Renesas Electronics’ P2P-PLC platform is the first to have been certified by the G3-Alliance’s P2P-PLC programme.
The certification was conducted by TÜV Rheinland Japan and marks a “significant step forward” for the Alliance, a statement reads.
The G3-Alliance – formerly the G3-PLC Alliance – introduced the P2P-PLC (Point-to-Point PLC) as a lightweight profile to support G3 technology usage in applications where the topology is very simple or where limited numbers of devices are present in the network and where point-to-point (i.e. not routed) communications can be an advantage.
Such applications include smart lighting, buildings, environmental monitoring and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning).
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As such it marks an expansion of the use of the technology from its implementation mainly in smart grid applications.
The P2P-PLC certification uses the same test procedure as the G3-Alliance certification.
The certification covers all the existing certification profiles, i.e. CENELEC A / CENELEC B / FCC / ARIB, but limits the protocol stack to the OFDM PHY and IEE 802.15.4 MAC layers only.
The objective of the certification is to allow multi-sourcing of platforms by product manufacturers and is therefore only open to platforms.
Platforms that have undergone full G3-Alliance certification can achieve P2P-PLC certification if the following conditions are met:
● Full access to the MAC layer is available for the end system.
● The G3-PLC ADP layer and G3-PLC PHY/MAC layers are clearly separated.
● Full G3-PLC testing of the stack must be performed, the G3 ADP layer may reside outside the P2P-PLC certified platform but must be present for certification.
Renasas’s R9A06G061 PLC modem was designed for peer-to-peer networks and delivers communication speeds up to 1Mb/s over distances of 1km or more.
“With the need for more lightweight programmes that can accommodate simple topologies or limited network devices, the P2P-PLC certification is the ideal solution, offering a more efficient and less risky path for product manufacturers to launch products domestically and internationally,” the Alliance statement reads.
