February News Roundup

This month's terminal server and smart grid news top four topics included:

1. $10 million dedicated to smart grid facility research and deployment
Researchers received an additional $10 million from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for smart grid development with a focus on reliability and resilience. In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, the funds are part of PNNL's Future Power Grid Initiative, and will also help drive the integration of alternative, renewable power sources across the nation. As innovation continues, increased investments into smart grid potential and growth will be essential for the country's continued reliance on energy networks.

2. US to develop stronger plan for smart grid, solar power
The United States is focusing on renewable energy deployments and the growth of alternative power grids, learning a lesson from recent, similar efforts in Germany. The Electric Power Research Institute recently published suggested courses of action for improving the nation's power infrastructure and driving full utilization of the potential resources at the utility and consumer levels. The firm points toward grid evolution as the main driver for a need to reassess how renewable energy sources are managed and monetized.

3. European FTTH investments could see improvement
Despite continued growth in FTTH deployments, European nations still rank low in global FFTH efforts. Total Telecom reported that many Western European nations lag behind Eastern, with an even more significant gap between Europe and countries such as South Korea, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. The FTTH Council Europe has announced its desire to see growth in this segment, and hopes that more nations across Europe will qualify for fiber market maturity classification soon. FTTH growth reached about 29 percent in 2013 - nearly double the growth rate of the previous year.

4. Two standards development projects approved by IEEE
The IEEE recently approved two new standards development projects, PC37.247 and PC37.248. These projects will focus on improved Phasor Data Concentrators for power systems and common formatting for naming Intelligent Electronic Devices, respectively. Both efforts will help to drive overall smart grid functionality and growth by enhancing the locating and testing of faults and critical operation errors across a network. These standards will help drive commonality in infrastructure and naming conventions.

Perle offers a variety of media converter and terminal server options to meet any new infrastructure deployment.