The chipset is the piece of technology that runs the PowerLine device. The data throughputs available speed depends on the chipset inside the product. The OFDM modulation and the signal processing techniques etc are all down to the specific chipset integrated into the PowerLine device. For example, the 14 Mbps product range has a different chipset than the 85 mbps product and again the 200 Mbps uses a different chipset.

There several suppliers of chipsets when we talk about PowerLine. The most popular in the market are Intellon and DS2 (Design of Systems on Silicon S.A.). Intellon's chipsets are the base line technology for the Homplug association and DS2's chipsets are the base line technology for the Universal Powerline Association (UPA) and the European Commission funded OPERA (Open PLC European Research Alliance) consortium.

Many providers of finished products choose either to go with Intellon or DS2 to build their product. There are other manufacturers who have chosen to develop their own chipset and also provide finished product. Go to our Outdoor PowerLine section for more info. Arkados which can be seen below is an active contributor for the homeplug alliance and provides Turnkey hardware and software solutions for building HomePlug-certified products, as is Spidcom which are a major contributor to the HomePlug AV specification.

There are two new players in the chipset market, Gigle and Siconnect. Gigle are busy developing their chipset and a finished product should be available in Q1 of 2007. Siconnect have produced a chipset using their POEM technology.