Panasonic’s Next-Gen BPL Communication Technology Adopted as IEEE 1901a Standard

Panasonic Corporation announced that the IEEE Standards Association has approved the company’s next-generation broadband over powerline (BPL) communication technology for the Internet of Things (IoT) as the IEEE 1901a Standard at the Standards Board meeting in Munich, Germany. The company proposed the technology to the IEEE Standardization 1901a Working Group in June 2018. This standard flexibly meets various demands for IoT-related services.

IEEE 1901a, BPL communication standard for IoT enables to control frequency bands according to usage. It allows scalable communications with features to extend communication distances and to select speeds. The flexible features defined in this standard enable to address the diverse communication needs of IoT-related services.

It implements the following new functions based on the Panasonic original HD-PLC Wavelet OFDM technology (standard mode), already adopted in the IEEE 1901-2010 standard.

• The standard mode communication band can be doubled or quadrupled, allowing a 500 Mbps communication speed in double mode or a maximum of 1 Gbps in quadruple mode on a coaxial cable or dedicated line.
• The standard mode communication band can be compressed by a factor of two or four (half or quarter), concentrating energy in narrow bands and consequently extending the communication distance up to twice the distance in standard mode with a lower communication speed.

This ability to select communication speed modes allows a flexible response to each user’s needs, opening the scope of HD-PLC application to all aspects of daily life.

The newly approved IoT BPL communication international standard defines a foundation technology designed for communications not only in homes but it also supports large-scale networks covering social infrastructure such as buildings and factories with prospects for use in a wide range of areas.

Panasonic licenses IoT BPL communication technology defined in this standard with the aim of promoting a greater evolution of the HD-PLC technology. In addition, by striving to secure interconnectivity between products conforming to the IEEE 1901 series through organizations such as the HD-PLC Alliance, Panasonic seeks to provide HD-PLC products that users can use with confidence.

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