March 21, 2007 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
CEPCA and IGRS Establish a Partnership for Promoting and Certifying Powerline Communication Products in China
BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Consumer Electronics Powerline Communications Alliance (CEPCA) and Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing Group (IGRS) announced their partnership to promote powerline communication (PLC) in China. This partnership is based on a Memorandum of Understanding the two organizations signed in December, and it symbolizes the importance of PLC networking to IGRS member companies.
In this ongoing partnership, CEPCA and IGRS will mutually endorse and promote each other’s value worldwide. As a significant first step, IGRS and CEPCA will build a CEPCA certification test center in China to jointly certify and promote PLC-equipped products. Chinese vendors will enjoy a convenient means for certifying their PLC solutions domestically, which will help guarantee IGRS product reliability. Both organizations also plan to investigate joint projects with even greater significance in the future.
Sun Yuning, IGRS President, explains, “Our members are very interested in the advantages that PLC offers IGRS networking solutions. At IGRS, we are protecting our members’ PLC investments by ensuring that any IGRS product that uses PLC technology cannot interfere with another IGRS product with a different PLC technology. Eventually, IGRS may standardize PLC protocols; but, until that work is complete, we must ensure that IGRS PLC networks maintain the reliability that attracts devout customers.”
Michael Stelts, CEPCA President, describes the importance of this agreement. “CEPCA members consider IGRS a key international partner and we are pleased to establish the first CEPCA certification center in China with IGRS. This partnership signifies both the importance of the Chinese market for CEPCA members and the prominent position that IGRS commands in the Chinese home networking market.”
About CEPCA
Consumer Electronics Powerline Communication Alliance is a nonprofit corporation that promotes and continuously advances high-speed PLC technology to create a new generation of consumer electronics products through the rapid, broad and open industry adoption of CEPCA specifications. The organization has completed work on a coexistence specification that allows different PLC technologies to operate on the same line simultaneously. For example, the CEPCA coexistence specification will allow broadband over powerline (BPL) access technology to work simultaneously with the multiple PLC home networking systems that might be found in an apartment building. More information is available at www.cepca.org.
CEPCA membership includes 17 companies, including major multinational CE, IT, and semiconductor manufacturers. Please review the list of members at http://www.cepca.org/about_us/member_companies/.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Little Rock, Arkansas: A bill before a Senate committee Monday morning would allow broadband networks over power lines.!!!
Lawmakers Study Broadband Legislation
Monday March 19, 2007 5:13pm Reporter: Kristin Fisher Posted By: Scott Munsell
Watch the KATV Channel 7 eVideo
A bill before a Senate committee Monday morning would allow broadband networks over power lines.
It’s still an emerging technology, but eventually it would mean Arkansans could access the Internet through the same wires that power their computer.
(Paul Means, Entergy Arkansas) "It's a neat technology, broadband over power lines internet service. It can provide not only service to the customer but it gives us a way to remotely monitor all our electrical equipment."
Entergy Arkansas is one of the biggest supporters for Senate bill 1589 because it would provide the legal framework for the electric company to use broadband-over-powerline technology--or BPL.
The technology won't be ready for at least five years, but Entergy says, eventually they'll be able to bring broadband access to rural Arkansas.
Opponents of the bill, however, argue it will increase rates and interfere with radio waves.
-------------
Read Previous blog article:
Entergy Corp.(NYSE: ETR) Enters BPL World with Ambient Corp. to Pilot Smart Grid and Triple-Play services !!!
Source: www.BPLTODAY.COM
12/05/2006
Entergy enters BPL world with Ambient pilot
Monday March 19, 2007 5:13pm Reporter: Kristin Fisher Posted By: Scott Munsell
Watch the KATV Channel 7 eVideo
A bill before a Senate committee Monday morning would allow broadband networks over power lines.
It’s still an emerging technology, but eventually it would mean Arkansans could access the Internet through the same wires that power their computer.
(Paul Means, Entergy Arkansas) "It's a neat technology, broadband over power lines internet service. It can provide not only service to the customer but it gives us a way to remotely monitor all our electrical equipment."
Entergy Arkansas is one of the biggest supporters for Senate bill 1589 because it would provide the legal framework for the electric company to use broadband-over-powerline technology--or BPL.
