Broadband power line (BPL): useless or misunderstood?

The shine is supposedly off broadband over powerline (BPL) technology. The tantalizing possibilities it seemed to offer a few years ago for easy Web delivery across that elusive last mile have faded. Utilities that invested millions in initial attempts to deploy BPL ran into one expensive roadblock after another and soon abandoned it. So should BPL be consigned to the dustbin of history? Perhaps it warrants a second look from a different direction. Instead of asking if BPL is good for broadband delivery, reframe the question. Ask instead: What is BPL good for?Once freed from narrow comparisons, BPL again offers fascinating possibilities, many that are more than just tantalizing. It provides some viable, inexpensive solutions in several emerging areas.Fat pipes feed indoor plumbingMost industry experts agree that access BPL - delivering broadband to the door via powerlines - is dead-end technology. But in-building BPL - circulating a broadband signal throughout a building fed from a main cable, DSL or fibre connection - is gaining serious traction.For multi-dwelling units (MDUs), in-building BPL is a cheap, simple, and non-intrusive solution for distributing broadband, as it uses existing electrical wiring. Bridge equipment is installed at the delivery point, typically in the basement of a hotel, apartment building or condominium, which takes the broadband signal from the main feed and injects it into the building's electrical lines. With a BPL modem, users can plug computers and other devices into any electrical outlet to access the Web.Motorola Inc. recently announced in-building BPL product offerings, noting significant demand among property management companies, government agencies, ISPs, telcos and DSL providers. With a broadband penetration rate of about 45% of MDUs, there is an untapped market for the technology. Some high-profile users: Real estate tycoon Donald Trump uses in-building BPL at his Manhattan properties, and the technology is used aboard the RMS Queen Mary, an historic liner permanently moored in Long Beach CA for tourist accommodation.BPL solves a number of Web distribution problems in commercial buildings, says Bill Massey, president of Vancouver-based Cinema Internet Networks Inc. (Cinemaworks), a BPL and wireless provider, adding that spectrum issues with ham radio operators have been resolved recently. Wi-Fi signals don't penetrate well in many types of buildings, particularly thick-walled ones constructed with a lot of stone and steel. And even Wi-Fi requires a significant amount of cabling to access points. "It's why BPL was developed in Europe - it minimizes the effects of Internet wiring in older, historic buildings in London, Paris and other cities," says John Bakowski, president of BICSI, a Tampa-based professional association devoted to information transport systems.Security is a major issue for wireless. Many government and major companies have rules against workers using wireless in hotels, says Aaron Young, CEO of Victoria BC-based 3One Networks Inc. and Cinemaworks' partner. "But BPL is fine, as it's considered a hardwired solution."The actual bandwidth delivered by standard wireless is low, so performance is also an issue, he says. "Low signal strength is a common symptom in most hotels. You typically won't find wireless deployed in apartment buildings because of that, although people can live with it in hotels - a transient user isn't expecting blistering speeds."Recent advancements in chipsets have boosted BPL's throughput so it's now about four times stronger than standard wireless, he says. "In the last six months, all of a sudden BPL is surpassing wireless. Over the next one to two years, I believe we'll see major strides made in the in-building/consumer space."But it's not an either/or situation, as BPL and wireless can work well together, says Chris Roden, research analyst at Parks Associates, a Dallas-based technology research provider. "I've already seen it out there with a lot of BPL vendors - many solutions at some point can use Wi-Fi," he says. Young agrees, pointing out 3One has been involved in many deployments that use a BPL system to feed wireless access points installed on each floor. BPL simplifies this process, as it removes the need to run new cabling through the building.While BPL is a good solution for retrofitting older buildings, it's not the best for new developments, says Young. "I'd be the first to recommend Cat5 cabling for new buildings under construction."Plug and play, then magicThe Auberge Eldo Inn in Blind River ON, installed BPL over a year ago, says owner Wayne Winterburn. A 12-unit motel located halfway between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, the Eldo Inn caters primarily to government and professional workers such as speech pathologists, dental hygienists and so on delivering services in the area. "It's the only way to get