Amperion's back -- with some variations on its BPL/WiFi theme
Firm warns it holds patents on BPL 
[Reprinted from the April 29, 2008 issue of BPL Today with permission from the publisher GHI LLC, www.bpltoday.com, +1-202-298-8201]

Amperion "emerged from stealth mode with a new focus, patented product line, new funding and a new strategy," the firm reported recently.  The focus is still on the marriage of BPL and WiFi technology and "smart grid."          

The firm unveiled two new products, the Griffin PowerWiFi hybrid BPL-WiFi repeater and Eagle WiFi repeater, it said.

Amperion also offers the Amperion GroundStation with Google Earth support to interactively manage the Amperion PowerWiFi network.  Google Earth is the search engine/advertising giant's web-connected software that uses a matrix of satellite photography and a massive location database to visually pinpoint locations down to individual addresses throughout the globe.

For electric utilities, the GroundStation supports power outage reporting on MV lines with the exact geographical location of the outage.

"With AmperionSG smart grid engineering services, Amperion will now offer its vast experience in developing and deploying advanced communications solutions on HV, MV and LV power lines to utilities, system integrators and product companies involved in building smart grid applications and networks.

"Over the years, Amperion has worked very closely with a number of the largest North American and international electric utilities, acquiring a high level of power line experience and a deep understanding of utility needs.

"The new services, which leverage the company's core networking knowledge and utility experience, are targeted at helping planning smart grid architectures, evaluating smart grid technologies, developing products and deploying networks."

BPL problems solved?
"BPL technology has never really progressed beyond the trial stage," reminded Amperion CEO Rajiv Salimath.

"We have solved many of the challenges with the technology by combining the merits of BPL and WiFi.  Our solution offers the only power line network with multiple communication paths on any link, thus making deployments easier and networks more reliable."

The firm is looking for system integrators, utilities and operators that want to deploy large scale networks and "will work with companies that are interested in licensing our technology," he added.  

Expect lawsuits?
Amperion, in this same announcement, put the BPL world on notice.  "Amperion holds the BPL industry's foundational patents, based on transmission over power lines at frequencies above 1 mhz -- a space in which virtually all BPL vendors and system integrators operate," said the firm.          

"Amperion owns patents on coupling technology and hybrid broadband technology using BPL and wireless," too.

We've heard similar assertions from Telkonet's former CEO and current Board of Directors Vice Chairman Ron Pickett (BT, 2006-Dec-05) -- but is Amperion serious about trying to act on this belief?

Amperion sent IBEC a letter the latter firm found threatening and IBEC reacted in self defense with a lawsuit of its own (BT, Feb-12).
Link: Amperion [www.amperion.com].
© 2008 GHI LLC