The technology won't be ready for at least five years, but Entergy says, eventually they'll be able to bring broadband access to rural Arkansas.
Opponents of the bill, however, argue it will increase rates and interfere with radio waves.
-------------
Read Previous blog article:
Entergy Corp.(NYSE: ETR) Enters BPL World with Ambient Corp. to Pilot Smart Grid and Triple-Play services !!!
Source: www.BPLTODAY.COM
12/05/2006
Entergy enters BPL world with Ambient pilot
Saturday, March 17, 2007
CeBIT 2007: Linksys PowerLine AV Ethernet Kit announced- An alternative to wireless
by Stuart Miles
15 March 2007 - Linksys has announced that is it to offer a new range of PowerLine devices that allow you to share your internet connection around the house via your electrical circuit.
A first for the company, that until now has concentrated on offering wireless connectivity options the new HomePlug AV range will start with the Linksys PowerLine AV Ethernet Kit (PLK200), which includes two PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter (PLE200) units and allow data throughput speeds up to 100Mbps around their home.
Like systems already available from Netgear and Devolo, one adapter connects into a broadband wired or wireless router via the LAN port on the router, while the second is plugged into a computer. The connection is then transmitted over the power line.
The company are claiming that up to 16 other computers or devices on a network utilising a PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter can access the Internet connection or each other.
Although much slower than competiting products on the market, Linksys used the launch to criticise other PowerLine manufactures citing that "Most existing proprietary solutions only work with same-vendor branded solutions and are not backward compatible with the industry standard HomePlug solutions".
The PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter Kit (PLK200) and single Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter (PLE200) are scheduled to be available towards the end of April.
15 March 2007 - Linksys has announced that is it to offer a new range of PowerLine devices that allow you to share your internet connection around the house via your electrical circuit.
A first for the company, that until now has concentrated on offering wireless connectivity options the new HomePlug AV range will start with the Linksys PowerLine AV Ethernet Kit (PLK200), which includes two PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter (PLE200) units and allow data throughput speeds up to 100Mbps around their home.
Like systems already available from Netgear and Devolo, one adapter connects into a broadband wired or wireless router via the LAN port on the router, while the second is plugged into a computer. The connection is then transmitted over the power line.
The company are claiming that up to 16 other computers or devices on a network utilising a PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter can access the Internet connection or each other.
Although much slower than competiting products on the market, Linksys used the launch to criticise other PowerLine manufactures citing that "Most existing proprietary solutions only work with same-vendor branded solutions and are not backward compatible with the industry standard HomePlug solutions".
The PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapter Kit (PLK200) and single Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter (PLE200) are scheduled to be available towards the end of April.
TORONTO, Canada: A plug for BPL
Published: Saturday, March 17, 2007 | 1:28 PM ET
Canadian Press
TORONTO (CP) - In another addition to he widening array of high-tech initial-letter sets, BPL may soon be coming to a wall plug near you.
Broadband-over-Power-Line technology - the Internet conducted over electrical wires - is running at a Toronto apartment building in an installation by Electrolinks Corp.
BPL, long considered not quite ready for commercial prime time, turns every electrical outlet in the building into a high-speed Internet connection for a computer or Internet-protocol telephone.
Electrolinks says its BPL can provide speeds approaching 200 megabytes per second on power distribution lines, and "this capacity is positioned for opportunities including internal utility services, smart meter, electricity control and grid automation projects in addition to nearby TV-on-demand and broadband Internet services," including in rural areas with no existing high-speed availability.
Canadian Press
TORONTO (CP) - In another addition to he widening array of high-tech initial-letter sets, BPL may soon be coming to a wall plug near you.
Broadband-over-Power-Line technology - the Internet conducted over electrical wires - is running at a Toronto apartment building in an installation by Electrolinks Corp.
BPL, long considered not quite ready for commercial prime time, turns every electrical outlet in the building into a high-speed Internet connection for a computer or Internet-protocol telephone.
