DS2 reveals PLC chipset

Aitana++ will allow equipment vendors to design compact, secure and environmentally friendly powerline communications products.

The reduced BOM (bill of materials) reduces costs for device manufacturers.

While in use, Aitana++ consumes 30 per cent less power than previous products, and in stand-by mode reduces its consumption by 70 per cent.

This development reduces energy costs and simplifies the thermal design for embedded applications such as set-top boxes, home gateways, remote speaker systems, IP cameras or personal computers.

'Aitana++ provides a complete software development kit (SDK) that allows systems designers to customise the firmware running in the chipset's microprocessor.

'Systems designers don't have to develop all advanced features from scratch,' said Chano Gomez, DS2 vice-president, marketing.

DS2 baseline firmware provides features such as AES-128/256 with push-button security, LED status lights, 802.1p/TOS quality of service and multicast support.

Aitana++ comes with on-chip support for trademark DS2 features, such as mesh networking for whole home coverage, secure firmware upgrade, complete TCP/IP stack, support for Microsoft Windows LLTD protocol and TR-069 remote management for service provider applications.

'Aitana++ includes technology to optimise performance in deployments with multiple neighbour networks, which is a typical problem in multi-dwelling units.

'This ensures that the maximum data rate is guaranteed for all networks and deployments.

'It increases network scalability by minimising network interference between neighbouring networks,' said Victor Dominguez, DS2 vice-president, sales.

DS2 helps systems designers to reduce their time to market by providing a ready-to-manufacture reference design (DW250F) for the Aitana++ chipset.