UPA´s Digital Home Standard breaking new ground with high-speed Powerline Communications products

Cannes, France - 27th September, 2006 -  “High-speed products developed to the UPA Digital Home Standard (DHS) specification deliver what consumers and service providers want - secure, easy to use, reliable networking products that are scalable to support and deliver the multimedia high-bandwidth applications that are coming into vogue today such as head to head gaming or HDTV”, stated, Victor Dominguez, Director of Standards and Strategy at leading PLC chip provider DS2 who represented the Universal Powerline Association Presidency at the head-to-head standards session during the Net-at-Home conference taking place in Cannes today.

Mr Dominguez explained that, “new generation high speed powerline products developed to the UPA DHS standard mark a turning point for the powerline communications industry. Today 12 differentiated interoperable high-speed powerline products are available from over eight companies for the service provider market and home networking products are now also in retail stores. This is proof positive of an emerging market, of industry commitment and it marks a turning point for the PLC industry. UPA standards are putting PLC on the map as a multimedia networking technology.”

Commenting on the array of parallel standards initiatives, Mr Dominguez stated that, “PLC applications in the home networking market used to be about about the delivery of data. Existing standards for this sector of the industry do not support the market demand for multimedia applications. Some organizations are scrambling to rework their old standards but you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole. For PLC to be an alternative network technology today and in the future one must develop with multimedia in mind from the start”.  “This is the strength of the UPA DHS standard and the reason why so many companies already have high speed 200 Mbps product on the market under the UPA label,” he added.

The UPA DHS specification provides for compatibility with non-UPA technologies by means of a co-existence mechanism.   UPA has been proposing the coexistence concept as necessity to bridge the various powerline communities and applications since 2005. UPA has been working with the organization CEPCA to develop a joint proposal that is now in ETSI.  UPA is also represented at the IEEE powerline initiative where the coexistence requirements proposal is due for ratification. The UPA coexistence mechanism is a unique feature that guarantees that future versions of UPA technology will be compatible with today’s specifications.  Mr Dominguez added, “no one wants to throw good money after bad, everyone - consumers, service providers and equipment providers want to invest in developing a winning solution and the UPA label provides the comfort that one is investing in a scalable business or home network that is built to last”.
 
<sub>About DS2
DS2 (www.ds2.es) is the world's leading supplier of the 200 Mbps technology that enables home networking and broadband access over power line, coaxial cable, and telephone wire. DS2 pioneered the industry with the introduction of its 200 Mbps chipsets, creating the fastest and highest performance solution for simultaneous data, digital audio and high-definition video transmission. Two pre-eminent industry groups, the Universal Powerline Association better know as UPA (www.upaplc.org) and, the European Union consortium OPERA (Open PLC European Research Alliance) have adopted DS2 technology in support of multi-vendor standard certified product.  

About UPA
The Universal Powerline Association (UPA) is an International not-for-profit trade association working to harmonize global standards and regulations in the fast developing powerline communications market. The UPA aims to catalyze the growth of PLC/BPL technology by delivering UPA certified products that comply with specified standards and regulations. This can range from simple coexistence to full interoperability. UPA provides all PLC/BPL players the opportunity to respond to key customer expectations with open standards, based on interoperability, security and coexistence and supported by exclusive and independent certification, the only global guarantee of quality and confidence for high-speed power line technology available today.  Members of the UPA include AcBel, Ambient Corporation, BPL Global, Commax, Corinex Communications, Current Technologies International, DS2, Duke Energy, Itochu Corporation, Ilevo (Schneider Electric Powerline Communications), Naeil Community, Netgear, PCN Technology, ST&T, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Tecnocom, Toshiba and TOYO Network Systems.

About Net-at-Home
Known as the most international Connected Home conference/exhibition with 200-300 delegates coming to the French Riviera region each year from 25 different countries around the world, Net-atHome™ has gained the reputation by industry specialists and researchers of being an essential industry forum to strengthen networks, build new contacts, stay informed about the latest cutting-edge developments, and discuss products and services based on home communication infrastructures. In addition to its international reputation, Net-atHome™ is the only event in Europe that covers the entire Connected Home domain and therefore attracts key players from all the various aspects of the industry: manufacturers, service companies, software companies, research institutes and labs, silicon providers, content providers, software companies, integrators, national/international institutions and industry associations. Its organizer, Homega Research (http://www.homega-research.com), is the division of Sigma Consultants specializing in the field of technologies and services for the home. It has developed its activities from the expertise and experience Sigma has acquired in this domain since the company's creation in 1984. For more information, please visit < http://www.Net-atHome.com > or contact info@net-athome.com .</sub>

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