 Motorola
suspends Powerline LV BPL development
Less than two years after announcing its Powerline LV Access BPL product,
Motorola has decided to suspend development and to devote its resources
to more promising markets.
Motorola reportedly has decided to focus on a product called Powerline
MU, which is for use within multiple-unit dwellings.
According to the ARRL Letter, the decision to stop work on its Access
BPL product reflects declining interest in residential broadband service
delivery among utilities. This, coupled with the more immediate demand
for in-building
BPL systems would provide Motorola a more lucrative market.
Powerline LV united Motorola's Canopy wireless broadband Internet platform
with enhanced ham band-notching HomePlug technology, drastically reducing
BPL interference potential. This, by restricting the application of high-frequency
RF to the low-voltage side of the power transformers serving customers'
homes, not the medium-voltage wires that line many residential streets.
As a result, Powerline LV avoided the system architecture that poses
the greatest risk of BPL interference to radio communication -- radiation
from the medium-voltage power
lines. Measurements and subjective listening tests on the ham bands showed
that Powerline LV was Amateur Radio-friendly.
Powerline LV was developed by Motorola researcher
Richard Illman, AH6EZ of St. Charles, Illinois. As a result he was selected
for the Dayton Hamvention 2006 Technical Excellence Award. (ARRL)
Source: ARNewsline
|
