Comparison of Time-domain Measurement Techniques for Interference Analysis in Power Line Communication

Abstract

This paper presents the comparisons between time-domain voltage and current measurement techniques for interference analysis in Power Line Communication (PLC) application. Voltage measurement is performed by directly sensing the mains voltage from a speed-controlled water pump using a 1:1000 voltage divider, whilst the current is measured using three types of sensors: current clamp, hall element, and differential probe over a shunt resistor. Voltage and current from these sensors are read with a digital oscilloscope. Impedance and power are calculated as well using post-processing software, in which the results can be analyzed in the frequency domain using a spectrogram to observe the possibility of performing communication. Voltage and current transducers should have transfer functions which are independent of frequency when performing time-domain measurements.