Overview of the Opera Specification for Broadband Internet Access and its Synergies with the UPA Digital Home Specification for Power Line Home Networking

Two recently adopted open specifications are paving the way towards interoperable 200 Mbps powerline products. OPERA technology allows powerlines to be used to provide high performance internet, VoIP and VoD services. The Digital Home Standard adopted by the UPA (Universal Powerline Association), provides a field proven specification that allows equipment manufactures to build compatible powerline communications products to enable the Audio/Video digital home. In this keynote presentation the synergies between both specifications will be considered. The OPERA organisation set out to provide a PLC standard so that operators and subscribers could benefit from high-speed QoS-guaranteed powerline communications technology. Operators benefit from the availability of standard interoperable PLC equipment that allows the deployment of networks at low cost and the re-use of electricity network infrastructure. Subscribers benefit from a wider range of options for broadband access services and from the ubiquity of the PLC service in the home. The Digital Home Standard is remarkably innovative. It was designed to work in harmony with broadband acess powerline equipment based on the OPERA specification. Together these specifications assure interoperability between powerline home networks and broadband access while respecting the specificities of each market: The Universal solution for interoperable high-speed data, audio, voice and video communications. The keynote will provide an overview of the technology specification defined by both standards covering the main technical aspects, including a description of the key areas of PHY and MAC as well as of the higher layers.