Power Line Carrier - A Power Line Carrier is any system that communicates using power line communication (PLC), which is a system for carrying data on a conductor that is also used for electric power transmission. PLC are one of the Control Communication Backbone technologies used in home automation. Below is a graphic illustrating a Power Line Carrier network.
Processor - In a Home Automation application, a Processor is the component or components that do most of the computing. They receive, interpret, calculate, route, and send signals throughout the automation system.