Inari Connects the Home through Powerline

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(01/09/02, 10:09:50 AM EDT)

Inari released its line of Powerline networking products, including 2Mbps, 4Mbps, and 12Mbps Powerline network controllers interfacing to a newly introduced integrated 80MHz, 12-bit Analog Front End (AFE). Inari has also added Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption network security into these new products.

Inari's products are designed for Powerline-enabled products such as internal and external PC network adapters, Ethernet access points and gateways, Internet appliances, Powerline-enabled audio products, network-enabled home appliances, and custom embedded applications. The chipsets are interoperable so that devices can operating at different speeds can sync up and communicate directly with each other.

The new products include:

• IPL0202-2 Mbps Powerline network controller that features an integrated USB core
  
• IPL0401-4 Mbps Powerline network controller, which includes an eight-channel communications processor that sends and receives rate-adaptive data at speeds up to 4 Mbps and provides an MII and generic memory bus interface
  
• IPL1201-12Mbps Powerline network controller, which includes a 24-channel communications processor that sends and receives rate-adaptive data at speeds up to 12 Mbps and provides an MII, generic memory bus, and embedded PCI interface
  
• IPLA002 Analog Front End (AFE), which provides the powerline interface with anti-aliasing filtering, ADC, and a DAC front-end for the Inari Powerline network controller product line.

Inari's products offer Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption as a standard feature. The powerline products communicate using Inari's Powerline Exchange (PLX) network protocol. PLX supports network services such as security, authentication, channel redundancy, variable speeds, acknowledged responses, and various addressing model. The protocol provides self-throttling, sequencing, packet retries, and a deterministic access engine required to support isochronous communications.

Inari also announced the launch of the Power Developer Program (PDP), an initiative designed to better enable OEMs to deliver Powerline-enabled products to market. PDP members will obtain early releases of Inari development tools and products, including sample source code, binary images, chip pinouts, and datasheets. OEM customers also have access to increased levels of support and reference designs based on Inari's Powerline products.

In a related development, Mitsubishi Electric will deploy the Inari IPL0202 2Mbps and the IPL1201 12Mbps Powerline network controllers for in-home networking products.

Link:
Inari