Powerline group gathers to talk A/V, BPL, and control
The HomePlug Powerline Alliance kicked off its Powerline Technology Conference in San Francisco today with a program touting the technology for use in multimedia distribution, broadband Internet access, and home command and control applications. Matt Theall, Powerline Initiative Manager at Intel, opened the event with a quick review of HomePlug news and milestones. Theall predicted that samples of ICs that implement the new HomePlug AV standard will ship in the 4th quarter. The industry group claims the new standard will feature maximum data rates of 200 Mbps. Meanwhile, Theall stated that the HomePlug BPL (Broadband over Power Line) spec was on schedule for completion in mid 2006. The group working on the spec has chosen the HomePlug AV PHY and MAC for the broadband Internets access effort. The newer HomePlug CC (Command and Control) spec for home automation may be a bit further behind but Theall still expects a mid 2006 completion of the spec. Theall also announced that General Electric has joined HomePlug and has become a member of the board of directors.
Still, the bulk of the morning sessions felt a bit more like a Southern Baptist revival than a technology conference. Every presenter seemed intent on selling HomePlug as a viable technology to the masses. Pete Griffin, RadioShack Director of Corporate Technology compared the progress of HomePlug to that of an upstart rock music group that plays any venue for years before finding what seems like instant success. I’m still not totally sold but the group is making progress and still has the inherent advantage of power plugs on every home wall.
Donald MacDonald, Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group, delivered the opening keynote. Much of MacDonald’s talk was about digital media and content in general. MacDonald asked what has changed in this era of digital media. He answered, “You can experience all types of content on nontraditional devices… The industry has been talking about convergence for years. I think it’s finally happening.”
MacDonald strongly advocated interoperable standards as an enabler for innovation in the digital home. Ironically, Intel has at times wanted its own way in creating new standards. But MacDonald leads one of Intel’s 5 major divisions after their reorganization this year so perhaps we can hope they have seen the light on industry standards. MacDonald stated, “We do not believe that there is room for proprietary technology in this digital world.” On the surface it seems a strong statement. On the other hand Intel trails companies such as Airgo Networks in proprietary-for-now extensions to 802.11 so you could read the statement another way as well.
Indeed MacDonald spoke strongly for and against 802.11 noting the need to separate “myth from reality.” He stated, “Wireless is fabulous, but it’s not sufficient for what we are talking about here.” Specifically, he was talking about the presumed capability of HomePlug AV to carry 3 to 4 HDTV streams to any power plug in the home. MacDonald claims HomePlug will deliver actual data rates in the 80-Gbps range. Until today, I thought Intel’s resurgent interest in powerline technology was more an act of covering all bases, but MacDonald pretty much endorsed it as the AV backbone of choice for the digital home.
Filling out the morning, Intellon Senior Vice President Andy Melder described the total available market of HomePlug as “huge.” Melder noted that it includes PC-, AV-, and service-provider-centric opportunities among others and therefore holds more potential than most other connectivity technologies.
Brian Wenger, Principal Engineer and Doirector at Earthlink, briefly addressed the BPL side of HomePlug, although he will get into more detail tomorrow. In fact BPL is my primary mission at the conferences as I complete a feature story on BPL for November. Wenger noted that one key advantage that BPL offers over other access technologies such as DSL and cable, is the concept of the “Broadband Outlet.” Wenger claims the powerline works fine in the gateway-centric architecture that most home networks use today. But he claims there will be advantages in simplicity and ease of use from having any outlet broadband enabled.
