Product category: Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Design of Systems on Silicon
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 27 February 2007

Chip powers IPTV powerline applications

Universal Powerline Association technology has reached the point where it is now the dominant provider for the home networking needs of the IPTV industry

Powerline chipset specialist DS2 says that the development of Universal Powerline Association (UPA) technology has reached the point where it is now the dominant provider for the home networking needs of the IPTV industry. The advance has been made possible by the UPA Digital Home Standard compliant DS2 200Mbit/s chip that powers IPTV powerline applications.

It makes available a new range of high performance products that allow international users to watch flicker-free high definition (HD) home video streaming via standard wall sockets.

Chano Gomez, DS2's Vice President for Technology and Strategic Partnerships, will deliver a speech at the IPTV 2007 Conference that shows why key European IPTV operators have invested in the UPA 200Mbit/s DS2 chip for commercial rollouts, and how this model is applicable around the world.

IPTV providers in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden already use UPA technology because of its speed, reliability and all-round performance.

The UPA also has a range of application partners that provide Powerline solutions to consumers around the world.

Netgear and D-Link, worldwide providers of technologically advanced network products, use UPA technology in products to enable video and gaming content to be used throughout the home.

'As the options for home entertainment grow, image quality and ease of delivery will become the key drivers for consumers', says Gomez.

'This means that the technology powering IPTV and other powerline networking products becomes more important'.

'It has to be powerful, resilient, and inter-operable and there must be commercial confidence in it, otherwise consumers won't be able to get what they want from their applications'.

'At the conference I will discuss these issues in more detail, which will kick-off a time of rapid proliferation of the UPA powerline networking technology'.

There are three key areas for powerline networking technology and home networking, all of which significantly impact the end-user experience as well as the ability of service providers to deliver a broad range of products and service offers.

Consumers demand flicker-free images.

HDTV needs much greater bandwidth and quality than standard video streams, which makes it important to have a powerful standard supporting the Powerline applications.

Low performance technology can result in flickering images, or a complete breakdown in streaming.

The UPA 200Mbit/s technology enables room-to-room HD streaming, which gives operators a high performance and quality service at a reasonable cost, and gives users the best entertainment experience when and where they want it.

The UPA Plugtested label ensures compatibility for all home applications.

The UPA Digital Home Standard is the global standard for powerline networking and communications, and applications that adhere to this are stamped with the 'UPA Plugtested' mark.

Without this, the system may not be fully backwards compatible or future-proof.

Leading IPTV operators and consumer electronics companies worldwide choose UPA as the preferred solution for home networking over powerlines.

Robust and proven technology comes with a pedigree.

There are technology providers that have been in the market since it began and some that have been attracted to the growth.

During 2006, UPA shipped over one million HD-ready 200Mbit/s chips to manufacturers of Powerline applications, which shows a rise in the number of manufacturers investing in the industry, and as it grows, we will see this trend develop.

Those companies that use 200Mbit/s chips in their products have done much work in the market to develop and offer high specification UPA certified products.

This investment guarantees performance, interoperability, simplicity and reliability of products.

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