Simple power line communication using switching converters

Abstract

This paper proposes simple power line communication (PLC) method among DC-DC converters in DC distribution network system. In this method, current ripples in the converters' inputs are used as signal carrier whose frequency is modified as a function of information data. The modulator is easily realized by just adding a transistor and a resister to conventional PWM control circuit. Demodulator is also realized by simple analog circuit. With proposed method, the converters are capable of bidirectional data transmissions among all converters in the system. Circuit simulation results show the effectiveness of proposed method.