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

Fifty Years of Noise Modeling and Mitigation in Power-Line Communications.

Building on the ubiquity of electric power infrastructure, power line communications (PLC) has been successfully used in diverse application scenarios, including the smart grid and in-home broadband communications systems as well as industrial and home automation. However, the power line channel exhibits deleterious properties, one of which is its hostile noise environment. This article aims for providing a review of noise modeling and mitigation techniques in PLC. Specifically, a comprehensive review of representative noise models developed over the past fifty years is presented, including both the empirical models based on measurement campaigns and simplified mathematical models. Following this, we provide an extensive survey of the suite of noise mitigation schemes, categorizing them into mitigation at the transmitter as well as parametric and non-parametric techniques employed at the receiver. Furthermore, since the accuracy of channel estimation in PLC is affected by noise, we review the literature of joint noise mitigation and channel estimation solutions. Finally, a number of directions are outlined for future research on both noise modeling and mitigation in PLC

Characterization of non-intentional emissions from distributed energy resources up to 500 kHz: A case study in Spain

Narrow Band Power Line Communications (NB-PLC) systems are currently used for smart metering and power quality monitoring as a part of the Smart Grid (SG) concept. However, non-intentional emissions generated by the devices connected to the grid may sometimes disturb the communications and isolate metering equipment. Though some research works have been recently developed to characterize these emissions, most of them have been limited to frequencies below 150 kHz and they are mainly focused on in-house electronic appliances and lightning devices. As NB-PLC can also be allocated in higher frequencies up to 500 kHz, there is still a lack of analysis in this frequency range, especially for emissions from Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). The identification and characterization of the emissions is essential to develop solutions that avoid a negative impact on the proper performance of NB-PLC. In this work, the non-intentional emissions of different types of DERs composing a representative microgrid have been measured in the 35–500 kHz frequency range and analyzed both in time and frequency domains. Different working conditions and coupling and commutation procedures to mains are considered in the analysis. Results are then compared to the limits recommended by regulatory bodies for spurious emissions from communication systems in this frequency band, as no specific limits for DERs have been established. Field measurements show clear differences in the characteristics of non-intentional emissions for different devices, working conditions and coupling procedures and for frequencies below and above 150 kHz. Results of this study demonstrate that a further characterization of the potential emissions from the different types of DERs connected to the grid is required in order to guarantee current and future applications based on NB-PLC.This work has been financially supported in part by the Basque Government (Elkartek program)

Applications of artificial intelligence in powerline communications in terms of noise detection and reduction : a review

Abstract: The technology which utilizes the power line as a medium for transferring information known as powerline communication (PLC) has been in existence for over a hundred years. It is beneficial because it avoids new installation since it uses the present installation for electrical power to transmit data. However, transmission of data signals through a power line channel usually experience some challenges which include impulsive noise, frequency selectivity, high channel attenuation, low line impedance etc. The impulsive noise exhibits a power spectral density within the range of 10-15 dB higher than the background noise, which could cause a severe problem in a communication system. For better outcome of the PLC system, these noises must be detected and suppressed. This paper reviews various techniques used in detecting and mitigating the impulsive noise in PLC and suggests the application of machine learning algorithms for the detection and removal of impulsive noise in power line communication systems

Noise Characterization and Emulation for Low-Voltage Power Line Channels between 150 kHz and 10 MHz

Characterization and emulation of power line noise have attracted interest since long, in both narrowband and broadband applications. Based on existing models, this paper presents a systematic approach to extract and parameterize each subtype of low-voltage (LV) power line noise between 150 kHz and 10 MHz. Based on the characterization, a FPGA-based emulator is proposed to emulate power line noise scenarios flexibly. A LV power line noise measuring platform is also presented with sample measurements and their emulation

Space-time-frequency methods for interference-limited communication systems

textTraditionally, noise in communication systems has been modeled as an additive, white Gaussian noise process with independent, identically distributed samples. Although this model accurately reflects thermal noise present in communication system electronics, it fails to capture the statistics of interference and other sources of noise, e.g. in unlicensed communication bands. Modern communication system designers must take into account interference and non-Gaussian noise to maximize efficiencies and capacities of current and future communication networks. In this work, I develop new multi-dimensional signal processing methods to improve performance of communication systems in three applications areas: (i) underwater acoustic, (ii) powerline, and (iii) multi-antenna cellular. In underwater acoustic communications, I address impairments caused by strong, time-varying and Doppler-spread reverberations (self-interference) using adaptive space-time signal processing methods. I apply these methods to array receivers with a large number of elements. In powerline communications, I address impairments caused by non-Gaussian noise arising from devices sharing the powerline. I develop and apply a cyclic adaptive modulation and coding scheme and a factor-graph-based impulsive noise mitigation method to improve signal quality and boost link throughput and robustness. In cellular communications, I develop a low-latency, high-throughput space-time-frequency processing framework used for large scale (up to 128 antenna) MIMO. This framework is used in the world's first 100-antenna MIMO system and processes up to 492 Gbps raw baseband samples in the uplink and downlink directions. My methods prove that multi-dimensional processing methods can be applied to increase communication system performance without sacrificing real-time requirements.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

Upgrading the Power Grid Functionalities with Broadband Power Line Communications: Basis, Applications, Current Trends and Challenges

This article reviews the basis and the main aspects of the recent evolution of Broadband Power Line Communications (BB-PLC or, more commonly, BPL) technologies. The article starts describing the organizations and alliances involved in the development and evolution of BPL systems, as well as the standardization institutions working on PLC technologies. Then, a short description of the technical foundation of the recent proposed technologies and a comparison of the main specifications are presented; the regulatory activities related to the limits of emissions and immunity are also addressed. Finally, some representative applications of BPL and some selected use cases enabled by these technologies are summarized, together with the main challenges to be faced.This work was financially supported in part by the Basque Government under the grants IT1426-22, PRE_2021_1_0006, and PRE_2021_1_0051, and by the Spanish Government under the grants PID2021-124706OB-I00 and RTI2018-099162-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”)