Noise and channel statistics of indoor power line networks

Abstract

Power line communication (PLC) channels may have entirely different physical characteristics. In order to establish reliable communication systems operating in power line networks (PLNs), characteristics of power line channel have to be investigated very carefully. In this paper, noise and multipath characteristics of PLC channels are examined. A unique experimental setup is established for noise measurements and a simulation environment is prepared for multipath analysis for indoor PLNs. Results of the measurements and simulations are presented. Besides the investigation of some specific PLNs, impact of the physical characteristics of different PLC networks on the channel delay spread parameter, namely root-mean-squared (RMS) delay spread, are studied statistically.