some services out here in remote areas," says Winterburn.He considered all Web delivery options for his motel, which is sturdily constructed to withstand harsh Northern winter conditions. "I assumed like the rest of the world that wireless was the way to go," he says, but many issues came up. To get a decent signal, installing eight wireless nodes inside would have been needed for 12 rooms, which made this an expensive option. Three giant antennae would have been needed to radiate the building from the outside, but Winterburn notes there are many people who are concerned about the health effects of Wi-Fi emissions. Costs for Cat5 cabling were even higher, he says. And the clincher: many of his repeat customers told him they'd been issued memos warning them not to use wireless for corporate communications on the road.Winterburn decided to explore BPL as a last resort. 3One sent him the components for local self-installation. "With the help of a local electrician, we had it installed in an hour, and after testing for a couple of hours, we were up and running," he says. One Bellnet broadband feed is sufficient for the entire motel. Winterburn says the BPL costs are about a half to a third of other options. And the minimalist equipment also appealed, as it can be easily installed and removed. Customers are initially confused, then enchanted by the idea of the Web coming out of an electrical plug. "When they see it, they think it's magic," says Winterburn.Smarter buildings on the cheapBPL also offers potential beyond in-building broadband distribution. The technology is a key component in home automation that networks all IP-enabled devices, not just computers, says Young. Any such device attached to a BPL network inside a building is potentially controllable for applications such as energy management, security, and so on. "If a smart device can communicate over the Web, a BPL network lets you to do that at a dramatically lower cost than current building management systems," says Young. Strides have been made in developing smart chips, and Intellon's HomePlug AV chip is becoming the dominant standard in the home automation space. In one to three years, intelligent consumer appliances with these embedded chips will be available, he predicts. "When you plug in any device, it will automatically configure on your BPL network, and this will be visible. You can have your alarm clock go off and wake up your coffee maker and do all those fun things you do with home automation."Although it has gee-whiz appeal to some wealthy, geeky consumers, general interest in home automation has been largely lukewarm and wary. "No one wants to see their fridge crash," says Carmi Levy, senior research analyst at the Info-Tech Research Group. But rising energy costs will give consumers more hard-nosed reasons to eye the technology to manage electricity consumption in the near future, he says.At the opposite end, many North American utilities are eyeing this area anew, not for broadband delivery to consumers, but for intelligent grid management for their own benefit. While wireless has made inroads in this space for automated meter reading (AMR), BPL offers capabilities beyond that for remote management of a power grid's SCADA control systems. Young believes there is huge potential in this space, and has been involved in deployments in Venezuela and China. "Wireless doesn't offer complete grid control. You can't use it for managing the grid, load balancing, controlling transformers and breakers and so on. We now have sufficient bandwidth to cover any distance, and with CCTV cameras on sub-stations, utilities can have physical visibility, not just data visibility," says Young.Roden agrees, pointing out that many detailed tasks for outage detection and remote monitoring aren't currently possible with wireless. Solar-powered Wi-Fi chips may serve in this area, but this technology is new and untested in the field. "The consensus is that utilities are interested in BPL, but they're notoriously slow at adopting new technology," he says.Roden believes consumer and utility BPL trends could intersect and merge to make common cause in energy management in the near future. "Utility use of BPL for grid management may be the gateway to moving onto the second consumer aspect. If vendors can convince utilities BPL is good for troubleshooting, meter reading and so on, the consumer part will follow." In some parts of California, for example, there are mandates to install smart meters in every apartment building to monitor actual consumption against tariffs. "This means you need a device in every single unit so property managers are faced with running cabling throughout buildings, which is very expensive," says Massey. "With BPL, it's cheap to put in $100 AMR devices in each apartment."

Broadband power line (BPL): useless or misunderstood?

News | 04/02/2007 1:00 am EDT

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