News

ADD Semiconductor Achieves PRIME Official Certification

September 09, 2010 by Jeff Shepard

ADD Semiconductor, a powerline communication (PLC) IC company for smart grid applications, has received the official PRIME brand recognition as a technology provider, and it states that it is the first silicon vendor to do so.

Equipment from ADD has successfully completed the certification process defined by the PRIME Alliance Certification Task Group, and its products are now certified as entirely compliant with PRIME specifications. This certification process was performed by Labein-TECNALIA, one of the independent certification entities authorized by PRIME Alliance.

PRIME is a new worldwide narrow band powerline communication technology based on OFDM that provides up to 128Kbps communications for smart grid applications.

The PRIME Alliance is an industrial consortium focused on the development of an open, public and non-proprietary telecom solution that will support smart metering functionalities and progress the implementation of the ’smart grid’ globally. It has put forth specifications for powerline communications that allows for utilities companies to safely pick technologies from different vendors to achieve the best solution for their needs, and PRIME certification guarantees interoperability.

ADD semiconductor is a founding member of the PRIME Alliance, which involves utilities, meter manufacturers, silicon providers, research institutes, system integrators, covering the complete smart grid scenario.

Guillaume d’Eyssautier, CEO at ADD Semiconductor, commented, "Being the first technology provider to receive the PRIME official certification represents a prestigious reward for our broad experience in PLC for smart metering systems, and it affirms a job well done. With this certification, ADD Semiconductor substantiates the performance of its PRIME solution, which will be further reinforced with imminent real-world deployments. The combination of ADD’s continuous effort and highly proactive collaboration with all working groups inside the PRIME Alliance has been the reason of this success. Congratulations to the whole ADD team for contributing to this outstanding achievement that will enable ADD to reinforce its leadership position within the smart metering AMM/AMI market."