First specification of standard formalises powerline communications

22 March 2006 News

The Open PLC European Research Alliance (Opera) today announced the development and approval of the first open global specification for Powerline Communications (PLC) access, also known as Broadband over Powerline (BPL).

This specification will accelerate mass rollout of high-speed, low-cost, broadband access, voice and audiovisual services, as well as utility applications for control and management operations. Technology from Spanish chipmaker Design of Systems on Silicon (www.ds2.es) was selected as the baseline for the specification.

The Opera specification provides a baseline for both PLC access technology as well as in-building applications, where powerline technology extends existing backbone technologies such as fibre-to-the-home (FTTx), DSL and coax.

After two years of development, a consortium of industry specialists supported by the European Commission, developed the specification based on a marketing and functional requirement blueprint ratified by Opera (www.ist-opera.org). The Powerline Utility Alliance (PUA), which includes leading international utility companies, designed the blueprint to cover all grid characteristics and to address global regulatory and industrial parameters.

The new specification provides for interoperability for non-Opera technologies by means of a co-existence mechanism. This unique feature also guarantees that future versions of Opera technology will be compatible with today's specifications, smoothing the way for investment in the technology.

The Opera PLC specification will be promoted through international standardisation organisations, including IEEE and ETSI.

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