Power Line Communication [PLC]

Guson Kuntarto 2636177 University of Wollongong

//Objective//
Investigate PLC from technical aspects. Investigate PLC economical point of view.

//Outline//
+ An overview of PLC + + Features + + Technology aspects + + Applications + + Economical aspects + + Conclusion +

//Background//
Diagram of electricity distribution networks[4]
Transformer High-Low Voltage Medium Voltage 10KV High Voltage 400KV Hydro/Nuclear Power Plant --AC-Transformer Medium-Low Voltage

110-240V

Low Voltage 0.4KV

Low Voltage 0.4KV

//Background//
Most of houses are connected by the power grids. Most of houses have an indoor power lines installed.

//IDEA//
Increasing usage of bandwidth for data communication [4]. To use existing power lines as a communications channel, to accommodate data communication [4] .

//IDEA//
Requires advances techniques: Modulation techniques (FSK and OFDM)[2,3,5,15,16,17]. Channel coding/FEC (convolution codes)[4]. Medium Access Control (MAC)[5]. Security (DES 56-bit encryption)[5,17].

//IDEA//
Implementations: Designing a power line modem (PLM) [2,11]. For various applications [1]. Potential to make a large-scale data networks [14].

//Features of PLC //
No new infrastructure installed [5]. Easy to interconnect devices through power grid. Easy to install plug and play [5]. Using radio frequencies (RF) for data transmission [4,14]. Data rate 600bps to 45Mbps [6,10,12,13] .

//Technical of PLC //
A block diagram model of data communication system [4]
Source Encoder Channel Encoder

Source

Modulator

Channel

Destination

Source Decoder

Channel Decoder

Demodulator

//Technical of PLC //
[1] The Channel
+ Channel was designed to transfer the electricity [4]. + Channel capable for data communication. + Channel has limitation, regarding of noises and interferences caused by electrical signals [15].

//Technical of PLC //
Standardization usage of frequency in PLC
PLC uses radio frequency (RF) [14]. Avoid AM band [8]. In Europe, CENELEC: 3kHz 148.5kHz [4]. Bandwidth limitations [4]. Hardly to achieve high data rate. High Frequency (HF)? In used, for example: radio amateur [4]. HF PLC indoor applications [6,14]. VLF PLC outdoor applications [10,12,13,14].

//Technical of PLC //
[2] Modulator and demodulator
Modulation techniques: + Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), using variety frequency of carrier signal to present 1 and 0[17] + 4 possible baud rate (600Hz, 1.2kHz, 2.4kHz and 4.8kHz) [2]. + Baud rate = bit rate [2]. + Used for low data rate transfer 600bps4.8kbps [4]. + Suitable to run in medium-voltage (10KV) [6].

//Technical of PLC //
[2] Modulator and demodulator(contd)
Modulation techniques: + Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), using narrowband sub-carrier and multiplexed based on FDM [2,15,16]. + Using HF (3-30MHz) [10,14] + Can achieve high data rate transfer (1445Mbps) [10,12,13]. + Suitable works in low-voltages (110-240V) [10,12,13].

//Technical of PLC //
[3] Channel encoder and decoder used to reduce bit error, for instance, the convolution code technique [4]. [4] Source encoder and decoder used to compress and extract data, to avoid data redundancy [4]. [5] Source and Destination Part of data communication, where the data start to transfer and end to receive.

//Technical of PLC //
Enhanced with:
+ Medium access control (MAC) including Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) with Collision Detection (CD)/ Collision Avoidance (CA) [3,5]. + 56-bits Data Encryption Standard (DES) mechanism[5,17].

//Technical of PLC //
A model of data communications for PLC +Impedances (Z) [4]. +Coupling circuits (high pass filter) [4].

//Technical of PLC //
A model scheme of data communications for PLC [4]

Zt
R-L-C CIRCUIT R-L-C CIRCUIT Zi

Transmitter

Coupling Circuit

Power line Channel

Coupling Circuit

Receiver

//Technical of PLC //
In PLC, impedance mismatched (Zt Zi) [4]. Consequences, difficult to apply impedance matching (Zt=Zi) over various impedances [4]. ----------------- Using coupling circuit to block low frequency (50/60Hz) and pass the high frequency for data communication [4]. Easy to apply, using to RLC circuits

//Technical of PLC //
Designing a power line modemPLM) [2] Low complexity. Low power consumption. Implementing associated HW, such as coupling circuits and de/modulator.

//Technical of PLC //
A diagram of PLM [2,11]

//Technical of PLC //
A power line modem (PLM) [10]
Item Modulation Number of carrier Frequency band Bandwidth Data rate Multi-access Transmission power LAN interface Specification OFDM max 1280, programmable 13.8MHz to 22.8MHz (Link 2) 6.3MHz (upstream: 2.MHz, downstream: 3.8MHz max. 45Mbps (Upstream: 18Mbps, downstream:27Mbps) TDMA/FDD Max. -50dB/m 1 port - 100BaseTx/10BaseT 1 port - USB 1.0 1 port -RJ-11 H.323v2 AC 110-220V 50/60Hz Coupling unit inc W75xH45xD120mm CE mark (EN60950, EN55022, EN55024)

VoIP protocol AC input Size Standard

//Applications of PLC //
[1]Power Line Outdoors Telecoms (PLOC)[1]
+ Automatic meter reading (AMR) system. + Using power-grid from houses to substations. + Works over medium- voltage (10KV).

+ Low-speed data rate 600bps-2.4kbps.

//Applications of PLC //
[2] Power Line Indoors Telecoms (PLIC) [1]
+ Data communication in a local area (home) [9]. + Using house power-grid [9]

+ Work over low-voltage (110-240V) [9].

