An interconnection approach and performance tests for in-home PLC networks

To enable the smart grid concept, it is fundamental to consider the in-home/building context where, beside the conventional home networking services, home automation and smart energy management services have to be offered. In this paper, we consider the in-home/building scenario, for which we propose a convergent network architecture to enhance the performance of the narrowband power line communication (PLC) G3-PLC technology through its integration with an Ethernet-based network. To this end, we define the protocols characterizing the network modules, namely, switches and routers, which allow for integrating the G3-PLC with Ethernet devices. Since Ethernet represents a convergent standard for many communication devices, by adding this functionality to G3-PLC, interconnectivity with other heterogeneous nodes can be offered. Furthermore, since the G3-PLC medium access control layer is based on a carrier sense multiple access scheme, its performance decreases when the number of network nodes contending for the channel increases. Therefore, we evaluate the network performance when an optimized time division multiple access scheme is adopted. The proposed convergent network architecture has been implemented in the OMNeT++ network simulator.

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“…e obtained statistics are depicted in Figure 7 (red dotted lines). More results regarding the test campaigns are reported in [23].…”

Section: Simulation Setup and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…e deployment of G3-PLC in home/buildings is indeed interesting. However, in our previous work [23], we have found, through experimental test campaigns, that the G3-PLC technology can exhibit poor performance within large houses/buildings. erefore, in this paper, we propose possible enhancements focusing at the MAC DDL sublayer.…”

Section: Contributionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Enhancements of G3-PLC Technology for Smart-Home/Building Applications

Bert

D'Alessandro

Tonello

2013

Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering

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“…Consequently, the maximum achievable bit-rate is 29. 6 . We also assume that the transmission does not wait for any acknowledgement (ACK).…”

Section: G3-plc Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Firstly, it has been used as baseline technology for the development of the IEEE P1901.2 and ITU-T G.hnem standard [5]. Secondly, through field trial tests, we found that the performance of NB-PLC may be poor [6] in large houses where the signal is strongly attenuated because it spans large distances and crosses different circuit breakers (CBs), e.g., in multi-floor houses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

MAC enhancements for G3-PLC home networks

Bert

D'Alessandro

Tonello

2013

2013 IEEE 17th International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications

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In this paper, we propose enhancements at the medium access control (MAC) sub-layer for the G3-PLC technology. In particular, we develop a convergent network, consisting of different network devices, to easily integrate G3-PLC in Ethernet local area networks (LANs). The proposed network leads to coverage and throughput improvements for in-home/building applications. Furthermore, since the G3-PLC medium access control (MAC) scheme is based on carrier sense multiple access (CSMA), its performance decreases with the increasing number of network nodes. To overcome this problem, we propose to implement a contention-free MAC scheme based on time division multiple access (TDMA). In particular, we optimize the beaconenabled mode of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The convergent network performance is evaluated using an OMNeT++ simulation platform. Numerical results show considerable performance improvements in different network configurations.

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“…With the advancements in concepts of smart grid and smart home, CENELEC-C band could be a suitable choice for home network systems and enable direct transmission of metering data from the SM to devices located near the customers premises [5]. Authors of [6] considered interoperability between different standards and protocols as a main issue in the rising market of smart home. In Table I, different NB-PLC technologies developed for home automation applications in the CENELEC-C band are reported [7] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

BER evaluation of post-meter PLC services in CENELEC-C band

Moaveninejad

Kumar

Scazzoli

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE 9th Latin-American Conference on Communications (LATINCOM)

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Abstract-Low voltage, in-home power-line communications (PLC) networks allow direct communication between smart meters (SM) and in-home devices (IHD). In order to minimize security issues, in many deployment scenarios transmission takes place only towards the IHD to display consumption data, with no backwards channel. As a result, channel estimation is difficult and it is necessary to use robust transmission techniques to mitigate the effect of the impulsive noise within the PLC channel. Performance of such system must be evaluated by taking into account realistic interference and channel models for a broad range of configurations. In this work we focus on performance in terms of bit error rate (BER) of a narrowband PLC (NB-PLC) operating in the CENELEC-C band (125-140 kHz) taking into account realistic noise models. Our system is based on binary phase shift keying (BPSK) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation.

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An interconnection approach and performance tests for in-home PLC networks

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Enhancements of G3-PLC Technology for Smart-Home/Building Applications

Enhancements of G3-PLC Technology for Smart-Home/Building Applications

MAC enhancements for G3-PLC home networks

BER evaluation of post-meter PLC services in CENELEC-C band

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