Arkados likes the idea of spending $4.5 billion on smart grid activities, including Smart Meters, as well as the $7.3 billion to support expanding access to broadband in underserved communities, in the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $11 billion for the creation of a smart grid infrastructure.
Arkados designs its chip-and-software platform around powerline communications. They say their approach eliminates the need for enormous capital expenditures to build out a fiber optic network backbone.
Arkados and MainNet Communications say they have jointly developed applications to improve the reliability and efficiency of electrical grids, as well as connect consumer electronic devices, delivering broadband to homes and offices over power lines.
Arkados chips were used in trials of “green power” applications, implementing energy-saving programs such as temperature control, smart thermostats, and demand-driven load control. They back the development of global standards through organizations such as the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, the IEEE P1901, and the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA-1113).
The development of the IEEE 1901 standard, says Arkados, addresses the needs of the broadband over powerline.
The project will develop a standard for high speed (>100 Mbps at the physical layer) communication devices via alternating current electric power lines, using Broadband over Power Line devices. The standard will use transmission frequencies below 100 MHz. This standard will be usable by all classes of BPL devices, including first-mile/last-mile connection (<1500 m to the premise) as well as devices used in buildings for LANs and other data distribution (<100m between devices).
Low-frequency (about 100-200 kHz) carriers can be impressed on high-voltage transmission lines. They may carry one or two analog voice circuits, or telemetry and control circuits with an equivalent data rate of a few hundred bits per second; however, these circuits may be many miles (kilometres) long.
Broadband over power lines (BPL) provide broadband Internet access through ordinary power lines. A computer (or any other device) would need only to plug a BPL “modem” into any outlet in an equipped building to have high-speed Internet access.
According to Wikipedia, power distribution uses step-down transformers to reduce the voltage for use by customers. But BPL signals cannot readily pass through transformers, as their high inductance makes them act as low-pass filters, blocking high-frequency signals. So, repeaters must be attached to the transformers, raising cost. Ham radio operators are opposed to BPL on interference grounds.