Electrolinks says its BPL can provide speeds approaching 200 megabytes per second on power distribution lines, and "this capacity is positioned for opportunities including internal utility services, smart meter, electricity control and grid automation projects in addition to nearby TV-on-demand and broadband Internet services," including in rural areas with no existing high-speed availability.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
IEEE Sets System Requirements for Broadband-Over-Powerline Standard, Issues Call for Proposals
March 13, 2007 02:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Proposals Sought for Bringing Internet Signals to Homes, Allowing Digital Content on Home Wiring, Interoperability
PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The effort to create a broadband-over-powerline (BPL) standard at the IEEE has passed a significant milestone. The working group for this standard, which contains major companies at all points of the BPL value chain, has developed over 400 requirements for the baseline BPL standard and issued a call for proposals to obtain technical solutions for systems that meet these requirements. Proposals are due by June 4.
The standard, IEEE P1901™, “Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications”, will be a comprehensive specification needed to send high-speed digital data over the power lines between substations and homes and offices. It also will provide for digital voice, data and video signals to be carried over and accessed from electrical lines within structures.
“Gaining agreement for BPL system requirements is a major achievement and clears the way for the working group to create a solid standard,” says Jean-Philippe Faure, chair of the IEEE P1901 Working Group and vice president-standardization at Ilevo. “The agreement we’ve gotten on this detailed foundation makes me confident that we will create in 2008 a global draft standard that will enable companies worldwide to manufacture the components and systems needed to develop the BPL industry.”
The call for proposal addresses functional and technical requirements in three areas: an access cluster that provides for transmission of broadband content on the medium- and low-voltage power lines that feed homes; an in-home cluster that allows low-voltage wiring in structures to carry digital content; and a coexistence and interoperability cluster that ensures all equipment and devices used on BPL networks are compatible.
The access cluster sets requirements for bringing multimedia services to residences via power lines and for developing electric utility applications. This involves head-end hardware that extracts Internet signals from fiber-optic cables and places them on the current running through power lines, repeaters on distribution lines that keep the signal viable, and customer premise equipment that extracts the signal for use in a structure.
In-home requirements address the use of the power lines in a residence or office as a digital broadcasting medium for the spread of ISP broadband services inside the home, computer applications, whether from one computer to another or to peripherals, as well as for consumer electronics audio, video and other applications.
Coexistence and interoperability considerations are important because of the many devices that may be on a BPL network. This cluster involves protocols that govern how hardware for various applications can share the medium without interfering.
The working group will evaluate and select proposals that best meet the requirements of each cluster. “The goal is to create the best technical standard, whether from one or many sources,” says Faure. “The technologies chosen will form the baseline for the standard, which will allow the full standard to be written and companies to begin creating and testing prototypes of BPL hardware.”
In addition to land-based systems, the working group has begun to extend its efforts to include BPL capabilities for planes, ships, and trains. The goal is to give those who manufacture such transportation platforms an alternative approach to networking digital information.
For more information on IEEE P1901, see: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/.
About the IEEE P1901 Working Group
The IEEE P1901 is a Corporate Standards working group created by 20 companies in June 2005. The working group has now a membership of about 50 entities, including: Advanced Communications Networks SA (ACN), Ambient Corporation, Arkados Inc., Boeing, Broadcom Corporation, Center Point Energy, Consumer Electronics Powerline Communication Alliance (CEPCA), Conexant Systems Inc., Corinex Communications Corporation, Current Technologies, DS2, Duke Power, Earthlink, France Telecom, Gigle Semiconductor, Hisilicon, HomePlug Powerline Alliance, IBM, ILEVO--Schneider Electric Powerline Communications, Infineon, International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc. (IBEC), Intel, Intellon Corporation, Itochu Corporation, Kawasaki Microelectronics, LEA, MainNet, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Motorola, Nishiyama Corporation, Open PLC European Research Alliance (OPERA), Panasonic Corporation, Pioneer Corporation, Powerline Utility Alliance (PUA), RadioShack, San Diego Gas and Electric, Sharp Labs of America, Siemens, SiConnect, Sony Corporation, Spidcom Technologies, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd, Telcordia, Texas Instruments, Telixx, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Toyo Network Systems Co. Ltd, Universal Powerline Association (UPA) and Yamaha.
For more information on IEEE P1901, see: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/.
Proposals Sought for Bringing Internet Signals to Homes, Allowing Digital Content on Home Wiring, Interoperability
PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The effort to create a broadband-over-powerline (BPL) standard at the IEEE has passed a significant milestone. The working group for this standard, which contains major companies at all points of the BPL value chain, has developed over 400 requirements for the baseline BPL standard and issued a call for proposals to obtain technical solutions for systems that meet these requirements. Proposals are due by June 4.
