• This year’s HD-PLC Alliance General Meeting included reports on progress of international standardization
On July27th 2009, HD-PLC Alliance held its 2nd HD-PLC Alliance General Meeting at the Panasonic Communication Co. Ltd. Head office in Hakata district of Fukuoka City. The new President Michimasa Aramaki (fmr. Director of HD-PLC Allicance Standardization) spoke of new plans on collaborating with various industry groups in promoting HD-PLC.
Promote Interaction beyond Industry
To start the General Meeting, Mr. Eiji Kobayashi, who was president until May, gave a summary of activities for 2008. Fmr. President Kobayashi talked about major achievements such as the technology to be used for HD-PLC being chosen as the baseline technology for PLC standards by the IEEE P1901 committee (click for details). As for Green Ubiquitous, the concept promoted by HD-PLC, Mr. Kobayashi commented that “as of last fall, connecting electric vehicles and home networks was seen as something that will not happen in the near future, but actual testing has started in recent months”.
• HD-PLC Alliance President Michimasa Aramaki speaking about the activities for 2009
The new president Aramaki went on to speak about upcoming activities in 2009. He said that on top of IEEE P1901 committee, HD-PLC is working very closely with IGRS (Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing), the Chinese home electronics standardization group, actively approaching the Chinese government. He also pointed out that the IEEE P2030 committee which is working to standardize the next generation electrical networks (smart grids), also is looking at IEEE P1901 based HD-PLC, indicating that HD-PLC is no longer limited to indoor use. President Aramaki said “communication with other industries such as electric companies and transportation companies will become vital”, proposing collaboration events and forums with leaders from various industries be held.
After discussing HD-PLC activities, a Q&A session was held on how to go about building a relationship with various industries as well as details on the collaboration forums. The attendees verified the course of action they will take in communicating with various industries which will lead to future business.
P1901 WG Committee Chairman explains Standardization Plans
• Jean-Philippe Faure, Chairman of IEEE P1901 Working Group explaining the process standardization
Jean-Philippe Faure, Chairman of IEEE P1901 Working Group, also attended this year’s General Meeting as a special guest. He explained about future plans regarding standardization. At the July 21st meeting, the IEEE P1901 Working Group already approved the draft for standardization. Mr. Faure announced “they will wait to receive comments from various companies and respond to them, continue communicating, and hope to complete a final draft by the end of this year” , indicating that the process towards standardization is going well.
Progress reports on the joint work with China IGRS and the Smart AMR project (electricity theft prevention) were given at this year’s General Meeting. Explanations on future plans for collaboration exhibitions were also given. Mr. Tomiya Miyazaki, Vice President of HD-PLC Alliance and Operations Committee Chairman of High Speed Power Line Communication Promoters' Alliance of Japan (PLC-J) explained the current trends of HD-PLC inside Japan, and revealed that the movement to expand the market for PLC is steadily expanding.
• Information was actively exchanged among attendees at the get together after the General Meeting
Of the 19 companies in the alliance, representatives from 13 companies (including delegation letters) such as Mr. Stephan Horvath, the CEO of ACN from Switzerland attended this year’s General Meeting. Both Japanese and English were spoken at the meeting, leaving a sense among the attendees of the emphasized globalization of HD-PLC.
