34 Power Line Communications

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Seminar Report10 PowerlineCommunication

1.0.0 Introduction

Connecting to the Internet is a fact of life for business,

government, and most households. he lure of e!commerce, video on

demand, and e!mail has brought "0 million people to the Internet. #nce

the$ get to the Internet, the$ find out what its reall$ li%e. hat includes

long waits for popular sites, substantial waits for secure sites, and horrible

video &ualit$ over the web.

elephone companies have offered high bandwidth lines for

man$ $ears. 'or the most part, the cost of these lines and the e&uipment

needed to access them has limited their usefulness to large businesses. he

lone e(ception has been IS)* +Integrated Services )igital *etwor% which

has won over some residential customers. IS)* offers fast Internet access

+1- % at a relativel$ low cost.

/ere the solution is Powerline communications +or P C .

Powerline communications is a rapidl$ evolving mar%et that utili es

electricit$ power lines for the high!speed transmission of data and voice

services.

*one of the available Internet access services offer the right

balance of cost, convenience, and speed. Digital Powerline technology

could change all that. It gives customers high speed Internet access through

electrical networ%s. ower costs are achieved because the service is

implemented on standard electrical lines. he service is also convenient

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because its alread$ in $our home. Internet access through )igital

Powerline would be at +at least 12bps, -0 times faster than a standard

phone3modem connection.

1.1.0 History

he technolog$ has roots going bac% to the 1450s.It has been

used b$ power utilities for simple telemetering and control of electrical

e&uipment in their networ%s.

6hat is new is the integration of activities outside the building

with those inside the building at a much higher bandwidth, -.7 mbps or

higher.

1.2.0 Overview of Technology

P C wor%s b$ transmitting high fre&uenc$ data signals

through the same power cable networ% used for carr$ing electricit$ power

to household users. Such signal cannot pass through a transformer. his

re&uires devices that combine the voice and data signals with the low!

voltage suppl$ current in the local transformer stations. he signal ma%es

its wa$ to neighborhoods and customers who could access either it

wirelessl$, through utilit$ poles.

)igital Powerline use a networ%, %nown as a High Frequency

Conditioned Power Network +/'CP* , to transmit data and electrical

signals. 8 /'CP* uses a series of Conditioning Units +C9 to filter those

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hese base stations t$picall$ serve appro(imatel$ 70

customers, providing over -0 2/ of usable spectrum to near end

customers and between " and 10 2/ of useable spectrum to far endcustomers. he server operates via IP to create a 8* t$pe environment for

each local service area.

1.2.2 The HFCP Conditioning !nit

he conditioning 9nit +C9 for the )igital Powerline *etwor%

is placed near the electric meter at each customers home. he C9 uses

band pass filters to segregate the electricit$ and data signals, which

facilitate the lin% between a customers premise and an electricit$

substation.

he C9 contains three coupling ports. he device receives

aggregate input from its *etwor% Port +*P . his aggregate input passes

through a high pass filter. 'iltering allows data signals to pass to a

Communications )istribution Port +C)P and a low pass filter sends

electric signals to the :lectricit$ )istribution Port +:)P .

he 70 / signal flows from the low pass filter, out of the

:)P and to the electricit$ meter. he low pass filter also serves to attenuate

e(traneous noise generated b$ electrical appliances at the customer

premises. eft unconditioned, the aggregation of this e(traneous noise from

multiple homes would cause significant distortion in the networ%.

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he high pass filter facilitates two wa$ data traffic to and from

the customer premise. )ata signals flow through the C)P to the customers

service unit via standard coa(ial cable.

1.2. Service !nit

he service unit is a wall or table mountable multi!purpose

data communications bo(. he unit facilitates data connections via =*C

connectors to cable modems and telephone connections via standard line

termination >ac%s. he service unit provides its own line power for ringing

and contains a batter$ bac%up in case of power outage. 8lternative

)ifferential Pulse Code 2odulation +8)PC2 is used for speech

sampling. =ecause )igital Powerline allows for

the termination of multiple radio signals at the

customer premises, the service unit can

facilitate various Customer Premises Equipment

(CPE) simultaneousl$. In a manner similar to

IS)*, data +computers and voice +telephones

devices can coe(ist without interfering with

each other.

