In-home AV PLC MAC with neighboring networks support

Abstract

Audio/video (AV) devices are becoming more and more common in homes today. The immediate consequence is the need for interconnection of all these devices. Power line communications (PLC) may be an excellent candidate to become the networking solution only if several drawbacks are overcome. Power line technologies allow reaching aggregated throughputs of up to 200 Mbps. However, channels are noisy, and overall capacity must be shared among several nodes and different vendors that coexist in the same medium. Besides, FCC regulations impose low power transmission and notching. It is therefore essential to maximize the efficiency of the technology to reach performance levels competitive for audio/video technologies.