ST's chips power Tatung's smart home appliances

STMicroelectronics and Tatung have together developed an array of smart-home appliances that can be interconnected to form a smart-home ecosystem. The products designed using ST's chips leverage the popular HomePlug powerline communication (PLC) protocols and hybrid networks. The HomePlug technology transforms ordinary electric wires into a high-speed communication network available in every power outlet. Hybrid networks are based on the emerging IEEE 1905.1 standard and allow devices to take advantage of all available communication media including HomePlug and WiFi. Illustrating the huge range of creative possibilities open to smart-home equipment designers, one of the products demonstrated is an innovative combination of a remotely-controllable LED room light, a networked loudspeaker, and a WiFi access point in a single unit. ST's intelligent communication hub/gateway System-on-Chip (SoC) technology integrates both the powerline modem and a powerful applications processor based on an ARM926EJ-S core running at 330MHz. Because the connected homes of the future will leverage many wired and wireless communication technologies, ST’s new hub/gateway solution was designed to support the emerging IEEE P1905.1 standard. This family of HomePlug powerline-enabled products from Tatung target smart-home applications, includes a smart meter, a smart plug capable of controlling and m...