OPERA (Open
PLC European Research Alliance) will publicly release a specification for
Powerline Communications by the end of the year. The new specification covers
the PHY, MAC and equipment of broadband PLC system, making it the only open PLC
standard that ensures full interoperability for PLC (or BPL) broadband access
and in-building distribution systems without recourse to proprietary
technologies, addressing the needs of operated networks. Utilities, Network
Operators, System Integrators and Service Providers will take full advantage of
this open Specification to offer distinguished services to their customers.
To meet this ambitious objective, a
Specification Working Group was created in the Consortium, co-chaired by Laurent
Feltin (EDF) and Victor Dominguez (DS2), with members from the main European
utilities and the leading members of the PLC industry, who contribute this
common standard. As a first remarkable
milestone, an “OPERA Contribution to ETSI” indicating the main aspects of the
technology was submitted during September to the European standardisation body
ETSI, which has been responsible for enormously successful international
standards (such as the GSM cellular telephony standard). The Position Paper is
available in the OPERA web site (www.ist-opera.org).
The final document is in advanced status of
development at the OPERA Specification Working Group, having scheduled the
release of the OPERA specification by the end of December. OPERA Steering and
Technical Committee agreed during its last meeting (Mannheim, 8th September) to
actively cooperate with the Universal Powerline Association (UPA) in order to
ensure this standard fulfils the requirements of all international markets and
to promote it on a worldwide basis.
“I am very excited at the prospect of the
availability of a public, open, specification”, said Laurent Feltin, of EDF,
“This represents a significant step forward in broadband access over power
lines. Utilities and telcos will be able to use Powerline infrastructure using
standard solutions from multiple manufacturers to extend broadband access to
communities who would never have had access to such services.”
Dr. Weilin Liu, of ASCOM and Eric Morel, of
Schneider Electric Powerline Communications commented “PLC Equipment based on
the OPERA standard will be available on the market very early in 2006. Major
Access PLC manufacturers have been contributing to the developments in the
OPERA technical working groups, so most of the features included in the specification
are already under design.”
About OPERA
OPERA (Open PLC Research Alliance) develops
new generation PLC access standards to accelerate the adoption of low cost,
high performance broadband access PLC. The project currently has 37 partners
including electricity utilities, OEM manufacturers, technology providers,
universities, engineering and consultancy companies and telecom operators.
OPERA is co-financed by the European Union.
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