HomePlug AV Standard Builds on Global Success of HomePlug 1.0 Technology for Whole House Distribution of Digital Media

International Powerline Alliance Showcases Results of Its Standards-Setting Process at 2005 International CES™

17 Jan 2005

HomePlug(R) Powerline Alliance, Inc., an industry consortium that creates international specifications for high-speed powerline networking products and services, will use the International 2005 CES™ to demonstrate how its new HomePlug AV standard builds on the global success of the HomePlug 1.0 standard to provide reliable whole-house distribution of digital video and audio over in-home powerlines. The demonstration will be held in booth 26422 in the Tech Zone at International CES 2005, held January 6th to 9th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The HomePlug AV demonstration will use HomePlug's new AV technology and Sharp's high quality AV transmission technologies to distribute high-definition content from a personal video recorder (PVR) to Sharp's popular Aquos LCD television over the powerlines within a home. The demonstration will show how the HomePlug AV standard will enhance consumers' digital entertainment experience by enabling whole-house distribution of content without the need to install additional video recorders or run new wires.

At CES, the HomePlug alliance and its members will also be demonstrating the wide range of products that use the alliance's initial standard, HomePlug 1.0. With over two million HomePlug integrated circuits sold, products in use on six continents and integrated circuits produced by multiple vendors, HomePlug 1.0 technology has enjoyed global success that continues to grow.

“HomePlug certified products have been consistently praised throughout the world for their ease-of-use, and the fact that they create reliable whole-house connectivity by simply plugging them into existing electrical sockets,” said Pete Griffin, chairman of the alliance, and Director of Corporate Technology, Strategic Development of RadioShack Corporation. “CES 2005 displays a large number of exciting products that have HomePlug technology built in. Unlike products that use proprietary connectivity solutions, these standards-based HomePlug products provide seamless connectivity, market-proven performance and support from multiple vendors - important benefits that consumers, retailers and manufacturers all appreciate.“

Building on the success of HomePlug 1.0 technology, the alliance's HomePlug AV standard will enable reliable whole house distribution of high-definition television and digital audio, with guaranteed bandwidth reservation and tight control of latency and jitter. HomePlug AV was developed through a competitive process that tested powerline technologies submitted by companies from across the globe. After laboratory tests and field trials, the HomePlug alliance combined the best technologies into a single specification. Arkados, Conexant Systems, Intellon Corporation and Sharp are the main technology contributors to the HomePlug AV specification, which is being finalized now by the alliance. The alliance expects to release the HomePlug AV specification during the first quarter of 2005. The CES demonstration is based on a prototype of the HomePlug AV specification produced by Intellon and Sharp.

“HomePlug AV demonstrates the value of the alliance's rigorous standards-setting process,” said Oleg Logvinov, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, and also president and CEO of Arkados, Inc. “By following a comprehensive market requirements document and combining the best aspects of several technologies into a single global standard, we were able to avoid the weaknesses inherent in individual proprietary solutions. This is especially important in high speed powerline communications, where robust performance in noisy in-home environments is essential to a great user experience.”

HomePlug AV will deliver a number of benefits, including:

• 200-Mbps class networking, enough to carry multiple HDTV programs around a house.
• An advanced Physical Layer that offers near-capacity throughput performance and exceptional coverage for robust communications over noisy power line channels.
• A high-efficiency MAC layer that incorporates both scheduled access (TDMA) with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees, and contention access (CSMA). Features that are a must for the demands of multi-media content delivery include guaranteed bandwidth reservation, tight control of latency and jitter, and high reliability.
• Advanced Network Management functions and facilities capable of supporting plug-and-play, user and service provider set-up and configuration.
• Co-existence modes enabling multi-network operation, hidden node service, Broadband over Powerline (BPL) co-existence and backwards compatibility with HomePlug 1.0. All HomePlug AV and HomePlug 1.0 devices will operate together on the same power line. The HomePlug AV specification also supports specific product implementations that allow existing HomePlug products to interoperate with HomePlug AV products.

The alliance has also approved the HomePlug AV MAC and PHY technology as the baseline technology for the new HomePlug BPL specification, which the alliance expects to release later in 2005. www.homeplug.org

Filed: Jan 2005, Demos, Press, Co: Arkados, HomePlug, Intellon, Tech: HomePlug 1.0, HomePlug AV