The standard, IEEE P1901™, “Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications”, will be a comprehensive specification needed to send high-speed digital data over the power lines between substations and homes and offices. It also will provide for digital voice, data and video signals to be carried over and accessed from electrical lines within structures.
“Gaining agreement for BPL system requirements is a major achievement and clears the way for the working group to create a solid standard,” says Jean-Philippe Faure, chair of the IEEE P1901 Working Group and vice president-standardization at Ilevo. “The agreement we’ve gotten on this detailed foundation makes me confident that we will create in 2008 a global draft standard that will enable companies worldwide to manufacture the components and systems needed to develop the BPL industry.”
The call for proposal addresses functional and technical requirements in three areas: an access cluster that provides for transmission of broadband content on the medium- and low-voltage power lines that feed homes; an in-home cluster that allows low-voltage wiring in structures to carry digital content; and a coexistence and interoperability cluster that ensures all equipment and devices used on BPL networks are compatible.
The access cluster sets requirements for bringing multimedia services to residences via power lines and for developing electric utility applications. This involves head-end hardware that extracts Internet signals from fiber-optic cables and places them on the current running through power lines, repeaters on distribution lines that keep the signal viable, and customer premise equipment that extracts the signal for use in a structure.
In-home requirements address the use of the power lines in a residence or office as a digital broadcasting medium for the spread of ISP broadband services inside the home, computer applications, whether from one computer to another or to peripherals, as well as for consumer electronics audio, video and other applications.
Coexistence and interoperability considerations are important because of the many devices that may be on a BPL network. This cluster involves protocols that govern how hardware for various applications can share the medium without interfering.
The working group will evaluate and select proposals that best meet the requirements of each cluster. “The goal is to create the best technical standard, whether from one or many sources,” says Faure. “The technologies chosen will form the baseline for the standard, which will allow the full standard to be written and companies to begin creating and testing prototypes of BPL hardware.”
In addition to land-based systems, the working group has begun to extend its efforts to include BPL capabilities for planes, ships, and trains. The goal is to give those who manufacture such transportation platforms an alternative approach to networking digital information.
For more information on IEEE P1901, see: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/.
About the IEEE P1901 Working Group
The IEEE P1901 is a Corporate Standards working group created by 20 companies in June 2005. The working group has now a membership of about 50 entities, including: Advanced Communications Networks SA (ACN), Ambient Corporation, Arkados Inc., Boeing, Broadcom Corporation, Center Point Energy, Consumer Electronics Powerline Communication Alliance (CEPCA), Conexant Systems Inc., Corinex Communications Corporation, Current Technologies, DS2, Duke Power, Earthlink, France Telecom, Gigle Semiconductor, Hisilicon, HomePlug Powerline Alliance, IBM, ILEVO--Schneider Electric Powerline Communications, Infineon, International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc. (IBEC), Intel, Intellon Corporation, Itochu Corporation, Kawasaki Microelectronics, LEA, MainNet, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Motorola, Nishiyama Corporation, Open PLC European Research Alliance (OPERA), Panasonic Corporation, Pioneer Corporation, Powerline Utility Alliance (PUA), RadioShack, San Diego Gas and Electric, Sharp Labs of America, Siemens, SiConnect, Sony Corporation, Spidcom Technologies, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd, Telcordia, Texas Instruments, Telixx, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Toyo Network Systems Co. Ltd, Universal Powerline Association (UPA) and Yamaha.
For more information on IEEE P1901, see: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Arkansas: Bill Would Allow Broadband Over Power Lines
By James Gordon - 3/6/2007 11:38:49 AM
The state Senate is considering legislation that would allow electric utility companies to deploy broadband networks over power lines, a development that could potentially offer Arkansans access to the Internet through the same home wiring that powers their living room lamp.
House Bill 1589 would allow Arkansas electric utility companies to implement broadband over power line (BPL) technology.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Daryl Pace, R-Benton, said he believes Arkansans could start getting their Internet access via power lines within the next five to seven years.
BPL has been kicked around for years, but received a boost of attention when TXU Electric Delivery of Dallas announced in December 2005 that it would team with Current Communications Group of Germantown, Md., to deploy a BPL network to 2 million homes in North Texas.
