The recent announcement of forming a new global alliance named, the G3-PLC Alliance, was made at the Metering Europe Conference in Amsterdam (October 4 - 6, 2011). The G3-PLC Alliance is formed by Maxim Integrated Products (News - Alert) along with 11 other companies to support the deployment of the G3-PLC(TM) powerline communications protocol, originally developed by Maxim. Maxim is a founding member of the Alliance.

In a press release, Michael Navid, executive business manager for Powerline Products at Maxim, said, “Until now, smart grid deployments have been impeded by the lack of standards-compliant solutions. Building intelligence into the existing power grid will cost tens of billions of dollars. Utilities need a solution that is standards-based to protect their investments, to allow sourcing from multiple vendors, and to facilitate the integration of new services and equipment.”

The Advantages of G3-PLC technology is speed, robustness, and range demanded by large-scale powerline networks. It also supports the IPv6 Internet-protocol standard to enable Internet-based energy management systems which enables to expand the number of addresses available to grid-connected devices, ensuring that utilities can support new applications, such as smart appliances and electric vehicle charging.

It also employs advanced broadband communication techniques to achieve speeds up to 300kbps in the noisy powerline environment and uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology to transmit data over multiple carriers, allowing designers to avoid interference at specific.

Navid further said, “From the start, G3-PLC was defined as an open standard for global implementations. Maxim partnered with ERDF [Electricite Reseau Distribution France] and Sagemcom to define the specification, conduct field tests, and roll out a pilot deployment for customers in France this past summer. In addition, since its release in 2009, the G3-PLC protocol has been successfully field-tested by dozens of utilities and independent organizations worldwide with great results.”

He continued, “Now, electricity utilities and distributers around the world will be able to come off the sidelines and begin rolling out their smart grid networks with confidence. Being one of the original founders of the G3-PLC Alliance, we are fully committed to supporting its objectives for the benefit of the industry.”

In other news, Maxim Integrated Products recently introduced the MAX2992, an OFDM-based powerline communication (PLC) modem that pairs with the MAX2991 analog front-end (AFE) to provide a complete PLC chipset for smart grid communications.

Sujata Garud is a TMCnet freelancer with three years of writing/editing experience and two years of market research experience. As an editor she has covered the IT, electronics, banking, pharma, construction, mining and healthcare industries. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell