Analysis of noise in broadband Powerline Communications (B-PLC) in frequency range of 150kHz–30MHz

Abstract

Over the past few decades PowerLine Communications(PLC) has evolved, that can be seen through improvement in data transmission rate from few kbps to hundreds of Mbps. However, there is also rapid growth in appliances/loads connected to the same power line which introduces electromagnetic interference(EMI)/noise that degrades communication performance. The noise that exists in power line communication are different from conventional communication system noise which is AWGN (Additive White Gaussian Noise) and hence conventional mitigation techniques (which considering noise as AWGN) cannot be applied directly. To mitigate noise from PLC receiver, it's required to understand the characteristics of noise and based on these noise modeling is carried out. In this paper, measurement and analysis of noise in the frequency range of 150 kHz to 30 MHz is carried out. From the measurement, it is found that impulsive noise is the major noise in PLC, which are generated from high frequency devices used in electrical appliances, or due to switching transients introduces by connection and disconnection of electrical appliance from mains, etc. And important parameters that describes impulsive noise are highlighted in subsequent sections.