Powerline Technology Gains Momentum at EHX

PCS itself makes UPB modules and switches, and now a newcomer is doing the same. Simply Automated started a business in late 2003 to exploit UPB, and the company introduced its wares for the first time at EHX. The first four products in the Simply Automated lineup are UPB-enabled lamp modules, appliance modules, duplex receptacles and an RS-232 computer interface module.

One of the first developers to take advantage of the UPB computer interface is Web Mountain Technologies, whose home automation software is the first to support UPB. The company's NetPlace system is a low-cost Linux-based server that integrates networking and automation functions, including the control of UPB devices.
But UPB isn't just for your basic turn-lights-on-and-off functions. The technology is employed by MD Manufacturing in its AirForce line of central vacuum systems. At EHX, MD general manager Grant Olewiler demonstrated how the press of a doorbell or ring of a telephone automatically shuts off the vac--something that would be impossible to accomplish with X10, says Olewiler, because of the excessive powerline noise generated by a vacuum system. MD is working on more complex applications including software that emails the homeowner when the bag is full.

Finally, giving a huge shot of credibility to UPB is HAI, which announced it would support the powerline technology in its Omni line of controllers beginning early this year. HAI's Omni is one of the most popular, reliable home-management systems on the market, according to thousands of dealers who install it.

These new-product introductions come on the heels of PCS's Nov. 11., announcement that the U.S. Patent Office allowed the first two UPB patents. Based on so-called Powerline Pulse Position Modulation (PPM), UPB works by transmitting and deciphering short but intense bursts of noise on the powerline. – Julie Jacobson