Intellon Corporation Announces HomePlug 1.0 Compliant 85 Mbps Powerline Networking Chipset

Intellon Corporation, the world leader in powerline communications, today announced the introduction of its next generation powerline networking chipset. The INT5500CS, an 85Mbps powerline networking chipset, is fully compliant with the 14 Mbps HomePlug 1.0 specification and offers the higher bandwidth performance necessary to drive next-generation home entertainment applications such as standard definition video and whole house audio.

The INT5500CS complements Intellon’s highly successful and broadly deployed INT51X1 and INT5200 products, which implement the 14Mbps HomePlug 1.0 specification. The INT5500CS enables additional applications requiring higher bandwidth, including standard definition video distribution, TV over IP (IPTV), digital video recorder (DVR) networking and media center PCs. Other applications include whole house audio, extension and bridging of higher speed wireless technologies such as 802.11x and UWB, and higher data-rate broadband sharing based on technologies such as ADSL2 and fiber to the home.

The new solution is comprised of the INT5500 baseband (MAC/PHY) processor and the INT1200 analog front end (AFE). The INT5500 chipset will begin sampling in the first quarter of 2005, with production volumes following in the second quarter.

“The introduction of the INT5500CS is a significant milestone in Intellon’s product roadmap strategy,” said Ron Glibbery, president of Intellon. “Working with our customers worldwide, Intellon continues to advance the performance envelope of powerline communications technology. We recognize the aggressive requirements for whole house distribution of data and multimedia content. The INT5500CS enables reliable whole house distribution of a new set of audio and video applications.”

“The INT5500CS is the second step in a three-tier product strategy designed to meet the increasing bandwidth needs of the evolving digital home,” said Andreas Melder, senior vice president of sales, marketing and business development at Intellon. “Continuing our powerline industry leadership, our 14Mbps INT51X1 and INT5200 products and our new 85Mbps INT5500CS will be joined next year by our 200Mbps HomePlugAV-compliant product line, which will enable distribution of multiple high definition video streams over home powerlines.”

HomePlug powerline communications is recognized as a key technology in the home networking ecosystem. High reliability, resistance to interference, simplicity of setup and use, and strong Quality of Service (QoS) make powerline ideal for real-time entertainment content delivery, particularly whole-house audio and networked video.

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