HomePlug AV specification approved by alliance board

By Humphrey Cheung
August 19, 2005 - 17:02 EST



San Ramon (CA) - A new powerline networking protocol, called HomePlug AV, has been approved by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance which promises fast communications, without adding extra wires. The new specification zips data through the existing power lines in the home, at 200 Megabit per second. This is a marked improvement over the old HomePlug 1.0 protocol which ran at 14 Megabit per second.

The new protocol should be fast enough to stream multiple streams of audio, video and data. This should please people who want to transmit their MP3s or HDTV content around the house. In addition to the speed increase, traffic will be protected with DES or higher encryption.


In order to be able to use this technology, consumers have to buy adapters that converts their network traffic into a powerline-compatible waveform. Cables are not completely eliminated as the adapter is required to connect to the wall plug. Network traffic is piggybacked onto the power current flowing through the house. It's unclear how power surges caused by high-load appliances such as air-conditioners or refrigerators will affect HomePlug traffic.


Consumers with high-end audio gear, using power conditioners, may be in for a shock as the conditioners will interfere with HomePlug traffic. The conditioners think the traffic is noise, and will strip it out.


While the HomePlug AV standard looks promising, competing technologies have been around for a while. Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet run at a blister 100 and 1000 Megabit per second respectively, but you have to deal with wires, switches and routers. In contrast, some proprietary Wi-Fi adapters and access points can transmit at 108 Megabit per second, without wires.


HomePlugAV products should start appearing in early 2006.




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