July 29, 2010

HomePlug Powerline Alliance Advances AV2 Spec

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance has announced that its Technical Working Group (TWG) has made major advancements to the HomePlug AV2 specification, designed to meet the expanding requirements of the connected digital home. The AV2 specification will be fully interoperable with current HomePlug AV and future HomePlug Green PHY and IEEE 1901 products.

Major powerline enhancements the TWG selected for inclusion in the developing HomePlug AV2 specification include:

• MIMO (Multiple-Inputs Multiple-Outputs) offers significant increases in link throughput and range without requiring additional spectrum or transmit power. MIMO allows the data signal to propagate from multiple outputs to multiple inputs implementing advanced transmission coding schemes which will increase capacity and enable more reliable and expanded home coverage. This is similar to the 802.11n and 802.16e which use MIMO solutions with wireless products to extend performance.
• Increased MAC (Medium Access Control) efficiencies that lower overhead and expand throughput.
• Increased operating spectrum: the specification will expand operations into an additional spectrum, up to an order of magnitude beyond current powerline technology. This increased bandwidth will further improve performance.
• Extending coverage via repeating and routing technology in networks of three or more node.
• The HomePlug AV2 specification is expected to deliver a 5x increase in performance over current HomePlug AV solutions at the application layer to offer significant improvements in whole home coverage to guarantee reliable delivery of throughput intensive applications such as multiple streams of 1080p HD video (and emerging 3D and 4K HD) broadband Internet, Internet gaming and security camera video over existing electrical wiring. These advancements are necessary to meet the increasingly demanding Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements of service providers and consumer electronics companies.