The HomePlug Powerline Alliance will showcase HomePlug AV and 1.0-compliant products from numerous international HomePlug member companies at CeBIT 2007 in Hannover, Germany, from March 15-21. The HomePlug booth (Hall 14, Stand H11) includes a variety of demonstrations by companies such as Arkados, Inc., D-Link Systems, devolo AG, GigaFast, Intellon Corporation, Linksys, MainNet Communications, SPiDCOM and Yitran. Read further for company specifics.

Founded in 2000, the HomePlug Alliance offers an open-standard-based technology backed by multiple silicon providers and ensures interoperability and compatibility through a strict product certification process that was developed by product manufacturers. With more than eight million HomePlug-enabled products in use on six continents, HomePlug technology is the leading standard for high-speed powerline networks. Additionally, utilities and access providers are aggressively deploying HomePlug in BPL applications around the world for electric grid management, automatic meter reading applications and broadband to the home.

This week at CeBIT, several HomePlug member companies will demonstrate support of the powerline standard with the following series of news announcements:

Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, has announced its newest Powerline networking product that is designed for HomePlug AV: the Linksys PowerLine AV Ethernet Kit (PLK200). The Linksys PowerLine AV solutions have passed the alliance's recent Plugfest for interoperability with other HomePlug products on the market.

Intellon Corporation announced that more than a dozen leading manufacturers at CeBIT will be showcasing new, interoperable products that use Intellon's HomePlug AV-based ICs to distribute multiple high-definition video streams over existing in-home power lines. Intellon's industry-standard powerline communications ICs are used in a variety of consumer, service provider and broadband-over-powerline applications. More than thirty worldwide service providers now use Intellon's HomePlug ICs for a number of purposes, including distributing broadband Internet service and IPTV inside customers' homes.

devolo AG, the Germany-based networking specialist and European market leader in HomePlug technology, is premiering the dLan NAS (Network Attached Storage), a networked hard disk with an integrated HomePlug AV adapter that transfers data at speeds up to 200 Mbps. Additionally, devolo will be presenting the dLAN Audio extender, an adapter that transports music via power lines to every room in the house, using an industry-standard System-on-Chip solution from HomePlug member Arkados, Inc.

GigaFast, a leading manufacturer of networking products for home-based and small- to medium-sized businesses, will be demonstrating a surveillance system that consists of several cameras and an adapter that connects the video images from the cameras to a traditional television. The home's power lines supply the only connection between the various components of the system. This solution takes advantage of the global HomePlug standard by using chipsets from multiple vendors.

MainNet Communications, a leading provider of broadband powerline (BPL/PLC) systems and solutions, will be discussing how they use HomePlug-based technology for Broadband Communication Access. MainNet's PLUS system enables end-to-end Broadband Powerline Communication services, including Internet access and VoIP, in both last-mile access networks and MDU/MTU network topologies. MainNet's HomePlug-based solutions allow utility companies to benefit from same-time multiple Smart Grid applications, including automatic remote metering (AMR), grid monitoring and preventive failure analysis over the existing electric grids. Additionally, MainNet announced that the first commercial use of HomePlug standard technology in Switzerland is available from AMB. Located in southern Switzerland, AMB is an electric utility offering VoIP and Internet services over its existing electric grid to customers in the Ticino region.

At CeBIT 2007, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance (Hall 14, Stand 11) will feature a variety of these products, including demonstrations of GigaFast cameras utilizing HomePlug 1.0 technology, devolo products utilizing HomePlug AV technology, Yitran products utilizing HomePlug Command & Control technology, and MainNet products utilizing HomePlug technology for Broadband Power Line (BPL) applications. Further, multiple HomePlug members are planning to showcase and demonstrate their products, including Intellon (Hall 14, Stand H11), which will provide a comparison demonstration of HomePlug technology's capabilities versus the performance of proprietary solutions, several HomePlug AV demonstrations, and an IPTV demonstration utilizing HomePlug 1.0 technology. Additionally, several HomePlug member companies will be participating in the first US press event at CeBIT, PressExpo USA, taking place on March 16.