'Quadruple Play'
Entergy Arkansas spokesperson Dan Daugherty said the company is supporting the legislation so that Entergy can test the feasibility of implementing BPL in Arkansas. But he hesitated to say that Entergy would soon become a telecommunications company.
“If we did eventually implement the technology in some way, I think we would be most interested in what it could do for our internal use, to run our utility business,” Daugherty said.
With BPL technology, utility companies could deploy a “smart grid,” allowing them to remotely read meters and detect outages.
But BPL has also been touted as a potential viable alternative to DSL and cable Internet with the possibility of offering, not just a triple, but a quadruple play: electricity in addition to voice, video and broadband over a single line into the home.
And, with nearly every home in the state wired for power, BPL could bring broadband to rural areas of Arkansas currently lacking high-speed access to the Internet.
Daugherty said that for Entergy to become an Internet service provider, it would first have to sink a lot of money into infrastructure and equipment. Also, since telecommunications is not Entergy’s core business, Daugherty said, the company would likely team with a telecom in order to deliver broadband access, an arrangement similar to that of TXU and Current Communications.
Though there might be technological hurdles to BPL in Arkansas, at least nothing should stand in the way of the legislation allowing for its implementation, Pace said.
The bill passed to House with only three nays and six abstentions on Thursday. The bill is on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Senate Committee for Transportation, Technology & Legislative Affairs.
All Senate committee members have sponsored HB1589, virtually guaranteeing its swift movement to the Senate floor, where a vote could happen as early as this week, Pace said.
The state Senate is considering legislation that would allow electric utility companies to deploy broadband networks over power lines, a development that could potentially offer Arkansans access to the Internet through the same home wiring that powers their living room lamp.
House Bill 1589 would allow Arkansas electric utility companies to implement broadband over power line (BPL) technology.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Daryl Pace, R-Benton, said he believes Arkansans could start getting their Internet access via power lines within the next five to seven years.
BPL has been kicked around for years, but received a boost of attention when TXU Electric Delivery of Dallas announced in December 2005 that it would team with Current Communications Group of Germantown, Md., to deploy a BPL network to 2 million homes in North Texas.
'Quadruple Play'
Entergy Arkansas spokesperson Dan Daugherty said the company is supporting the legislation so that Entergy can test the feasibility of implementing BPL in Arkansas. But he hesitated to say that Entergy would soon become a telecommunications company.
“If we did eventually implement the technology in some way, I think we would be most interested in what it could do for our internal use, to run our utility business,” Daugherty said.
With BPL technology, utility companies could deploy a “smart grid,” allowing them to remotely read meters and detect outages.
But BPL has also been touted as a potential viable alternative to DSL and cable Internet with the possibility of offering, not just a triple, but a quadruple play: electricity in addition to voice, video and broadband over a single line into the home.
And, with nearly every home in the state wired for power, BPL could bring broadband to rural areas of Arkansas currently lacking high-speed access to the Internet.
Daugherty said that for Entergy to become an Internet service provider, it would first have to sink a lot of money into infrastructure and equipment. Also, since telecommunications is not Entergy’s core business, Daugherty said, the company would likely team with a telecom in order to deliver broadband access, an arrangement similar to that of TXU and Current Communications.
Though there might be technological hurdles to BPL in Arkansas, at least nothing should stand in the way of the legislation allowing for its implementation, Pace said.
The bill passed to House with only three nays and six abstentions on Thursday. The bill is on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Senate Committee for Transportation, Technology & Legislative Affairs.
All Senate committee members have sponsored HB1589, virtually guaranteeing its swift movement to the Senate floor, where a vote could happen as early as this week, Pace said.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Bowling Green, OH will soon have access to a rapidly advancing Internet technology: broadband over power lines !!!
BG Wi-Fi
By: Quentin Kilpatrick
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Web Exclusives
More parts of Bowling Green will soon have access to a rapidly advancing Internet technology: broadband over power lines.
The technology, which turns power lines into network cables, was first introduced to BG by Dacor Internet Services two years ago.
In an agreement with the city of Bowling Green, Dacor launched a test line on parts of West Evers Avenue, West Wooster and North Grove streets in 2005.
By connecting wireless routers at various points along the power lines, residents within 750 feet can connect to the Internet via a wireless Internet, or wi-fi card.
But problems plagued the first generation.
