Motorola Suspends Powerline LV BPL Development
Mounted on a pole at the left, the Canopy antenna handled the ARRL Headquarters end of the Motorola Powerline LV wireless link
The W1AW end of the Canopy wireless link, which connected to a 240 V ac power drop. The antenna is mounted on W1AW's north tower.
ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, examines one of the Motorola Powerline LV modems. The unit plugs into a 120 V ac receptacle, and the user's computer connects via an Ethernet jack.
NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 25, 2007 -- Less than two years after announcing its Powerline LV Access BPL product, Motorola has decided to suspend product development and to devote its resources to more promising markets, industry sources say. Motorola reportedly has decided to focus on a product called Powerline MU, which is for use within multiple-unit dwellings. The decision to stop work on its Access BPL product reflects declining interest in residential broadband service delivery among utilities coupled with more immediate demand for in-building BPL systems. Motorola has indicated that it's not scrapping Powerline LV altogether, however.
Powerline LV united Motorola's Canopy wireless broadband Internet platform with enhanced ham band-notching HomePlug technology, drastically reducing BPL interference potential by restricting the application of high-frequency RF to the low-voltage side of the power transformers serving customers' homes, not the medium-voltage wires that line many residential streets. As a result, Powerline LV avoided the system architecture that poses the greatest risk of BPL interference to radio communication -- radiation from the medium-voltage power lines.
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ expressed appreciation for Motorola's approach to the thorny issue of radio interference from BPL systems. In an effort to minimize interference, particularly to the Amateur Radio bands, Motorola designed its Powerline LV system in close cooperation with the League's technical staff, Sumner noted. A test stand Access BPL system was in operation briefly at ARRL Headquarters. Measurements and subjective listening tests on the ham bands showed that Powerline LV was Amateur Radio-friendly.
"As one would expect from a company with such a distinguished record in the field of radio communication, Motorola acknowledged at the outset the seriousness of the interference problem," he said. "Motorola's system architecture influenced other vendors, raised industry awareness of the interference issue, and demonstrated the value of working with the ARRL to find positive solutions."
Page last modified: 09:21 AM, 26 Apr 2007 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
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