No Fuss Networking via Mains

Adding network capability into your product is a great way of getting information into or out of your device from anywhere you like. Once you're networked, all sorts of possibilities open up - remote monitoring of what your system is doing, real-time (or batch) data logging, and sending software updates are just a few of the things that spring immediately to mind.

But the down side of Ethernet...? It's another wire! And more wires means longer installation time, more mess (the wire has to be tidied away neatly or conduited), and another hub or switch. So is there another way? Well, a lot of products have at least one wire - the main power cable that plugs into the wall. Wouldn't it be great if that one wire could do both?!

For the last few years we have been doing just that at MLE. Using power line communications (PLC) technology we can both draw power from the mains and send information down it, using the same physical wires. And sticking to the HomePlug Powerline Alliance standard means we can talk to compatible off-the-shelf HomePlug-to-Ethernet bridges. This lets us design systems which have many different devices plugged in around a home or office environment, all chatting away to each other - and the outside world if you want. And with an installation that's literally plug'n'play, your end-user has never had networked communications so easy.

By Carl

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MLE Creative Electronics

No Fuss Networking via Mains