Marvell's DS2 purchase continues its powerline technology drive

Marvell Technology Group is ramping up its powerline capabilities by acquiring the intellectual property and related assets of Spain's DS2, a powerline communications vendor that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The acquisition of DS2 comes during a consolidation phase in the powerline silicon market. By acquiring DS2's assets, Marvell will be able to effectively compete with rivals such as Atheros, which acquired Intellon in 2009. Similarly, DSL silicon vendor Ikanos bought out Conexant Systems' access product portfolio.

Marvell's move comes as powerline's role in the no new wires home networking drive and smart grid applications gains momentum. HomePlug Power Alliance, the main powerline communications advocate reached a major milestone earlier this year when the IEEE's P1901 Working Group passed the initial sponsor ballot to create a global powerline standard. And as noted in a Connected Planet article, Marvell will also be able to leverage DS2's work on building silicon to support the emerging G.hn home networking standard that claims can unify the fragmented home networking technology factions.

While WiFi has become an easy and popular home networking technology, a new IMS Research study argues that ‘no-new-wire' approaches like powerline are gaining momentum as service providers look to ensure guaranteed service quality for not only standard IPTV, but especially for premium services such as multi-room HDTV services.

Although Marvell did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, about 75 DS2 workers were transferred to the company.

For more:
- see the release here
- Connected Planet has this article

Related articles:
IPTV, DVRs will spur growth of 'no-new-wires'-based home networks
Atheros plugs into powerline networking with Intellon acquisition
Untangling the home network wiring debate
G.hn standard gets ITU-T's blessing
CES 2010: IEEE releases powerline communications draft standard
MoCA certifies 2.0 home networking specification
HomePlug Alliance jacks up powerline home networking
MoCA, HomePlug Alliance to compare notes