Physical layer of a novel broadband low-level fieldbus with discrete multitone

Abstract

We present the physical layer for a broadband low-level fieldbus for industrial applications. Using discrete multitone (DMT) in combination with adaptive modulation, the system is able to deal with arbitrary network topologies as well as with narrowband interferers. Moreover, it can serve a multitude of users with high and user-specific data rates at a very low bit error probability. First, we outline the channel characteristics, and show that DMT provides a highly flexible modulation scheme for such network topologies. We then describe the system concept and provide a block diagram of the transceiver. Additionally, a frame structure is introduced and analyzed regarding all relevant parameters.