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1. .0 C#S$ ST!%&

1. .1 Powerline Tri'ls( Sey)our P'r* Pri)'ry School

)igital Powerline

technolog$ was

first tested in a

public setting atthe Se$mour Par%

Primar$ School in

2anchester, 9?.

welve PCs were

connected to a

single )igital Powerline outlet. )edicated high!speed access to the Internet

turned out to be a great success in the e$es of students and teachers.*ortels

)igital Powerline web site &uotes Se$mour /ead teacher, @enn$ )unnA

B he high speed connection reall$ lets us ta%e advantage of the educational

potential of the Internet. 6ith a normal connection the children could lose

interest waiting for pages to download. he new s$stem means information

arrives virtuall$ instantaneousl$, thereb$ ma(imi ing teaching time and

%eeping children on tas%. his set is ama ingl$ fle(ible in educational

terms, and not onl$ gives us the additional medium with which to improve

standards, but prepares us for the *ational rid for earning.B

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1. .2 Powerline Tri'ls( St'nley +o'd

'ollowing the success at Se$mour Par%, a more

comprehensive trial was initiated at the Stanle$ Road electricit$ substation,

also located in

2anchester. he cru(

of this trial was to test

the limits of

Powerline technolog$and ma%e sure that it

could meet industr$

standards even in worst case scenarios.

he Stanle$ Road substation was set up to use two distributors

to serve two distinct neighborhoods. *orthumberland Close is located


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1.,.0 #--lic'tion 're's offered y Powerline co))unic'tions

P C offers end!users a broad spectrum of applications andservices including broadband Internet access , voice over IP , multimedia

services , telecommunication , home automation and energy

managemen(near energy services) . Powerline offers the opportunit$ for

the PC to be integrated into the household as never before. 8s part of the

household power grid, PCs could easil$ be programmed to turn off lights

and control securit$ devices.

1.,.1 Powerline teleco))unic'tion

Powerline telecommunications is a rapidl$ evolving mar%et

that utilises electricit$ power lines for the high speed transmission of data

and voice services. he especiall$ e(citing thing about the potential for

P is that it holds the promise of solving the underl$ing structural

problem confronting the local access mar%et toda$. P can provide the

hol$!grail of a much needed, highl$ elusive, alternative source of

ubi&uitous local loops other than the incumbent telco operator, something

we sadl$ have $et to see happen on a sufficient scale and scope. Indeed,

what ma%e P so attractive from a public polic$ point of view are the

facts thatE he power grid is ubi&uitousA it constitutes an e(isting networ%

infrastructure to billions of private consumers and businesses

he power grid offers last!mile conductivit$

he power grid supports information based services with strong

growth potential.

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Seminar Report10 PowerlineCommunication1.,.2 Ho)e #uto)'tion

he /ome Plug Powerline 8lliance +/P8 , a 9.S. consortiumof 40 members, including such high!tech giants as Cisco, Intel, 2otorola,

and /ewlett!Pac%ard is wor%ing on technolog$ to lin% appliances such as

Fs, computers and coo%ers via the home electrical s$stem.

8ppliance ma%ers li%e Samsung :lectronics Co. have been

solidif$ing cooperation with their technolog$ partners to enable them to

mar%et Internet!controllable home appliances this $ear. Samsung plans to

set up a G)ream H site on its homepage to advertise its Internet!enabled

products to potential customers.

1.,. Internet 'ccess

ast )ecember Intellon announced its PowerPac%et 2

Powerline networ%ing chipset, the first product certified as compliant with

the /P8s 1.0 Specification introduced earlier that $ear. he chipset allows

users to access the Internet and connect computers and other devices at

speeds up to 15 mbps b$ simpl$ plugging into power outlets throughout a

home or small office.

1.,., Power )'n'ge)ent /ne'r energy services

*ear energ$ services are defined as energ$ services with in the

confines of current business which ads new forms, features and scales.

:(amples are remote billing, remote metering, demand side e management

distribution automation and remote control of suppl$. 8dvantages of such

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Powerline carr$ signals for long distances without re&uiring

regeneration. heir near light speed propagation ma%es them ver$ powerful

for fast deliver$ of video and audio data. here is no topolog$ limitationfor power lines.

/igh transmission rate, right now < mbps in uploading and

downloading. he data transmission rate is e(pected up to -00 mbps in the

future b$ improving the P C chip.

Permanent on!line connection with the potential for lower

charges. *o need for complicated wiring and additional installations. 2ove

$our computers and appliances where $ou want. Secure data!encr$ption.

ower investment costs compared to those envisaged for other broadband

data access s$stems.

1. .0 Potenti'l $3tensions to %igit'l Powerline Technology

here are man$ possible e(tensions to the )igital Powerline

model. hose mentioned in reviews and technical >ournals include Bthe

wired homeB and remote customer information services. Since )igital

Powerline creates a 8* t$pe environment b$ running IP, people could

theoreticall$ control all of the appliances in their home from their PC or aremote device. :ach home on the neighborhood 8* would operate as a

sub!networ% of the 8* and each electrical outlet could be treated as a

node on that sub!networ%.

he *ortel web site predicts, BIt could also be feasible to have

an Internet address for ever$ plug in the house, through which $ou could e!

