• HD-PLC Test House displays real life examples of high speed electrical networks

Approximately three years have passed since high speed electrical networks were put in place in Japan. As HD-PLC is working to become an international standard, various applications are being developed by taking advantage of its speed and easy usage.

HD-PLC Test House is the one stop display shop for all those applications. Home appliances and other household items using HD-PLC are displayed with real life system examples. This is also a testing site for manufacturers developing HD-PLC equipment, and many developers from in and outside of Japan come for verification testing. Here we will introduce what is displayed in the test house, while discussing how HD-PLC will become a part of a household while changing lifestyles.

HD-PLC is known for its high speed and easy usage. To take full advantage of that, a typical system example using a camera and TV has been set up. Both network camera and TV are connected to an electrical outlet via a HD-PLC adaptor. Real time images are then sent through the network via the electrical network. The advantage here is that there is no need for physical wiring, to bother with setting up a wireless network, or having to worry about how far the signal will reach inside the house.

At the front door of the Test House, there are two network cameras; one on the door bell and another facing the front yard. There are also four other network cameras on the street lamp by the front yard and on the electrical car in the garage. Images from network cameras are sent to the TVs in the living room and tatami (Japanese style) room via the electrical network. If there is a visitor at the front door, a small window will pop up on the TV screen, so you don’t have to hear the doorbell to know that there is someone at the door while watching TV. A flip of the remote will allow the viewer to switch between the four network cameras. Those images can automatically be recorded onto a HDD recorder. The images can then be selected from a list to play.

Images from the electrical car are transferred to the electrical network in the home via the recharging cable. At the Test House, only images are sent from the electrical car, but it is also possible to exchange other types of data. The electric car can access the server inside the home via HD-PLC to download data such as music and movies.

• Layout of the Test House
Network camera outside the house and the TV inside the home are connected via HD-PLC network. Bottom right is the electrical car; the on board camera sends images are sent via recharging cable