HomePlug is the family name for various power line communications specifications under the HomePlug designation, each with unique capabilities and compatibility with other HomePlug specifications. Some HomePlug specifications target broadband applications. For instance; in-home distribution of low data rate IPTV, gaming, and Internet content, while others focus on low power, low throughput, and extended operating temperatures for applications such as smart power meters and in-home communications between electric systems and appliances. All of the HomePlug specifications were developed by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, which also owns the HomePlug trademark. On 18 October 2016, the HomePlug Alliance announced that all of its specifications would be put into the public domain and that other organizations would be taking on future activities relating to deployment of the existing technologies. There was no mention in the announcement of any further technology development within the HomePlug community. History The HomePlug Powerline Alliance was formed to develop standards and technology for enabling devices to communicate with each other, and the Internet, over existing structure/house electrical wiring. One of the greatest technical challenges was finding a way to reduce sensitivity to the electrical noise present on power lines. HomePlug solved this problem by increasing the communication carrier frequencies so that the signal is conveyed by the neutral conductor, which is common to all phases. The first HomePlug specification, HomePlug 1.0, was released in June 2001. The HomePlug AV (for audio-video) specification, released in 2005, increased physical layer (PHY) peak data rates from approximately 13.0 Mbit/s to 200 Mbit/s. The HomePlug Green PHY specification was released in June 2010 and targets Smart Energy and Smart Grid applications as an interoperable "sibling" to HomePlug AV with lower cost, lower power consumption and decreased throughput. In 2010, the IEEE 1901 was approved and HomePlug AV, as baseline technology for the FFT-OFDM PHY within the standard, and became an international standard. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance is a certifying body for IEEE 1901 products. The three major specifications published by HomePlug (HomePlug AV, HomePlug Green PHY and HomePlug AV2) are interoperable and compliant. In 2011, the HomePlug Green PHY specification was adopted by Ford, General Motors, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, and Volkswagen, as a connectivity standard for Plug-In Electrical Vehicle. As of 2017, there are at least six chip vendors shipping HomePlug AV chipsets with IEEE 1901 specification support: Broadcom, Qualcomm Atheros, Sigma Designs, Intellon, SPiDCOM, and MStar. Newer versions of HomePlug