HomePlug® Technology Incorporated into IEEE P1901 Standard Baseline

P1901 Working Group Votes to Confirm Baseline

SAN RAMON — The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance today announced that the IEEE P1901 Working Group approved proposals including key HomePlug technology as the baseline for an IEEE powerline communications standard. The balloting took place Thursday at the P1901 Working Group meeting in Kyoto, Japan.

The proposals, which were divided into three clusters – In-Home, Access and Coexistence – all achieved more than 75 percent affirmative votes from the voting members of the working group. The baseline specification was confirmed by the majority of the group, well exceeding the required 75 percent threshold.

“Confirming the baseline technology for the P1901 draft standard is a significant achievement for the HomePlug Alliance and the entire powerline communications industry,” said Rob Ranck, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. “The formation of a ubiquitous IEEE standard will help to unite the industry, create even faster market growth and provide strong benefits to the consumer.”

The baseline confirmation is the result of more than a year of intense effort among technical representatives from over 50 companies and organizations, including many members of the HomePlug Alliance, ensuring that the P1901 standard will reflect the best available technology and serve the needs of the powerline communications industry as a whole.

Multiple semiconductor vendors have already announced plans to deliver integrated circuits (ICs) based on the P1901 standard. Additionally, products using HomePlug AV powerline communications ICs are expected to be fully interoperable with products using ICs based on the P1901 standard, assuring a seamless roadmap for existing HomePlug customers. As a result, the HomePlug Alliance expects that products based on the draft of the IEEE P1901 specification will be introduced by multiple HomePlug member companies well in advance of final ratification of the P1901 standard.

As previously announced, the HomePlug Alliance plans to provide a comprehensive compliance and interoperability (C&I) certification program for products based on the IEEE 1901 standard. This program will benefit HomePlug members and consumers by ensuring reliable interoperable products will be available from multiple suppliers. The HomePlug Alliance leads the powerline communications industry in compliance and interoperability testing, having already certified since 2002 more than 160 products based on HomePlug standards from over 30 companies.