The Universal Powerline Association (UPA) announced a range of new interoperable powerline offerings from 10 different manufacturers, all of which are embedded with 200 Mbps technology and have passed “UPA Plugtested” certification. The UPA Digital Home Specification is a 200 Mbps global standard for home networking.
“The movement for home networking is gaining momentum, and it’s important to offer high-quality products to consumers so that they can optimize their home networking experience,” said UPA chairman Eric Morel. “The ability to stream multiple video streams throughout the house to accommodate the different entertainment needs is the key to providing enhanced consumer experience. UPA is pioneering its Digital Home Specification as a universal standard for interoperability.”
For the first time, according to UPA, the new products have improved the aesthetics of external wall sockets. UPA, which claims to be the world’s leading powerline industry association, says the new gear will coexist with prior UPA Plugtested products. All UPA Plugtested products communicate with each other and coexist with UPA Access networks deployed on six continents around the world, it said.
The 200 Mbps products are designed for consumers who want high-speed, high-definition networks via a standard wall power socket. Video is the main driver. The organization says UPA Plugtested networks guarantee that there are no dropped packets or frames, thus ensuring perfect picture quality. Internet sharing, online gaming and other data/video sharing are also completely supported with minimal latency in the network.
UPA announced a third chipmaker, Cypress Semiconductor, which joins DS2 and Toshiba in making chips for UPA gear.
“Once products have been checked and certified for interoperability a large community of product manufacturers can be built, all adhering to the same high standards, so that consumers can create digital home networks for their videos, games, photos, music and data,” Morel said. “The underlying technology of true 200 Mbps performance in the UPA chips enables products to be developed specifically for the seamless streaming of multiple HD media.”
Companies that produce UPA Plugtested gear are AcBel, Comtrend, Corinex Communications, D-Link, Ilevo, Logitec, Netgear, Pirelli Broadband Solutions and Toyo Network Systems.