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Seminar Report10 PowerlineCommunicationmail, for e(ampleE fridgeJhome and stud$ the picture rela$ed b$ the

video camera to see what shopping $ou re&uireA or $ou could remotel$ turn

the lights off and the burglar alarm on using $our own password.B

Remote services such as remote metering have alread$ been

tested under this model and man$ more services are possible. =ecause the

service provider can %eep trac% of electricit$ and bandwidth usage via the

networ%, customers will also be able to monitor their usage, reliabl$ predict

billing and %eep an e$e on household usage +i.e. the teenagers phone

usage .

1.4.0 Current 5i)it'tions of %igit'l Powerline Technology

1.4.1 $lectro67'gnetic +'di'tion Issues

Powerline solutions, li%e phone line solutions, are

unintentional radiators. :missions can potentiall$ cause interference with

radio, television, communit$ antenna television, telephone and )S

services.

Second generation P C technologies are using techni&ues li%e

#')2, which substantiall$ reduce the potential of interference to radio

users, than%s to a decrease in transmitted power spectral densit$. he

#')2 modulation spreads the signal over a ver$ wide bandwidth, thus

reducing the amount on power in>ected at a single fre&uenc$. 'ield trials of

P C technologies carried out during the last - $ears in :urope +Spain, Ital$,

erman$ , *orth 8merica, South 8merica +Chile, =ra il and 8sia

+Singapore have shown that interference with radio users is no longer a

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problem for P C. he same techni&ue e(plains wh$ current P C

technolog$ does not affect other appliances in the home.

1.4.2 #ddressing issue

8s the number of users and devices connected to Power ines

increases b$ orders of magnitude, it becomes clear that we cannot satisf$

the demand using IPv53*8 , at least not without enormous administrative

comple(it$. 8 much larger address space is needed to provide end!to!end

connectivit$ in a simple manner and to allow new applications and services

to wor% in a transparent manner.

Clearl$, the solution of problem is with IPv", or *e(t

eneration Internet 8ddresses +IP* unlimited address space of IPv" is

needed to provide end!to!end connectivit$ and allow new applications and

services to wor% in a transparent manner across P C networ%s at massivescale +imagine ever$ power soc%et in =ei>ing or 2umbai becoming an

Internet access pointK .

1.4. Security

he transmission of data over a networ% that an$bod$ has

access to could also pose a data securit$ problem, however. apping thesignal could allow somebod$ to eavesdrop on communications. #nl$ data

encr$ption eliminates that problem.

1.4., oise interference

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Power line networ%ing is also vulnerable to interference from

devices connected to the power infrastructure, such as microwaves and

computers.his can be solved b$ either using repeaters or d$namic chang

of fre&uencies.

1.4. +egul'tory 'nd st'nd'rdi8'tion issues

PowerlineLs ma(imum access speed is shared with all users

connected to the same local networ% station. he more people that are

simultaneousl$ on the Internet, the lower the speed obtained.

Several implementation issues have held bac% )igital

Powerline in *orth 8merica and the 9?. Respectivel$, the problems are

the numbers of users per transformer and the si e and shape of light poles.

In *orth 8merica, a transformer serves from 7 to 10

households while in :urope a transformer serves 170 households. )igital

Powerline signals cannot pass through a transformer. herefore, all

electrical substation e&uipment needed for )igital Powerline has to be

located after the transformer. Since there are fewer households per

transformer in *orth 8merica, predicted e&uipment costs are prohibitive.

/owever, this conclusion has been debated. 8nal$sts suggest that 100M

subscription rates are possible in the 9S, and that at such rates )igital

Powerline is profitable. Conventional wisdom suggests that there is a wa$

to ma%e )igital Powerline profitable in *orth 8merica, whether it is

through bundling a variet$ of services or higher fees.

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Soon after the first trials of )igital Powerline in the 9?, some

unanticipated problems arose. Certain radio fre&uencies were suddenl$

deluged with traffic, ma%ing it impossible to transmit on those fre&uencies.==C, amateur radio, and the 9?s emergenc$ broadcasting service were

affected. he apparent culprits were standard light poles. hen it became

clear that b$ pure chance =ritish light poles were the perfect si e and shape

to broadcast )igital Powerline signals. his situation posed problems not

>ust because of the fre&uencies involved but also because an$one could

listen in on the traffic. *or.6eb is addressing the problem b$ proposing to

lease the fre&uencies involved from their owners and offering amateur

radio operators a new fre&uenc$. *egotiations on this topic are currentl$

ta%ing place in ondon. he privac$ issue has not been full$ addressed at

this point, besides suggestions that all sensitive information should be

encr$pted.

