be used for data transfer, avoiding an
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ITU at a glance
unnecessary duplicate cable and thus further reducing
costs and e-waste.
The ITU membership also agreed to specify a noload power consumption of the power adapter below
0.03W, which is the most efficient available today.
Considering that billions of these chargers will be made
available in the market in the next few years, the new
standard will make it possible to significantly reduce
global energy use.
Chargers built according to the new standard will be
safer, and will use eco-friendly materials. The user guide
will remind people to unplug their chargers when not
in use, to further reduce the environmental impact of
charging. In addition, the recommended charging current has been increased — in the range 750 to 1500 mA
— so as to reduce charging time. The standard now
meets the requirements of the Basel Convention on
e-waste.
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said, “Other
standards claim to be universal and energy efficient, but
only ITU’s solution is truly universal and a real step forward in addressing environmental and climate change
issues. This updated standard will bring the benefits of
the universal charger to a wider range of devices and
consumers. I am sure it will be welcomed by all ITU’s
membership — 192 governments and over 700 private
sector entities. The environmental impact of wide adoption will be enormous. This major improvement on the
standard agreed first in 2009 shows how fast ITU can
respond to the rapidly changing market demand”.
Companies including Telecom Italia, France TelecomOrange, China Academy of Telecommunication
Research, Research In Motion, Swisscom, Belgacom,
AT&T, Telefónica, TDC, Huawei, Telia Sonera and
A1 Telekom Austria have already committed to the
standard.
ITU and European Patent Office
agree to share information
Agreement will smooth the adoption of new technology
Standards are essential for the wide adoption of new
technologies in the marketplace. However, there is
potential for conflict between patents and standards
when the implementation of the standard requires the
use of technology protected by one or more patents.
Recognizing the need to share information in this area,
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ITU News  5 | 2011  June 2011
ITU and the European Patent Office have signed a sharing agreement that will enable the European Patent
Office to enhance patent quality and legal certainty by
improving access to ITU documentation.
The new agreement will help create the right balance between the interests of all relevant stakeholders,
ITU at a glance
ITU/D. Court
Malcolm Johnson, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau; Dr Hamadoun
I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General; Benoît Battistelli, President of EPO; and Wim van der Eijk, Principal
Director, Patent Law and International Affairs sign a Memorandum of Understanding
including patent holders, implementers of the standards, and end users, while seeking to enable solutions
to market-driven needs on a global basis.
“ITU has long championed an intellectual property policy that takes into account the needs of patent
holders as well as a requirement to meet the needs of
end users in the most efficient manner,” ITU Secretary
General Hamadoun Touré said, “This agreement will
provide the necessary framework to better respond to
the challenges created by the interplay between patents and standards, and will increase the transparency
of patent information declared to ITU.”
Mr Benoît Battistelli, President of the European
Patent Office, said, “This agreement is in recognition
of the importance for standard-setting organizations
to cooperate with patent and trademark offices with a
view to improving transparency at the interplay of both
systems and facilitating the work of patent examiners in
their examination processes.”
The agreement will allow ITU to link its Patent
Database to the European Patent Office Database,
which contains patent documentation relevant to ITU’s
standardization activities. Joint workshops on the interplay between intellectual property rights and standards
are also foreseen.
In order to minimize the risk of conflict and to assure smooth and wide dissemination of standardized technology, ITU, together with World Standards
Cooperation partners the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) and the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), established a joint
patent policy in 2007. The common policy provides
reassurance to industry that its interests are protected
when sharing intellectual property with implementers
of standards. It also ensures that patents embodied in
ITU standards are accessible to everyone without undue
constraints.
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