Impact of Channel Disturbances on Current Narrowband Power Line Communications and Lessons to Be Learnt for the Future Technologies

[EN] The electricity network is a complex communication medium with properties that depend on both the topology of the grid and the usage pattern of the connected devices. These devices generate channel disturbances during normal operation, which need to be overcome by power line communications (PLC...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Llano, Asier, De la Vega Moreno, David, Angulo Pita, Itziar, Marron, Laura
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2019
País:España
Recursos:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositório:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/63935
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/63935
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Channel capacity
communication channels
communications technology
communication networks
decoding
electricity supply industry
narrowband
network function virtualization
noise measurement
OFDM modulation
physical layer
smart devices
smart grids
telecommunication network reliability
Descrição
Resumo:[EN] The electricity network is a complex communication medium with properties that depend on both the topology of the grid and the usage pattern of the connected devices. These devices generate channel disturbances during normal operation, which need to be overcome by power line communications (PLC) transmission technologies for ensuring communication. This paper analyzes the influence of the channel disturbances on the performance of the physical layer of the main narrowband PLC technologies approved by international communication organisms and currently deployed in Europe: PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution (PRIME) 1.3.6, PRIME 1.4 and G3-PLC. The methodology of this paper applies a standardized test method, metrics and a set of representative channel disturbances defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Moreover, noise recordings from field measurements in an environment equipped with distributed energy resources (DER) complete the subset of the types of noise used in the study. This paper develops a replicable, fully automated, and cost optimized test scenario, based on an innovative Virtual PLC Laboratory, which provides a replicable and automated test process, where a wide range of channel disturbances can be accurately replicated, and the performance of the PLC technologies can be compared under the same conditions. The results of this paper provide important conclusions to be applied in the development of future PLC technologies