HD-PLC included in NIST SGIP smart grid standards

USA: Kawasaki Microelectronics is the first in supporting the IEEE 1901 coexistence protocols that were recently announced by the HD-PLC Alliance.

The alliance announced that its Broadband Powerline Communication Technology called HD-PLC IEEE 1901 was approved for inclusion in the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) Catalog of Standards in the United States.

The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated the public/private partnership SGIP to coordinate the development of standards for the Smart Grid. The SGIP produces and maintains a Catalog of Standards that are relevant for the development and deployment of a robust, interoperable, and secure Smart Grid.

Standards highlights
* Harmonization of power line communication standards identified as SGIP Priority Action Plan 15 (PAP15).
* SGIP approved inclusion of the IEEE 1901 standard PHY and MAC specification for Broadband Powerline Communication and inclusion of NIST IR 7862 (recommends that all PLC devices implement and activate the “coexistence protocol” defined in IEEE 1901 and ITU-T G.9972).
* HD-PLC Alliance provided certification service for coexistence specification Inter-System Protocol (ISP), which is mandatory in the IEEE 1901 standard.
* Co-existence protocol also approved as ITU-T G.9972 in June, 2010.
* Co-existence requirement of NIST IR 7862, the PLC products used in energy management systems and the consumer PLC products connected on the same Powerline, will not interfere with one another, and will provide secure communication
* HD-PLC IEEE 1901 technology was adopted in the TTC report TR-1043 standard guidelines developed by the Smart House Study Group organized under the Japan Smart Community Alliance (JSCA)

“We are proud that HD-PLC has been standardized by the IEEE as a worldwide B-PLC technology,” said Koichi Akeyama, president of Kawaski Microelectronics. “We believe that harmonization among all PLC technologies is key in achieving coexistence, effectiveness and power savings. Energy conservation is good for the people, beneficial to the economy, and crucial for the environment of our planet."