As reported on Kansas City, IEEE announced the ratification of the IEEE 1901TM Broadband over Power Line (BPL) standard. A wide range of applications including smart energy, transportation and Local Area Networks (LANs) in both the home and the enterprise will benefit from this globally recognized BPL standard. Data rates in excess of 500 Mbps in LAN applications can be delivered by Networking products that fully comply with IEEE 1901.
“In the home, PLC will complement wireless LANs by providing a link through walls and other RF impediments as well as over distances beyond the normal range of wireless networks. It will complement wireless networks in hotels and other multistory buildings by carrying multimedia data over the longer distances and allowing wireless to complete the communication link over the last few meters.
IEEE 1901 will also benefit utilities, service providers, and consumer electronics companies – anyone with a stake in smart grid technologies – as well as smart-meter providers and home appliance manufacturers.
‘The IEEE 1901 standard will have a significant impact on communications technology in the home, the enterprise and on the factory floor, because it brings power-line networking into parity with wireless networks in terms of speed, and offers the considerable advantage of penetrating walls and other structures that obstruct RF radiation,’ said Judy Gorman, Managing Director, IEEE Standards Association. ‘Hybrid wireless/power-line networks successfully address all the remaining problems of wireless LANs and – unlike wired LANs – do not require a dedicated wired infrastructure.’”