The power lines in the first test zone are some of the oldest in the city, and noise caused by BPL was a persistent problem. More advanced technology and newer power lines in the second site have made the service less noisy today.
"The power line noise is much less of an issue. We're seeing far better throughput than in the first generation," said George Stossel, president of Dacor Internet Services.
The old service connected customers at 11 mbs, much faster than dial-up, but paling in comparison to other high-speed Internet, like the University's fiber optic Ethernet.
Stossel noted that the second generation will connect at 54mbs, nearly five times faster than before.
The new coverage area will run down Pearl Street past the fire station and into BG's Westgate subdivision, including Martindale, Charles and Lyn roads.
Residents in the new area can call Dacor at 352-3568 for more information.
With BPL expanding across the west side of the city and much of campus now covered, some wonder if BG will see citywide wi-fi in the future.
"There's been interest by the city council members in developing hot spots, but there are no definite plans," said BG Utility Director Kevin Maynard.
While there aren't any official plans for citywide wireless internet, BG is slowly becoming wireless privately.
Currently, 12 locations outside of BGSU offer wireless Internet in the area.
Both Grounds For Thought and Panera Bread offer free wireless connectivity downtown.
The other free hot spots are The Hampton Inn on Campbell Hill Road and both Big Boy restaurants.
The remaining BG hot spot locations require payment plans from service providers, such as T-Mobile and Airpath.
Prices start at $18.95 per month.
By: Quentin Kilpatrick
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Web Exclusives
More parts of Bowling Green will soon have access to a rapidly advancing Internet technology: broadband over power lines.
The technology, which turns power lines into network cables, was first introduced to BG by Dacor Internet Services two years ago.
In an agreement with the city of Bowling Green, Dacor launched a test line on parts of West Evers Avenue, West Wooster and North Grove streets in 2005.
By connecting wireless routers at various points along the power lines, residents within 750 feet can connect to the Internet via a wireless Internet, or wi-fi card.
But problems plagued the first generation.
The power lines in the first test zone are some of the oldest in the city, and noise caused by BPL was a persistent problem. More advanced technology and newer power lines in the second site have made the service less noisy today.
"The power line noise is much less of an issue. We're seeing far better throughput than in the first generation," said George Stossel, president of Dacor Internet Services.
The old service connected customers at 11 mbs, much faster than dial-up, but paling in comparison to other high-speed Internet, like the University's fiber optic Ethernet.
Stossel noted that the second generation will connect at 54mbs, nearly five times faster than before.
The new coverage area will run down Pearl Street past the fire station and into BG's Westgate subdivision, including Martindale, Charles and Lyn roads.
Residents in the new area can call Dacor at 352-3568 for more information.
With BPL expanding across the west side of the city and much of campus now covered, some wonder if BG will see citywide wi-fi in the future.
"There's been interest by the city council members in developing hot spots, but there are no definite plans," said BG Utility Director Kevin Maynard.
While there aren't any official plans for citywide wireless internet, BG is slowly becoming wireless privately.
Currently, 12 locations outside of BGSU offer wireless Internet in the area.
Both Grounds For Thought and Panera Bread offer free wireless connectivity downtown.
The other free hot spots are The Hampton Inn on Campbell Hill Road and both Big Boy restaurants.
The remaining BG hot spot locations require payment plans from service providers, such as T-Mobile and Airpath.
Prices start at $18.95 per month.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Computerworld: Broadband over powerline is ready to explode !!!
You plug a cell phone-size adapter into any electrical outlet in your house and you've got 3M bit/sec. Internet service
Lamont Wood
March 01, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Some call it "the third wire" and others call it "broadband over powerline" (BPL). But for Tim Barhorst, a technology consultant in Cincinnati, it's his Internet connection.
"It seems equivalent to standard cable service and a little faster than standard DSL," he noted. "But the speed is not asynchronous, meaning you get the same speed upstream and downstream."
Barhorst is getting his broadband Internet connection via BPL, through the power lines that run to his house, from a utility called Duke Energy, although the Internet service is handled by Current Communications in Germantown, Md.
Third-wire users like Barhorst are likely to become a lot more common in the next five years. Chris Rodin, an analyst at Parks Associates in Dallas, estimates that there are today no more than 150,000 BPL users in the U.S., but he expects to see the figure rise to 2.5 million by 2011, especially in rural areas unserved by cable or DSL.
