Glossary

3

3DES/AES

Triple Data Encryption Algorithm/Advanced Encryption Standard, a set of encryption standards with key sizes of up to 256 bits, providing state of the art protection.

Go to top

8

802.1p

A quality of service protocol that allows different services to be classified by priority. This protocol allows applications that would suffer from delays, such as IPTV, to have a higher priority on the network.

802.1Q

A networking standard that supports VLANs on Ethernet networks.

802.3u

 

100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet, a standard that provides Ethernet communication at speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

 

Go to top

A

AMI

 

Advanced Metering Infrastructure, a two-way communication system that collects, stores, and analyzes metering data and allows time of use billing.

Go to top

B

BPL

Broadband over Powerline, a high speed networking solution over existing wires.

Go to top

C

CPE

Customer Premise Equipment, a slave in a PLC network.

Go to top

D

DALI

Digital Addressable Lighting Interface, a standard for network-based lighting control systems.

Go to top

E

EV

Electric Vehicle, a vehicle that runs on electricity, it may be a Plug In Electric Vehicle (PEV) that uses electricity as its primary power source, or a Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) that uses a combination of electricity and conventional energy sources.

EVSE

Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, a charger for an electric vehicle.

Go to top

G

G.hn

A PLC standard that supports data rates of up to 1 Gbit/s. 

Go to top

H

Head End

 

A master in a PLC network that is acting as a gateway. It is often connected to an internet backbone.

Go to top

I

IHD

In-Home Display

IP Address

 

Internet Protocol Address, a numerical identifier assigned to each device in a network. It is used for routing at a higher level than a device's MAC address, and can sometimes be changed by the user.

IPv4

Internet Protocol Version 4.

IPv6

 

Internet Protocol Version 6.

Go to top

L

Luminaire

 

A complete electric lighting unit. A light fixture or fitting.

LV

Low Voltage, the voltage distributed to customers, usually less than 1000 V.

Go to top

M

MAC Address

Media Access Control Address, a unique identifier that is assigned to each device on the network by the manufacturer. It is used by networking equipment to address messages to specific devices. It cannot be changed by the user.

Master

The top level node in a PLC network. It functions as a head end and coordinates communication between slaves and repeaters.

Mbps

 

Megabit Per Second, a data transfer rate equal to 1,000,000 bits per second.

MDU

Multi Dwelling Unit, any building with a large number of users, such as an apartment or office building.

MV

 

Medium Voltage, the voltage used for electrical transmission, usually less than 50 kV, it is stepped down to LV using a transformer for distribution to customers.

Go to top

N

NOC

 

Network Operations Centre, a location where electrical grid and access network operators can monitor and control their network.

Go to top

O

OFDM

 

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, a communication scheme that divides the frequency spectrum into individual subcarriers, preventing noise in one part of the spectrum from interfering with other areas. 

Go to top

P

PEV

Plug In Electric Vehicle, a vehicle that runs on electricity and can be recharged using an EVSE.

PHEV

 

Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, a rechargeable vehicle that uses a combination of electricity and conventional energy sources.

PLC

Power Line Communication, a technology that provides communication capabilities over existing wires.

Go to top

R

Repeater

A device in a PLC network that rebroadcasts the PLC signal to improve signal strength and reliability.

Go to top

S

Slave

The lowest level node on a PLC network, it can be anything from a wall mounted adapter to a smart meter.

SmartGrid

 

An electricity grid with communication and monitoring capabilities.

SNMP

 

Simple Network Management Protocol, a protocol used to manage devices on IP networks. SNMP uses simple commands to read the status of a device and to set configuration parameters. 

SNR

Signal to Noise Ratio, the ratio of signal power to noise power.

STP

 

Spanning Tree Protocol, a network protocol used to ensure that the topology of a local area network does not contain any loops that could trap messages in the network indefinitely.

 

Go to top

T

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol, one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite, it provides reliable information transfer from a program on one computer to a program on another. 

TOU

Time Of Use Billing, a billing system where electricity rates can be varied based on the time of day the electricity is used.

Go to top

U

UPA

Universal Powerline Association.

Go to top

V

V2G

 

Vehicle-to-Grid, a system where plug-in electric vehicles communicate with the power grid to sell demand response services by either delivering electricity into the grid when it is needed or throttling their charging rate when the grid is under stress.

VLAN

Virtual LAN, a group of devices that behave as if they were on the same physical network, regardless of their actual location. VLANS can also be used to make devices that are on the same physical network behave as if they were on different networks.

Go to top