State-of-the-art in Power Line Communications: from the Applications to the Medium

In recent decades, power line communication has attracted considerable attention from the research community and industry, as well as from regulatory and standardization bodies. In this article we provide an overview of both narrowband and broadband systems, covering potential applications, regulatory and standardization efforts and recent research advancements in channel characterization, physical layer performance, medium access and higher layer specifications and evaluations. We also identify areas of current and further study that will enable the continued success of power line communication technology.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. Special Issue on Power Line Communications and its Integration with the Networking Ecosystem. 201

Cooperative Relaying In Power Line Environment: A Survey and Tutorial

Exchange of information is essential in any society and the demand for faster, cheaper, and secure communications is increasing every day. With other hi-tech initiatives like IPv6 and Internet-of-Things (IOT) already in the horizon, demand for broadband is set to escalate beyond its current level. Inherently laden in the challenges posed by this technology are fresh opportunities in terms of penetration of data services into rural communities and development of innovative strategies for more efficient use of the grid. Though still in its developmental phase/stage, Power Line Communication (PLC) has grown beyond theoretical fantasy to become a reality. The proofs are the readily available PLC systems that can be purchased off the shelfto achieve in-house networking and the much talked about, smart metering technology; generally regarded as the “new bride” in utilities industry. One of the biggest gains of PLC is its use of existing electrical cables, thereby eliminating cost of installation and maintenance of data cables. However, given that the power infrastructure was traditionally built to deliver electricity, data signals do suffer various forms of distortions and impairments as they transit it. This paper presents a tutorial on the deployed wireless system technique which is to be adapted to PLC scenario for the purpose of managing the available source energy for achieving reliable communication system. One of these techniques is the cooperative diversity. Its application and deployment in power line environment is explored. The improvement achieved through cooperative diversity in some PLC systems were presented along with the associated limitations. Finally, future areas of research which will further improve the reliability of PLC systems and reduce its power consumption during transmission is shown

Impact Assessment of the Power Line Channel Characteristics in Real Topology

This paper investigates the effect of different parameters of power line topology on PLC system. Information about real radial power distribution network is used to define a PLC channel model in NS-3 simulator. The overhead LV distribution network was modelled in the extended bandwidth. Results of real measurements are linked with simulation results in order to see which parameters influence the communication significantly

Capacity Performance of Overhead Transmission Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Broadband over Power Lines Networks: The Insidious Effect of Noise and the Role of Noise Models

Extending the analysis already presented in [1], this paper considers broadband potential of overhead (OV) transmission multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) broadband over power lines (BPL) networks when different noise conditions occur and different well-proven noise models are adopted.The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, the broadband potential of a great number of indicative OV high-voltage (HV) BPL topologies and of MIMO transmission schemes is studied in terms of appropriate capacity metrics. The relevant numerical results reveal the significant dependence of ΜΙΜΟ capacity metrics on noise conditions. Second, various well-known BPL noise models from the literature are compared on the basis of their achieved OV HV MIMO BPL capacity. Through the careful study of the capacity results of noise models, it is demonstrated that spectrally flat additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) may be comfortably assumed as an efficient noise model in transmission MIMO BPL networks. Also in MIMO BPL networks, the comparative capacity analysis of noise models shows small differences among them in the 3-88MHz frequency range.Citation：Lazaropoulos, A. G. (2016). Capacity Performance of Overhead Transmission Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Broadband over Power Lines Networks: The Insidious Effect of Noise and the Role of Noise Models. Trends in Renewable Energy, 2(2), 61-82. DOI: 10.17737/tre.2016.2.2.002

Main Line Fault Localization Methodology (MLFLM) in Smart Grid – The Underground Medium- and Low-Voltage Broadband over Power Lines Networks Case

This paper assesses the performance of the main line fault localization methodology (MLFLM) when its application is extended to underground medium- and low-voltage broadband over power lines (UN MV and UN LV BPL) networks, say UN distribution BPL networks.  This paper focuses on the localization of main distribution line faults across UV MV and UN LV BPL networks. By extending the MLFLM procedure, which has successfully been applied to overhead medium-voltage (OV MV) BPL networks, the performance assessment of MLFLM is investigated with respect to the nature of the main distribution line faults, the intensity of the measurement differences and the fault location across the main distribution lines of the underground distribution power grid (either MV or LV grid).Citation: Lazaropoulos, A. G. (2017). Main Line Fault Localization Methodology (MLFLM) in Smart Grid – The Underground Medium- and Low-Voltage Broadband over Power Lines Networks Case. Trends in Renewable Energy, 4, 15-42. DOI: 10.17737/tre.2018.4.1.004