Benefits of a smart grid
But the impetus to install BPL is not a desire by the power utilities to compete with AT&T or Time Warner, Rodin said. Rather, offering Internet service is an associated benefit of the power companies moving to "smart grids" that include components such as sensors and interactive controls. He pointed out that today a power company doesn't know that a transformer has failed until a customer calls to complain about the lights being out, but with a smart grid, faster responses and proactive maintenance would be possible. Thereafter, offering retail Internet service is icing on the cake, he indicated.
The benefits of a smart grid include smaller power outages and less loss of energy in transmission. Every day in the U.S. an average of 500,000 people experience a power failure of at least two hours, said Clark Gellings, vice president of the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research consortium in Palo Alto, Calif. The resulting annual loss of productivity has been pegged at $180 billion, he added.
But a smart grid ought to be able to cut those outages by 80%, he estimated. About 7% of power is lost in transmission, and smart grids should cut that loss by 10%, he added.
Meanwhile, power customers could have smart electric meters that automatically report usage, eliminating the need for meter readers. The smart meters would allow additional features, such as discounts for those who cut their usage during peak hours, sources agreed.
And, fortuitously, smart grids offer a perfect opportunity to offer more services to customers, such as BPL. "There is a lot of interest in BPL," noted Gellings.
"It's the Holy Grail of the power industry to use the same wires that we use to deliver energy to communicate as well, but for years it was too cumbersome." And BPL only became realistic after several technical advances, he said, chiefly couplers that let the BPL signal bypass power transformers.
TXU technician installs a smart meter as part of a broadband over powerline (BPL) installation.
Utilities also have to wire the system capacitors in series instead of in parallel so as to not squelch the signal, and add signal boosters, he said.
"We are at an inflection point in the industry," agreed Ralph Vogel, spokesmen for Utility.net, a Los Angeles-based BPL integrator. "Its position is similar to that of DSL in the late 1990s: people have heard of it, and while we were previously not quite there yet with the technology, we are now."
Whereas passing a house with fiber can cost $1,500, no new wiring has to be installed to pass a house with BPL, he noted. A few modifications to the grid are necessary, plus a new meter, but the total is less than $150 per home, he said. The signal is injected into the grid within a neighborhood through a fiber or wireless backbone, and then shared by all the houses using the same transformer. Electrical interference inside each house caused by appliances is filtered by the plug adapters.
Currently the largest installation is the Duke Energy operation in Cincinnati. Duke Energy wouldn't comment for this article, but Jay Birnbaum, vice president at Current Communications, said that the Cincinnati system is not a smart grid yet. All houses on a transformer share the same bandwidth in an arrangement similar to that used by cable modems, using signal specifications set by the HomePlug Alliance. He declined to give the number of BPL subscribers on the Duke Energy network.
A utility called TXU, which serves the Dallas area with power, is likely to be the next big BPL installation, as it has committed $450 million to install 3 million smart meters, explained spokeswoman Carol Peters.
"We expect the vast majority of our system to be operating over BPL by 2011," she said. During trials on Jan. 31 the first grid fault was located using BPL, she said. It was a failed bolt on a neutral wire connector.
Internet service will be offered through third parties rather than directly from TXU, she said. Current Communications is partnering with TXU as it does with Duke Energy, and Birnbaum said that Internet service will be offered before summer. TXU's stated goal for investing in BPL is to improve customer service, a goal presumably related to the presence of competition in the consumer power market (akin to competition in the consumer phone market) in parts of Texas.
Centerpoint Energy in Houston has also reportedly begun investing in BPL, but didn't respond to requests for comment. The concentration of BPL activity in Texas is apparently connected to the passage of the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act of 2005, which freed BPL from municipal regulation and additional right-of-way taxes in Texas, explained Terry Hadley, spokesman for the Texas Public Utility Commission in Austin.
Read more: Broadband over powerline is ready to explode
Lamont Wood
March 01, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Some call it "the third wire" and others call it "broadband over powerline" (BPL). But for Tim Barhorst, a technology consultant in Cincinnati, it's his Internet connection.
"It seems equivalent to standard cable service and a little faster than standard DSL," he noted. "But the speed is not asynchronous, meaning you get the same speed upstream and downstream."
