IEEE (News - Alert) Standards Association (IEEE-SA) announced that the IEEE P1901.2 Low Frequency (less than 500 kHz) Narrow Band Power Line Communications Working Group (WG) made significant progress with the draft standard during its meeting in April.

The association approved the new version of the draft IEEE 1901.2 standard during the April meeting. The details are available to all members of the group. The WG will be working on the resolution of comments submitted by members of the group.

The members will assemble again at the next IEEE P1901.2 WG meeting, being held from June 6-10 in Italy.

IEEE P1901.2 is expected to offer the new benchmark of performance and reliability, while offering interoperability with the existing “PRIME” and “G3-PLC” OFDM technologies. Leading energy providers such as IBERDROLA and ERDF have already selected these two technologies.

This decision was made by the IEEE P1901.2 Working Group during the April meeting to provide a smooth transition from already established OFDM technologies to the IEEE P1901.2 based products, according to a press release.

IEEE P1901.2  WG recently agreed to adopt synchronous beacon and specific implementations of a coherent modulation. This decision enables interoperability between Differential and Coherent modes of operation.

The group will also develop a single PHY/MAC implementation for the band of up to 500 kHz with the goal to enable wide adoption of interoperable solutions, based on IEEE P1901.2 standard.

Smart Grid projects are gaining momentum. According to a new report from Pike Research (News - Alert), the Korean Government will invest in Smart Grid infrastructure to the tune of $15.8 billion within Korea itself during the period from 2009 to 2016, and will serve as the foundation for a significant global export market as well.

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