Panasonic has begun licensing its patents and technologies for designing large-scale integration (LSI) chips that support its HD-PLC high-speed powerline communication technology.

The technology was jointly developed by Panasonic and its subsidiary, Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. They have proposed HD-PLC as an international standard to the IEEE Standards Association, aiming for a wider adoption of PLC technology among consumers through the deployment of HD-PLC LSI and HD-PLC compliant devices by many manufacturers.

The PLC technology - Panasonic's proprietary Wavelet OFDM technology - presented by the two companies to the IEEE, has been ratified as one of the technologies in IEEE P19013 through the IEEE standards committee's sponsor review process. In January 2010, HD-PLC technology was published as a draft specification, and in the current review, the technology that allows HD-PLC to coexist with other PLC technologies, proposed by Panasonic with CEPCA, was also approved. Panasonic aims to have the Japanese-developed PLC technology approved as an IEEE international standard by the end of 2010.

Specifically, Panasonic's patents and technologies now available for license include its circuit technology for designing IEEE-compliant, HD-PLC LSI chips and its software to execute functions on those LSI chips. Panasonic also plans to license to manufacturers worldwide its PLC module-related technologies used in the HD-PLC adaptors that have a share of more than 85% in the Japanese PLC market. Panasonic estimates that at least 50 million sets of HD-PLC products will be sold in the world by 2015.