Tut Systems,
Inc., a developer of high-speed data connectivity products, today announced it received $15 million in investment from Microsoft Corp., Itochu International Inc., and AT&T Ventures.
Tut Systems said the investment follows a marketing agreement the company signed earlier with lead investor Microsoft for the development of its HomeRun product.
Designed for multiple-PC residences and general high-speed Internet access, HomeRun is designed to enable numerous PCs to interconnect with one another, share peripherals, and connect to the Internet via a 1 Mbps Ethernet-compatible LAN.
Connectivity is transmitted through previously existing telephone wires in homes, with no additional connections needed, and can run concurrently with already established phone service, Tut Systems said.
HomeRun is also being developed to supplement G.Lite, a new Universal
ADSL technology finding favor with Microsoft, Compaq, and href=”http://www.intel.com”>Intel. Tut Systems said it plans to have HomeRun deliver Universal ADSL service to every phone jack within a home at the same time.
The company is also working with Microsoft on HomeRun-based consumer hardware products to support Microsoft standards in the home networking
sector.
“No home networking strategy is complete unless it
offers the ability to network without pulling new wires, and for phone
wire-based networking, Tut has
the most promising technology we’ve seen,” said Steve Madigan, a senior
director in the
Windows Operating System division at Microsoft. “This investment
encourages continued development by Tut of key technology that we believe
will have significant impact on the consumer networking market.”
