We speak of X10, one speaks of a communication protocol, free of rights, common carriers, as part of home automation in order to act X10 receiver modules.
Developed from 1975, the X10 has emerged following the work done by the Scottish company "Pico Electronics' wishing to provide various electrical appliances in a home.
X10 was the first standard for home automation and nowadays there are several companies that make X10 compatible devices.
The pulses, high frequency signals, 120 kHz with an amplitude of 5 Vpp, are transmitted through the power grid frequency 50 or 60 Hz AC voltages of 110 or 220 Vac.
Each X10 device has an address consisting of a house code (a letter from A to P) and a number from 1 to 16.
It may therefore have up to 256 adresses. If several devices may have the same address, see orders being together is the same for transmitters or controllers.
In fact, the receivers can X10 commands with remote controls, monitors, computers (PC or MAC) and also with mobile phones through interfaces.
There are also other specialized modules for specific functions on the X10 protocol filters, phase couplers, repeaters ...