Essential Guide to Home Networking Technologies, The

INTRODUCTION TO POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS

For several decades, researchers have attempted to use AC powerlines to create a communications network. Since almost all electronic devices already connect to AC powerlines for the electricity they need to operate, it seems only logical to develop a technology that would send data signals over the same wires. Considering that a vast majority of people in the world, even in developing areas, already live in homes with pervasive access to electrical outlets, such a technology would provide a quantum leap forward in the mass-market proliferation of IT and communications products. Using electrical wires seems logical and efficient. Traditional communications networks, such as phone lines, cable television, ...