As a result of the recent IEEE P1901 Working Group meeting in Tokyo, Japan, the group's Working Document was confirmed as a draft standard. The group expects finalization in early 2010. This draft standard does not mean that popular HomePlug AV products become outdated, because there will be backward compatibility to HomePlug AV.
Vendors that we expect to provide IEEE P1901 silicon include at least Arkados, Gigle Semiconductor, Intellon, ST Micro, and SPiDCOM.
Most media attention surrounding powerline communications has been on high-speed communications that target the transfer of video, and telco TV applications like HomePlug AV. However, it bears mentioning that in addition to HomePlug AV, IEEE P1901 and HomePlug GP (green PHY) have been included in a report published by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology on June 17, 2009, the Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Roadmap. In addition to the US, governments in Europe and China have set aside funding for smart grid applications.
HomePlug GP offers 256Kbps throughput, which is faster than HPCC (HomePlug Command and Control), and is a subset of HomePlug AV. Utility companies have expressed interest in HomePlug GP for smart grid applications, as well as higher-bandwidth powerline for selected applications.