Barhorst is getting his broadband Internet connection via BPL, through the power lines that run to his house, from a utility called Duke Energy, although the Internet service is handled by Current Communications in Germantown, Md.
Third-wire users like Barhorst are likely to become a lot more common in the next five years. Chris Rodin, an analyst at Parks Associates in Dallas, estimates that there are today no more than 150,000 BPL users in the U.S., but he expects to see the figure rise to 2.5 million by 2011, especially in rural areas unserved by cable or DSL.
Benefits of a smart grid
But the impetus to install BPL is not a desire by the power utilities to compete with AT&T or Time Warner, Rodin said. Rather, offering Internet service is an associated benefit of the power companies moving to "smart grids" that include components such as sensors and interactive controls. He pointed out that today a power company doesn't know that a transformer has failed until a customer calls to complain about the lights being out, but with a smart grid, faster responses and proactive maintenance would be possible. Thereafter, offering retail Internet service is icing on the cake, he indicated.
The benefits of a smart grid include smaller power outages and less loss of energy in transmission. Every day in the U.S. an average of 500,000 people experience a power failure of at least two hours, said Clark Gellings, vice president of the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit research consortium in Palo Alto, Calif. The resulting annual loss of productivity has been pegged at $180 billion, he added.
But a smart grid ought to be able to cut those outages by 80%, he estimated. About 7% of power is lost in transmission, and smart grids should cut that loss by 10%, he added.
Meanwhile, power customers could have smart electric meters that automatically report usage, eliminating the need for meter readers. The smart meters would allow additional features, such as discounts for those who cut their usage during peak hours, sources agreed.
And, fortuitously, smart grids offer a perfect opportunity to offer more services to customers, such as BPL. "There is a lot of interest in BPL," noted Gellings.
"It's the Holy Grail of the power industry to use the same wires that we use to deliver energy to communicate as well, but for years it was too cumbersome." And BPL only became realistic after several technical advances, he said, chiefly couplers that let the BPL signal bypass power transformers.
TXU technician installs a smart meter as part of a broadband over powerline (BPL) installation.
Utilities also have to wire the system capacitors in series instead of in parallel so as to not squelch the signal, and add signal boosters, he said.
"We are at an inflection point in the industry," agreed Ralph Vogel, spokesmen for Utility.net, a Los Angeles-based BPL integrator. "Its position is similar to that of DSL in the late 1990s: people have heard of it, and while we were previously not quite there yet with the technology, we are now."
Whereas passing a house with fiber can cost $1,500, no new wiring has to be installed to pass a house with BPL, he noted. A few modifications to the grid are necessary, plus a new meter, but the total is less than $150 per home, he said. The signal is injected into the grid within a neighborhood through a fiber or wireless backbone, and then shared by all the houses using the same transformer. Electrical interference inside each house caused by appliances is filtered by the plug adapters.
Currently the largest installation is the Duke Energy operation in Cincinnati. Duke Energy wouldn't comment for this article, but Jay Birnbaum, vice president at Current Communications, said that the Cincinnati system is not a smart grid yet. All houses on a transformer share the same bandwidth in an arrangement similar to that used by cable modems, using signal specifications set by the HomePlug Alliance. He declined to give the number of BPL subscribers on the Duke Energy network.
A utility called TXU, which serves the Dallas area with power, is likely to be the next big BPL installation, as it has committed $450 million to install 3 million smart meters, explained spokeswoman Carol Peters.
"We expect the vast majority of our system to be operating over BPL by 2011," she said. During trials on Jan. 31 the first grid fault was located using BPL, she said. It was a failed bolt on a neutral wire connector.
Internet service will be offered through third parties rather than directly from TXU, she said. Current Communications is partnering with TXU as it does with Duke Energy, and Birnbaum said that Internet service will be offered before summer. TXU's stated goal for investing in BPL is to improve customer service, a goal presumably related to the presence of competition in the consumer power market (akin to competition in the consumer phone market) in parts of Texas.
Centerpoint Energy in Houston has also reportedly begun investing in BPL, but didn't respond to requests for comment. The concentration of BPL activity in Texas is apparently connected to the passage of the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act of 2005, which freed BPL from municipal regulation and additional right-of-way taxes in Texas, explained Terry Hadley, spokesman for the Texas Public Utility Commission in Austin.
Read more: Broadband over powerline is ready to explode
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