Renesas power line carrier communication ics are used in Panasonic intelligent lighting control systems

     Renesas Electronics, a leading global provider of semiconductor solutions, announced that Panasonic has adopted the Renesas R9A06G037 Power line carrier communications (PLC) IC for its new railway platform lighting control system. Panasonic and East Japan Railway Company (JR East) jointly developed a new platform lighting control system based on G3-PLC (a 10-450 kHz narrowband PLC technology standard for outdoor use). The system is currently deployed at the new Takauri Gateway station platform on the JR EAST Yamanote Line and the Keihama Tohoku Line in Tokyo.

     In the past, to adjust the brightness and color of the lighting equipment on the platform, it was necessary to install a dedicated signal line independent of the power cord. PLC technology can transmit control signals over power lines, thereby reducing the amount of wiring required and saving costs and deployment time.

     Yasunori Kaise, head of Lighting Division, Lighting Equipment Business Division and Dimming System Product Division, Panasonic Lifestyle Solutions, said: "We are pleased to see the new lighting control system that can adjust brightness and color on station platforms. Thanks to Renesas' technical support and extensive experience in smart meter applications worldwide, we successfully completed all stages from field testing to actual deployment. By working with Renesas, we will further expand the use of narrowband PLCS in lighting systems in the future."

     Toru Moriya, Vice president, Internet of Things and Infrastructure Business Unit, Emerging Markets Business Unit, Renesas Electronics, said: "We are proud to have worked with Panasonic for the past five years to develop PLC-based lighting control systems. Through close cooperation, the two sides have overcome technical problems in communication systems such as noise resistance; Today, we are very pleased to see that the scheme is already in operation in the station system. We look forward to continuing to work with Panasonic to develop lighting control systems for a variety of environments."

     The new lighting control system adjusts the brightness and color of the platform lighting through PLC to meet the lighting requirements under different time and weather conditions. G3-PLC technology has advantages such as high noise resistance and easy remote communication. However, the implementation of the scheme in the station faces another challenge, that is, how to achieve accurate operation in extremely demanding environments (such as wireless signals generated by trains when they start and stop, electromagnetic waves, and noise emitted by various electrical equipment, etc.).

     The Renesas R9A06G037 PLC IC in the new system complies with the G3-PLC standard, and is equipped with excellent communication processing software and excellent noise resistance. In addition to the PLC IC, Renesas also provided comprehensive technical support with its extensive field deployment experience to help Panasonic smoothly develop and implement a new lighting control system to achieve color-free brightness and color control in the station. Technical support includes board design solutions, evaluation board-based optimizations, communication reference software, support for software development, and tools for evaluating communication status.