Starting from January 2015, Panasonic will commence licensing of the unified IP (intellectual property) core involving the provided digital circuit IP and analog circuit IP1, which is a basic component of one-chip system LSI for high-speed power line communication (HD-PLC). HD-PLC uses power lines in the home not only for power transmission but also for communication, just like LAN cables. It allows users to enjoy stable wired network communication by simply plugging in HD-PLC equipment without the need to install a new LAN cable.

System LSI generally consists of a number of functional circuit blocks and the information of the circuit block is called "IP." HD-PLC uses power lines for digital communication, and requires analog circuit IP for power control and digital circuit IP for digital communication.

Regarding the digital circuit IP, Panasonic has licensed "HD-PLC Complete," which supports the LAN communication standard IEEE 19013, since 2010, and "HD-PLC Inside," which supports serial I/O interface, since 2013.

As a result, system LSIs for digital circuits and system LSIs for analog circuits are required separately. Panasonic hopes that the licensing of the new unified IP core will accelerate the development of single chip system LSI for HD-PLC.

Compared with conventional system LSIs, single chip system LSI for HD-PLC enables downsizing, weight-saving and energy-saving, and therefore can be used in a wider variety of products. This will make it possible to connect a greater range of HD-PLC equipped product on a network, perform operations linking and coordinating these products, and provide more advanced services.