Characterization and Emulation of Low-Voltage Power Line Channels for Narrowband and Broadband Communication

The demand for smart grid and smart home applications has raised the recent interest in power line communication (PLC) technologies, and has driven a broad set of deep surveys in low-voltage (LV) power line channels. This book proposes a set of novel approaches, to characterize and to emulate LV power line channels in the frequency range from0.15to 10 MHz, which closes gaps between the traditional narrowband (up to 500 kHz) and broadband (above1.8 MHz) ranges

Characterization and Emulation of Low-Voltage Power Line Channels for Narrowband and Broadband Communication

The demand for smart grid and smart home applications has raised the recent interest in power line communication (PLC) technologies, and has driven a broad set of deep surveys in low-voltage (LV) power line channels. This book proposes a set of novel approaches, to characterize and to emulate LV power line channels in the frequency range from0.15to 10 MHz, which closes gaps between the traditional narrowband (up to 500 kHz) and broadband (above1.8 MHz) ranges

Emulation of Narrowband Powerline Data Transmission Channels and Evaluation of PLC Systems

This work proposes advanced emulation of the physical layer behavior of NB-PLC channels and the application of a channel emulator for the evaluation of NB-PLC systems. In addition, test procedures and reference channels are proposed to improve efficiency and accuracy in the system evaluation and classification. This work shows that the channel emulator-based solution opens new ways toward flexible, reliable and technology-independent performance assessment of PLC modems

Machine Learning Tips and Tricks for Power Line Communications

4openopenTonello A.M.; Letizia N.A.; Righini D.; Marcuzzi F.Tonello, A. M.; Letizia, N. A.; Righini, D.; Marcuzzi, F

The design and use of a digital radio telemetry system for measuring internal combustion engine piston parameters.

During the course of this project, a digital radio telemetry system has been designed and shown to be capable of measuring parameters from the piston of an internal combustion engine, under load. The impetus for the work stems from the need to sample the appropriate data required for oil degradation analysis and the unavailability of system to perform such sampling. The prototype system was designed for installation within a small Norton Villiers C-30 industrial engine. This choice of engine presented significant design challenges due to the small size of the engine (components and construction) and the crankcase environment. These challenges were manifest in the choice of carrier frequency, antenna size and location, modulation scheme, data encoding scheme, signal attenuation, error checking and correction, choice of components, manufacturing techniques and physical mounting to reciprocating parts. In order to overcome these challenges detailed analysis of the radio frequency spectrum was undertaken in order to minimise attenuation from mechanisms such as, absorption, reflection, motion, spatial arrangement and noise. Another aspect of the project concerned the development of a flexible modus operandi in order to facilitate a number of sampling regimes. In order to achieve such flexibility a two-way communication protocol was implemented enabling the sampling system to be programmed into a particular mode of operation, while in use. Additionally the system was designed to accommodate the range of signals output from most transducer devices. The sampling capabilities of the prototype system were extended by enabling the system to support multiple transducers providing a mixture of output signals; for example both analogue and digital signals have been sampled. Additionally, a facility to sample data in response to triggering stimuli has been tested; specifically a sampling trigger may be derived from the motion of the piston via an accelerometer. Ancillary components, such as interface hardware and software, have been developed which are suitable for the recording of data accessed by the system. This work has demonstrated that multi-transducer, mixed signal monitoring of piston parameters, (such as temperature, acceleration etc.) using a two-way, programmable, digital radio frequency telemetry system is not only possible but provides a means for more advanced instrumentation

Characterization and Emulation of Low-Voltage Power Line Channels for Narrowband and Broadband Communication

This thesis proposes a set of novel approaches to characterize and to emulate LV power line channels in the frequency range from 0.15 to 10MHz, which close gaps between the traditional narrowband (up to 500 kHz) and broadband (above 1.8MHz) ranges

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

Cognitive Radio for Smart Grid with Security Considerations

In this paper, we investigate how Cognitive Radio as a means of communication can be utilized to serve a smart grid deployment end to end, from a home area network to power generation. We show how Cognitive Radio can be mapped to integrate the possible different communication networks within a smart grid large scale deployment. In addition, various applications in smart grid are defined and discussed showing how Cognitive Radio can be used to fulfill their communication requirements. Moreover, information security issues pertained to the use of Cognitive Radio in a smart grid environment at different levels and layers are discussed and mitigation techniques are suggested. Finally, the well-known Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is integrated with the Cognitive Radio part of a smart grid communication network to protect against unauthorized access to customer’s data and to the network at large