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Title:
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Deliverable D5 : state of the art and initial analysis of PLC services
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Author(s):
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Kamphuis, I.G.; Warmer, C.J.; Ottoson, H.; Lindell, G.; Sweet, P.; Akkermans, H.; Dickinson, J.; Hines, D.; Nicholson, P.
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Published by:
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Publication date:
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ECN
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1-6-2000
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ECN report number:
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Document type:
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ECN-C--00-092
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ECN publication
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Number of pages:
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Full text:
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59
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Download PDF
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Abstract:
The authors identified and discussed three major categories of newservices enabled by PowerLine Communication (PLC) technology: (1) broadband
communication access; (2) inhome building services; (3) services to
core
utility operations. PLC offers an alternative last mile access technology
for
broadband telecommunication services. Some of these services are well-known
and their business case is therefore well established (e.g., telephony,
IP
data services). Other services (large-scale mobile communications,
IP media
content delivery) are now quickly being developed and rolled out on
the basis
of heavily competing access technologies of which PLC is one. The baseline
services have been outlined in Chapter 5, and more advanced ones have
been
discussed in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 has put together available public
source
information on customer service and operational cost issues, while
Chapter 3
has considered relevant frequency standards issues to be dealt with.
Field
trials as well as market studies in this area will be carried out in
the
further stages of the PALAS project. Another major innovative application
area for PLC-based services concerns in-home IP networks in buildings,
offices, and residential homes. This area is especially quickly developing
in
the USA and, to a lesser extent, Scandinavia. A wide range of next-generation
Internet services for 'intelligent' homes and buildings is envisioned
here,
ranging from automatic energy and building management, security applications,
health and elderly care, and other information, communication, and
control
at-a-distance applications. Especially interesting for service providers
is
the opportunity here to combine access and in-home network capabilities
for
service and systems integration. Discussions and state of the art literature
surveys are found in Chapters 6 and 7. Related European projects are
surveyed
in Chapter 8. Also in this area the PALAS project is planning to look
at
field trials and market studies. Third, a major application area for
PLC-based innovation are the core business processes of the utility
sector
itself. Here we see that strong business interest (because it involves
core
utility operations and infrastructure asset management) already exists,
together with a background of well-understood telemetry services (considered
in Chapter 5). Moreover, the technological risks are limited as it
mainly
involves narrowband PLC requirements. However, due to the deregulation
and
liberalization of the sector, coupled to the Internet opportunities,
the
utility business landscape is changing drastically. Essentially, the
energy
value chain is being deconstructed and reorganized in different ways,
similar
to what we observe in other industrial c-business sectors. PLC can
be a key
technology to achieve this, and some of the future PALAS field trials
focus
on this area of the 'e-utility'. This is discussed in Chapter 9. Thus,
PLC
has the potential to bring the utility sector as a whole into the new
era of
Internet and electronic business. refs.
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