ADD Semiconductor signs agreement with Paltek

ZARAGOZA, SPAIN & YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: ADD Semiconductor, the high-performance powerline communication (PLC) IC company for smart metering, lighting, and home/building automation applications, has announced a strategic partnership with Paltek Corporation, naming Paltek as its sole distributor to extend the company’s reach to Japan.

Effective immediately, Paltek will provide dedicated distribution and engineering support for all ADD Semiconductor products in Japan.

Jesus Teijero, worldwide VP of sales at ADD Semiconductor, commented: “Japan is one of the leading countries in driving energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprint. It hosts several of the world’s top utility meter manufacturers and offers a large market opportunity in implementing smart-grid, lighting, and building and residential energy management systems.

“We need a strong partner to engage in the region and crucially Paltek provides the perfect match for ADD Semiconductor. Paltek has extensive experience in launching products in wireless and wireline communications fields, and in providing deeply technical engineering support, critical factors towards our success in the Japanese market.”

Naohide Yabuki, Paltek general manager, smart-grid development group, added: “We are delighted by ADD Semiconductor’s decision to work with us as it expands into Japan. The technology for lower-frequency PLC has matured and ADD Semiconductor’s technological leadership, market share, and role as a founding member of the PRIME Alliance (PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution), the core of the European ‘OPEN meter’ initiative, will enable new economies of scale and greatly improves the economics and efficiency of powerline communications.”

The ADD Semiconductor powerline communications design solution combines an inexpensive 8-bit microcontroller with MAC circuitry and a high performance digital PLC modem in an SoC, supported by software libraries, reference designs, and development tools, and for those customers implementing the PRIME architecture, an upper layer stack.