– History and Adoption:
– Developed in 2002 by ATS Ltd. in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
– Companies like Philips, Magma, KPN have agreements with ATS Ltd.
– Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Siemens, and Intel have agreements with ATS Ltd.
– Philips, Nokia, Siemens, and Électricité de France are members of the PLC-BUS Union Commission.
– Shanghai Super Smart Electronics acquired PLCBUS Technology in 2005.
– Advantages:
– Reliable two-way communication with acknowledgment.
– Possibility to query module status and monitor noise/signal levels.
– Fast response time of ~500 ms between sending a command and receiving an ACK.
– Scalability up to 64000 modules with unique identification codes.
– Decreased chance of unwanted interactions with neighbors’ modules.
– Disadvantages:
– Normal PLCBUS switches can only switch local appliances.
– Special scene controller switches are required to switch appliances remotely.
– Typical Devices:
– Appliance switch for local and remote operation.
– Light dimmer for adjusting light levels locally and remotely.
– Scene controller for remote operation of appliances and lights.
– Computer interface for operating appliances, lights, and reading module status.
– Bridge for mixing PLCBUS technology with other power-line communication tech.
– References:
– PLC-BUS technology origin from plcbus.com.cn.
– Partnership with Magma announced by ATS Ltd.
– Development of smart lighting system with KPN by ATS Ltd.
– Information available on PLCBUS Union Commission.
– Various forums and blogs discussing PLCBUS technology.
PLCBUS or PLC-BUS is a proprietary power-line communication protocol for communication between electronic devices used for home automation. It primarily uses power line wiring for signaling and control.
PLCBUS is similar to the X10 (industry standard) power line communication protocol. Though PLCBUS uses the same addressing scheme it is not compatible with X10. PLCBUS and X10 can coexist in the same power-line network and can interact with the use of bridges (like the PLCBUS 4808 device).