+ Data rate up to 14-45Mbps [9].

//Economical aspects of PLC //

Relative inexpensive modem PLM24 - data rate 2,4kbps[13] - price $32[13] PL9640 - data rate 14Mbps[12] - price $89[18] No extra cost for infrastructures

//Economical aspects of PLC //

Comparison of LAN technology [7,12,18]
LAN Network Type Data rate Mbps Characteristic Ethernet IEEE 802.3 10/ 100 Phone line HomePNA 2.0 10 Wireless IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11b 55 11 Mobility Power line HomePlug 1.0 14

Fastest sytem low cost NICs Requires extensive wiring and retrofit

Use existing phone line Computers must be near phone jack

Use existing power line and electrical outlet New technology not yet widespread

Limitations

wired infrastructure usually requiered

Cost (USD)

75-200/port retrofit wiring 60-100 new installation

50-100

60-250

89

//Conclusion //
A technology for data communication over power line channels. uses existing power lines for data communications. Uses radio frequency (RF) Advances technology, including: de/modulation: (e.g.FSK and OFDM), FEC, MAC and security mechanism

//Conclusion //
PLIC and PLOC applications. Can achieve data rate 600bps-45Mbps. Relative inexpensive modem. Using existing power line, so no extra cost for infrastructures. Alternative way for data communication.

//References //
[1] Wikipedia, 2002, Power line communication, GNU free documentation license [online], Available: http://www.fact-index.com/p/po/power_line_communications.html, accessed: 05/09/2004. [2] Cappelletti, R. and Baschirotto, A., March 2001, A power line FSK transceiver with reduced power consumption, IEEE Transactions on consumers electronics, Vol. 47(2), pp. 207 212. [3] Pavlidou, N., Vinck, A. J. H., Yazdani, J. and Honary, B., April 2003, Power line communications: state of art and the future trends, IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 34 40. [4] Selander, L., 1999, Power line communications Channel Properties and Communications Strategies (Doctoral dissertation, Department of Information Technology, Lund University), [Online]. Available: http://info.iet.unipi.it/~filippo/documenti/powerlines/PowerLineCom/Bibliografia/Rif09.pdf, pp. 8 20, accessed: 03-09-2004. [5] Lin, Yu-Ju, Latchman, A., H., and Lee, M., 2004, A Power line communications Network Infrastructure for the Smart Home, pp. 1 -11, [Online]. Available: www.list.ufl.edu/publications/1.pdf, accessed: 05/09/2004. [6] Archnet, 2001, Automatic meter reading (AMR) system [online]. Available: http://www.archnetco.com/english/product/product_s1.htm, accessed: 15/09/2004. [7] Lee M. K., Newman R. E., Latchman H. A., Katar S. and Yonge L., September 2002, HomePlug 1.0 Power line communications LANs Protocol description and performance results version 5.4, International journal of communications systems, Vol. 1(1), p. 1-3, [Online]. Available: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~nemo/papers/IJCS2003.pdf, accessed: 16/09/2004. [8] Pahlavan, 2004, (Lecture materials Chapter 13 Wireless LAN Technology, School of Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology), pp. 39 42, [Online]. Available: http://users.ece.gatech.edu/yucel/wlan.pdf, accessed: 16/09/2004.

//References //
[9] Kempf, P., June 2003, HomePlug powerline alliance, pp. 1-15, [Online]. Available: http://www.plcforum.org/docs/world_summit/HomePlug.pdf, accessed: 16/09/2004. [10] Abe, Y., Shinoda, Y., Kuwahara, M., Asao, Y., Tokumaru, K., Hirotsu, K., Ohno, H., Shimoguchi, T., Ozaki, T., Yada, K., Sanda, M., Kuwabara, M., and Sakamoto, H., June 2004, Development of high speed power line communications modem, SEI Technical Review, Vol. 58, pp. 28 33. [Online]. Available: www.sei.co.jp/tr_e/t_technical_e_pdf/58-06.pdf, accessed: 16/09/2004. [11] Duque, C., A., Barbosa P. G., and Bapsita, D., P., 2001, Data transmission through power line, [Online]. Available: www.mestradoeletrica.ufjf.br/ professores/duque/t&d2001_061.pdf. [12] Asoka, 2004, Ethernet wall mount PL9640-ETH, [Online]. Available: http://www.asokausa.com/pdf/9640.pdf, accessed: 16/09/2004. [13] High Tech Horizon (HTH), 2004, Price list PLM-24, [Online]. Available: http://www.hth.com/plm-24/order.htm, accessed: 01/10/2004. [14] Kirwan, S., and South, G., 2004, Power line networking technologies broadband potential, [Online]. Available: http://glasnost.itcarlow.ie/~net4/kirwans/bband.html#_Toc67235681, accessed: 05/10/2004. [15] Gotz M., Rapp M., and Dostert K., A 2004, Power line channel characteristics and their effect on communication system design, IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 78-86. [16] Purroy, A., Sanz, A., Garcia Nicolas, J. I. and Urriza, I., 2004,Research areas for efficient power line communication modems, Department of electronics and communications engineering University of Zaragoza, pp. 2-6, [Online]. Available: www.isplc2004.unizar.es/Research%20Areas%20for%20Efficient%20Power%20Line%20Communication%20Modems.pdf, accessed: 07/10/2004. [17] Forouzan, A., B. and Fegan C., S., 2004, Data communication and networking, 3rd edition, McGraw Hill. [18] Ramelectronic, 2004, Price of Ethernet wall mount PL9640-ETH, [Online]. Available: http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ethernet133.htm, accessed: 11/10/2004.

//Questions?? //

//Thank You //