Home Network Basis: Transmission Environments and Wired/Wireless Protocols

9.1. X-10

The X-10 technology was invented about 25 years ago by engineers with a Scotland company. Pico Electronics Ltd. of Glenrothes, Scot-land, was founded in the early 1970s for the growing electronic calculator market. Every time Pico began a new project, it was given an experiment number. Experiments 1 through 8 were increasingly more complex calculator Integrated Circuits (ICs). Experiment 9 was a project for a programmable record changer. This work was done for BSR (British Sound Reproduction). Experiment 10, therefore the name of X-10, was also requested by BSR to provide a wireless method of remote control for its equipment. It was determined that wireless over existing electrical wiring was better than other alternatives such as RF ...