HomePlug Powerline Alliance and Panasonic Submit Merged Proposal To IEEE P1901 Work Group For BPL
The HomePlug Powerline Alliance announced that HomePlug and Panasonic have merged their technical submissions to the IEEE P1901 Work Group for Broadband over Powerline (BPL) and have submitted a joint proposal. The merged submission offers the efficiency of a single MAC and the flexibility to support both the HD-PLC and HomePlug AV PHYs. As a result, future products based on the merged P1901 proposal can be fully interoperable with existing HomePlug AV and Panasonic HD-PLC products.
Powerline communications is a technology that can potentially be shared by BPL devices of differing protocols. The full implementation of the future 1901 standard will provide interoperability among BPL devices, as well as seamlessly communicating with other networking protocols, such as 802.11.
"As the leader in powerline communications, the HomePlug Alliance fully supports the IEEE’s efforts toward a consolidated marketplace for the benefit of manufacturers and ultimately the consumers," said Matthew Theall from Intel Corp., who serves as the President of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. "Working with a consumer electronics leader such as Panasonic is a natural choice for the Alliance. As a team we’re looking forward to bringing an industry standard to powerline communications that continues to advance this powerful technology into the mainstream marketplace."
"While there are a variety of excellent powerline communications technologies available today, the commitment of the IEEE to create a globally-recognized standard for BPL networks is a huge step for this industry," said Mikio Mizutani, Executive Vice President of Panasonic Communications Co. Ltd. "For the IEEE P1901 standard to be successful, it is fundamentally important that the two power line industry leaders cooperate and unite their efforts. We are convinced that this joint submission with the HomePlug Alliance represents a significant step forward toward the important goal of achieving a unified power line standard."
The IEEE P1901 project is developing a communications standard for high-speed powerline devices. The standard will be usable by all classes of high-speed BPL products, including networking devices for the first-mile/last-mile connection to broadband services and consumer products providing in-home networking and multimedia distribution. The 1901 standard will ensure the delivery of maximum throughput with high levels of quality of service (QoS). The IEEE’s process allows all Work Group member proposals for the 1901 standard to be considered. For the merged proposal, the HomePlug Alliance and its member companies agreed to team up with Panasonic to develop both In-home and Access proposals and to provide an integrated solution based on their combined efforts.
HiSilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., a HomePlug member company, has also merged its contribution into this joint proposal. Other HomePlug member companies that contributed technologies to the proposal include Arkados, Inc., Conexant Systems, EarthLink, Gigle Semiconductor, Intel Corp., Intellon Corp., MainNet Communications Ltd., Motorola, RadioShack Corp., Sharp Laboratories of America and SPiDCOM Technologies S.A.
The IEEE P1901 Work Group is expected to approve a proposal later this year.
