Helsinki University of Technology
Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering
‘’Using Powerline Communications in
Control and Data Networking’’
by
Samdani M. Golam
Supervisor & Instructor: Prof. Timo O. Korhonen
Master’s Thesis Presentation
16th February, 2006, Espoo.
Acknowledgements
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


Prof. Timo O. Korhonen
Liu Er
Omar Mukhter
Other Colleagues and Friends.
This thesis work has been done in the project ’LED-PLC General Lighting
System’ at Communication Laboratory, HUT, sponsored by TEKES and
Several Companies.
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Agenda
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Introduction
PLC Technology
PLC Applications
Technical Issues for PLC System
Regulation & Standards
Test Setup 1: PLC-LED General Lighting System
Test Setup 2: Comparison of PLC & Ethernet Channel
Test Setup 3: Bluetooth Extension to PLC
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Introduction
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Powerline Communication (PLC),
also known as Broadband Over
Powerline (BPL) is a technique for
sending high speed data through
existing powerline as transmission
medium.
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PLC creates a high speed data
communications network using the
medium and low voltage electric
distribution grids which connects
consumers to the Internet through
any electric socket in the
consumers home.
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Powerline is the worlds largest
existing wired infrastructure.
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Introduction…
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The idea of sending data through the power distribution network is not new
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First technique to make use of PLC for control message by the methods
‘Ripple Control’ in the early 1950s.
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Earlier technology used low frequency and data rate was very low.
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Recent development has been achieved bit rate of several Mbps.
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
PLC Technology
PLC System
In-House
Access
•Uses the Building's electrical
wiring to network computers and
devices within a building.
•This technology employs the outside distribution powerlines (i.e.
medium-voltage or low-voltage) overhead or underground. One system
uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) to distribute
the PLC/BPL signal over a width bandwidth using many narrow-band
sub-carriers. At the injector side, data from the backbone network is
Samdani
converted
into the
one M Golam
Date:
16th February,
2006.OFDM signal format and then coupled onto
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
phase of the MV powerline.
PLC Applications
Broadband Services
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High Speed Internet Access
Voice Over IP
Video Streaming
Home Networking
Home Automation
Home Security Systems
Telemedicine Applications
Utility Applications
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Automatic Meter Reading
Internal Communications
Demand Side Management
Load monitoring
Security Monitoring
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Technical issues for PLC system
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Impedance mismatch in receiver side
Channel attenuation
Noise ( Background noise, Impulsive noise)
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues
- Potential radio interference
- Outdoor powerlines are excellent radiators of frequencies used in BPL systems, so they behave
as transmitting ( and receiving) antennas.
- Complex work to be done in order to establish accepted rules by which BPL can be operated In a
safety way and without
interference.
Zt
General powerline
communication
system
PLC
Channel
Coupling
Circuit
Zl
Transmitter
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Coupling
Circuit
Receiver
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Regulation & Standards
USA
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FCC part 15: Primary forum for
resolving radio interference claims.
Throughout 2004, FCC adopted rules
to facilitate the deployment of BPL.
Europe:
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ECC: Report 24(May 2003)
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MPT 1570: UK standard
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NB30: German standard
Standards
 HomePlug 1.0: from HomePlug power
alliances.

IEEE P1901: Standards for BPL
network (still working)
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Test setup 1: PLC-LED General
Lighting System
Ethernet i/f
P
L
C
Embedded
Application
C
h
a
n
n
e
l
Ethernet i/f
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Serial i/f
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Test setup 1: Equipments and
working principle.
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PLC modem
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Microcontroller Board
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ITRAN PLNET13 Development Kit/ Phonex Neverwire 14
Data rate up to 2.5/ 14 Mbps
Wiznet EVB8051
Embedded TCP/IP Ethernet Interface( WI3100)
Embedded Application
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Receiving Control Information in Client Mode, Connected to Server Through
Ethernet Interface.
 Controlling the LED matrix Through Serial Interface
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GUI Application
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Running in Server Mode
Sending LED Control Information as per Operator Input.
LED Matrix
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Test Setup 2: Comparison of PLC and
Ethernet Channel
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PLC and Ethernet Channels Comparison
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Custom-developed SW designed for PLC
channel performance measurements
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measurement between 2 nodes : client
server architecture
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Accuracy up to order of nanosecond
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Sends & receives data packets in a loop,
and calculates average Round Trip Time
(RTT)
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Dump the results into files automatically
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Data can be further analyzed using Matlab
etc.
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Window size indicates nr. of times same
packet is sent to calculate an avg. value of
RTT
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Test Setup 2: Results
Ethernet channel
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Test Setup 2: Results
PLC Channel
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Test Setup 3: Bluetooth Extension to
PLC network.
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PLC modems
2 Laptop
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Serial
Interface
Ethernet
Interface
Symbian-based GUI to control
the matrix
Parallel
Interface
PL
C
Int
erfac
e
LED-control Application
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running on Laptop
Internetworking BT device and
PLC modem
Nokia mobile
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TCP/IP Com
Embedded Application
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BT
Interface
Running on Laptop to control
LED matrix via serial interface
Blueottoth serial module
LED Matrix
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Publications

Recent Development of EMC Regulation in Power-Line
Communications. WPMC'04, Abano Therme, Italy 13.15. Sept., 2004. pp. 202-206.

Development of High-rate Control System for LED-based
General Lighting Application. ISPLC'05, Vancouver
Canada, April 6-8, 2005.
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.
Any Question?
Thank You!
Date: 16th February, 2006.
Samdani M Golam
Masters Thesis Presentation, Communication Laboratory, HUT.