Consumer networking presents a technological challenge - it is a tough distributed pervasive computing problem. Typical platforms for networked Consumer Electronics (CE) are resource starved; users tend to be highly mobile; network access, if available, tends to be highly opportunistic. Users desire high degree of connectivity and desire communications with peers and access to content as well as sharing content and exchange services among each other any time, anywhere, by anybody. In this consumers do not need to depend on service providers beyond opportunistic IP bearer service. Applications can be left to the market place and not managed by the infrastructure/service providers.

We present consumer-desired application scenarios and devise an approach to realization of a true Peer-to-Peer consumer-networking paradigm. We illustrate deployment scenarios of Peer-to-Peer Multimedia applications, based on P2P protocols. Critical enabling mechanisms like session control, presence and location management, security and others are based on P2P principles; employ P2P SIP and its extensions.

Alexander D. Gelman (ME, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, City University of New York) is the Chief Scientist at Panasonic Princeton Research Laboratory managing research programs in consumer communications and networking. During 1984-1998 Alex was with Bellcore, as Director, Residential Internet Access Architectures Research. He pioneered DSLAM/Router architecture for DSL-based Broadband Access, consulted Bell Atlantic on the ADSL trial, and architected Telia's DSL Multimedia and Internet Access trial. Alex has numerous publications, holds some of the earliest DSL system patents, e.g. on xDSL-based Access Router. He organized ComSoc conferences and workshops, served as editor of IEEE Communications Magazine, JSAC, JCN. Alex has served on the Inaugural Steering Committees for IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, and the ICME. He initiated the IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking Conferences, ComSoc's Power Line Communications technical activities, creation of ComSoc's Standards Board, sponsorship of standardization in the areas of PLC and cognitive radio. Alex served as Chair of the Multimedia Technical Committee, VP-Society Relations, and VP Membership Development, on the Board of Governors of IEEE Standards Association. Currently Alex is a member of IEEE Standards Board, member of the IEEE Transnational Committee, and serves as ComSoc's Director of Standards.