Adopting HD-PLC for its Simplicity and High Transfer Speed

The third advantage is ‘new and different service’. New services that were once unthinkable will be possible just by adding a new function, a network function, to the street lights which can be seen anywhere on the streets. President Sunny Tsai of Topco points to ‘a taxi calling function’ as an example of such kind of services. “You can press the button attached to the street light when you need a taxi. Taxi users will no longer need to go find a taxi, which is very convenient to the user, and taxi drivers will not have to drive around aimlessly. This results in CO₂ reduction” says Tsai.

• You can call a taxi through network if HD-PLC is built into the streetlights

These new functions can be realized by installing the general wired network to the street lights. However, the company says it intentionally chose HD-PLC for its ‘simplicity and ‘high-speed’. “It is easy to set this up because it can be connected with an electric power line, using the pre-existing infrastructure. High-speed HD-PLC makes it possible to send high-resolution images even when cameras connected to the network start to send high definition images in the future,” says Tsai. It has the potential to become an effective security tool if it can start to display high-resolution screen images via HD-PLC.

Topco is currently preparing to install street lights with built-in HD-PLC, first to be installed at Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom as early as this summer. United Kingdom is considering reinforcing the security system for the 2012 London Olympic Games and street lights with built-in HD-PLC are attracting attention as part of that effort. Also, plans are in the works to install them at parking lots in Germany and at airports in Taiwan by the end of 2008. It seems the street lights with built-in HD-PLC is spreading a lot faster than expected.