Electronic Design Technology Announces New Products And Support For The New Microsoft Led SCP Home Automation Standard

Longview, Texas, June 26, 2000

Electronic Design Technology (EDT), a quality leader in the development of innovative and value driven home automation / home control products, announces its support for the Simple Control Protocol (SCP). SCP is a recently announced protocol convergence effort between Microsoft and the CEBus Industry Council (CIC) to create a widely accepted home control standard for home power line carrier networking and for appliances and other home devices which are not TCP/IP networking compatible.

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As a member of both the CEBus Industry Council and the Microsoft led Universal Plug & Play (UPnP) initiative, EDT looks forward to working with other industry participants to further SCP development.

Marc Bally, Electronic Design Technology President, summarizes the importance of SCP as follows: "We believe that this convergence will result in more interoperable products, reduce the price and increase reliability for the consumer thereby resulting in a larger market penetration of home automation products."

"Microsoft has stated that 'SCP will be interoperable with UPnP networks and CEBus® standard/Home Plug and Play™ enabled devices.' Microsoft has correctly recommended that until the SCP convergence is complete, new product development should incorporate CEBus / Home Plug and Play with a planned 'migration path to SCP'".

"Given our emphasis on CEBus product development, this is great news. These plans help insure that EDT products will be incorporated into current CEBus systems and into more interoperable SCP solutions in the future. The fact that we are converging to a uniform standard allows EDT to focus development and bring products to market faster."

New Product Announcements

Electronic Design Technology announces four new CEBus HomePnP based products, with planned availability in the latter half of 2000.

Two of these products, a CEBus HomePnP Intelligent flush mount wall outlet and a CEBus HomePnP Intelligent wall switch, are key components in the development of innovative home lighting / energy management systems. In addition to their primary functions, these devices provide EDT's unique multi-function node operation. The external sensors can be easily connected to either the outlet or the switch (each a CEBus HomePnP node), with the sensor communicating over the CEBus HomePnP Protocol, independent of the outlet or switch operation. These multi-function components reduce cost per unit function, save space, and simplify installation. FLASH memory, rather than an E-PROM, is used in these intelligent devices so as to allow software upgrades over the power line, as new sensors / devices become available.

Other new products include a CEBus HomePnP transmit amplifier with low power consumption, for OEM applications, and a CEBus phase coupler to bridge the CEBus signal between two AC line phases.

Electronic Design Technology (EDT), a division of ElDeTec Inc., is a quality leader in the design and manufacture of automation & control products for the commercial and consumer markets. EDT specializes in innovative, value driven engineering solutions, drawing upon both the engineering background of its technical staff and the practical home integration / installation experience provided by its sister division, IQ Home Systems.

For more information about Electronic Design Technology and CEBus please visit: http://www.eldetec.com/

For more information about SCP, please visit: www.microsoft.com/homenet/scp/

Contact:
Marc Bally
Electronic Design Technology
marcbally@eldetec.com 
Telephone: (903) 753-4180 x201
Fax: (903) 753-4811