Wi-Fi, HomePlug groups unite on smart grid

Rick Merritt

November 2, 2010

Rick Merritt

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Wi-Fi Alliance and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance have set up liaison to promote use of their technologies in smart electric grids.

Under the agreement the groups will collaborate in joint technical reviews of Wi-Fi and HomePlug specifications and standards to ensure interoperability in smart grid applications. Specifically, the two will work to enable Smart Energy 2 Applications Profile applications to operate across a mix of wireless and wired networks.

The two groups also will conduct joint marketing of wireless and powerline technologies for smart grid applications. Both the Wi-Fi Alliance and HomePlug participate in the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, a standards forum created by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"Working with the HomePlug Powerline Alliance will facilitate interoperability between Wi-Fi equipment and devices connected to powerline home networks," said Edgar Figueroa, chief executive officer of the Wi-Fi Alliance which has certified more than 8,000 products to date.

“HomePlug and Wi-Fi devices represent a large share of installed nodes worldwide, and ensuring seamless interoperability is critical for broad scale smart grid deployment,” said Rob Ranck, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance.

The HomePlug family of powerline networking specifications includes HomePlug AV for broadband applications, the recently completed the HomePlug “Green PHY” (GP) specification for smart energy /smart grid applications, and the forthcoming HomePlug AV2 broadband specification due for completion by April.