6hile the promise of Powerline elecommunications is great,

it is important for ever$one to understand that this technolog$ is in its

infanc$ and there are several hurdles the Powerline industr$ is wor%ing

hard to overcome to ma%e P a true close substitute to the e(isting

incumbent public switched telephone networ% +PS * in the 9nited States.

Specificall$, the main wea%nesses of P products and services are thatE

+a he$ are still at the developmental stageA

+b here is no significant installed customer base to dateA

+c 8nd the distances that Powerline technolog$ can cover are limited.

2oreover, the industr$ is wor%ing hard to resolve the comple(

issues of standardi ation and interoperabilit$.

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1.9.0 The 7'r*et for %igit'l Powerline

rends in both the electric and telecommunications industr$

have lead to a climate where )igital Powerline should be a big pla$er.

hese trends include customer demand for affordable and high speed

Internet access, deregulation of electrical utilities, and the repercussions of

a variet$ of telecommunications legislation.

Customers want cheaper, faster, and more reliable access to

the Internet right now. *ot onl$ can )igital Powerline provide that t$pe of

service, but it will be available before other broadband access technologies.

herefore )igital Powerline has both a time to mar%et and cost advantage.

he utilit$ industr$ is facing deregulation in *orth 8merica,

:urope, and some parts of 8sia. )eregulation means increased competition

in the slow growing electricit$ mar%et with little protection for utilities. 8n

unenviable position indeed. Conse&uentl$, man$ utilities are activel$

see%ing to diversif$ into other, more profitable, industries.'or man$

utilities telecommunications and Internet services have been a sensible

choice. hat option can onl$ become more popular as )igital Powerline

matures.

)igital Powerline offers a deregulated utilit$ several options

and advantages. he utilit$ can either lease the rights to implement )igital

Powerline on its electrical grid or develop the technolog$ itself. he

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Seminar Report10 PowerlineCommunicationadvantages include the low cost of the local loop, differentiating the utilit$

from other utilities, and bundling a variet$ of services.

he most recent telecommunications act has tried to ma%e it

easier for all t$pes of telecommunications firms to sell local services and

long distance services. /owever, Regional =ells actuall$ have control over

local lines and charge other companies who place calls on their lines. 2an$

of the larger phone companies have sought to get around these charges b$

building or leasing their own networ%s to connect to local points. )igital

Powerline is an e(isting networ% that fits those needs. :(pect to see smaller

telecommunications companies partnering with electrical utilities to

provide alternative local phone service.

1.9.1 :ho is testing or h's tested the technology;

P C abroadProof that the P C concept wor%s in practice was furnished b$

a series of field trials b$ 2ain.net of Israel, 8scom of Swit erland and

some other companies in 1" :uropean countries from Portugal to

Scandinavia, as well as in /ong ?ong, ?orea, India, Singapore and the

8mericas. hese trials fulfilled all e(pectations of reliabilit$, functionalit$

and the practical applications of Powerline communications. he firstinstallations are now alread$ up and running or about to go live.

9sers in erman$ include the electricit$ companies R6:

:nergie :ssen and :n=6 :nergie =aden!6Nrttemberg, while in Spain the

energ$ and telecoms group :ndesa uses P C technolog$. ina.*et of

Iceland, a subsidiar$ of Re$%>avi% :nerg$, has recentl$ begun introducing

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#wing to recent advances for P C in :urope, and the efforts

of a handful of 9.S. P C vendors including one bac%ed b$ 8merican

:lectric Power +8:P , P C is closer to being a commercial realit$ in the9.S. than ever before. =eta tests scheduled b$ each of these firms over the

ne(t 1- months will be crucial to resolving outstanding technical hurdles,

standardi ing e&uipment and deplo$ment techni&ues, and building interest

and partnerships with utilities.

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1.10.0 Conclusion

)igital Powerline technolog$ is an e(citing alternative to

connecting to the Internet via phone and modem. hough this technolog$ is

not commerciall$ available $et, it should be available before other

broadband technologies due to the relativel$ low cost of its local loop.

2oreover, its high speeds will provide Internet access, video on demand,

local phone, and long distance phone services to customers.

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1.11.0 +eference

httpE33www.powerlineworld.com3powerlineintro.html

httpE33www.powerlinecommunications.net3

www.powerline!plc.com

www.powerline.com

#L*eal @r., @.=. +14 " B he residential power circuit as a

communication medium,B I:::

rans. on Consumer :lectronics, vol.

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CO T$ TS

1.0.0 Introduction 11.1.0 History -1.2.0 Overview of Technology -

1.-.1 he Server

34 Power Line Communications

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