“In the future you could potentially push the Play button on a HomePlug-equipped DVD player and have the movie go through the electrical lines and show up on the plasma TV on the wall,” Theall says. The scenario serves two purposes: First, it offers video distribution so that one HD cable box or DVD player could feed TVs throughout the house. Second, it sends audio and video over the power lines between HomePlug-compatible devices, replacing the need for wires connecting the two.
In addition to content sharing, the HomePlug Alliance is promoting the ubiquity of the medium, which requires the power lines and outlets people already use and know. “People want to be able to access files from different rooms in the house without having to wire for Ethernet or coaxial cable,” says Theall. What makes HomePlug tick is a chipset that in the first-generation products is integrated into adapters that plug into a wall like a cell phone charger. One end of the HomePlug Ethernet adapter plugs into the wall outlet and the other plugs into the device being networked. If it’s two PCs, one PC connects to the cable or DSL modem and the second PC will have Internet access even though it’s not connected to a phone or cable line. In the future, Theall says, HomePlug connectivity will be integrated into TVs, PCs, and other products—without the need for adapters.
In addition to HomePlug AV, the consortium is working on specifications for home automation which covers command and control of household appliances and HomePlug BPL (broadband over power line), a communication standard to enable utility companies to monitor homeowners’ energy usage remotely. Home automation and the BPL specs are expected to be published this year with product availability in 2007.
What will HomePlug life look like in the year 2010? “You could be watching TV in one room,” says Theall, “push Pause, go into another room, push Pause and pick up where you left off.” Home automation products will be controlled via TV too. “You’ll have a menu from which you’ll turn off house lights, turn off the security system, have access to files on PC and play the music from PC on the TV,” he says. “And you may download a TV program then watch it on any TV in the house.”
What price connectivity? Initially HomePlug-compatible products will carry a price premium, says Theall. “But over time, as with most technologies, we expect that the price premium would go away.”
—Rebecca Day specializes in writing about home electronics. She can be reached at customhomerd@aol. com.
