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or power line carrier (PLC), also known as power line d igital subscriber line (PDSL), mains communication, power line telecom (PLT), po wer line networking (PLN), or broadband over power lines (BPL) are systems for c arrying data on a conductor also used for electric power transmission. A wide range of power line communication technologies are needed for different a pplications, ranging from home automation to Internet access. Electrical power i s transmitted over long distances using high voltage transmission lines, distrib uted over medium voltages, and used inside buildings at lower voltages. Most PLC technologies limit themselves to one set of wires (such as premises wiring with in a single building), but some can cross between two levels (for example, both the distribution network and premises wiring). Typically transformers prevent pr opagating the signal, which requires multiple technologies to form very large ne tworks. Various data rates and frequencies are used in different situations. A number of difficult technical problems are common between wireless and power l ine communication, notably those of spread spectrum radio signals operating in a crowded environment. Potential interference, for example, has long been a conce rn of amateur radio groups.[1] Contents 1 Basics 2 Long haul, low frequency 3 Medium frequency (MHz) 3.1 Home control (narrowband) 3.2 Low-speed narrow-band 3.3 Medium-speed narrow-band 3.4 Transmitting radio programs 4 High-frequency (=1 MHz) 5 Home networking (LAN) 6 Broadband over power line (BPL) 7 Automotive uses 8 Standards 8.1 Standards organizations 9 See also 10 References 11 Sources 12 External links [edit] Basics Power line communications systems operate by impressing a modulated carrier sign al on the wiring system. Different types of powerline communications use differe nt frequency bands, depending on the signal transmission characteristics of the power wiring used. Since the power distribution system was originally intended f or transmission of AC power at typical frequencies of 50 or 60Hz, power wire cir cuits have only a limited ability to carry higher frequencies. The propagation p roblem is a limiting factor for each type of power line communications. Data rates and distance limits vary widely over many power line communication st andards. Low-frequency (about 100-200 kHz) carriers impressed on high-voltage tr ansmission lines may carry one or two analog voice circuits, or telemetry and co ntrol circuits with an equivalent data rate of a few hundred bits per second; ho wever, these circuits may be many miles long. Higher data rates generally imply shorter ranges; a local area network operating at millions of bits per second ma y only cover one floor of an office building, but eliminates the need for instal

lation of dedicated network cabling. [edit] Long haul, low frequency Utility companies use special coupling capacitors to connect radio transmitters to the power-frequency AC conductors. Frequencies used are in the range of 24 to 500 kHz, with transmitter power levels up to hundreds of watts. These signals m ay be impressed on one conductor, on two conductors or on all three conductors o f a high-voltage AC transmission line. Several PLC channels may be coupled onto one HV line. Filtering devices are applied at substations to prevent the carrier frequency current from being bypassed through the station apparatus and to ensu re that distant faults do not affect the isolated segments of the PLC system. Th ese circuits are used for control of switchgear, and for protection of transmiss ion lines. For example, a protective relay can use a PLC channel to trip a line if a fault is detected between its two terminals, but to leave the line in opera tion if the fault is elsewhere on the system. On some powerlines in the former Soviet Union, PLC-signals are not fed into the high voltage line, but in the ground conductors, which are mounted on insulators at the pylons [3]. While utility companies use microwave and now, increasingly, fiber optic cables for their primary system communication needs, the power-line carrier apparatus m ay still be useful as a backup channel or for very simple low-cost installations that do not warrant installing fiber optic lines. Power line carrier communication (PLCC) is mainly used for telecommunication, te le-protection and tele-monitoring between electrical substations through power l ines at high voltages, such as 110 kV, 220 kV, 400 kV.[2] The major benefit is t he union of two applications in a single system, which is particularly useful fo r monitoring electric equipment and advanced energy management techniques (such as OpenADR and OpenHAN). The modulation generally used in these system is amplitude modulation. The carri er frequency range is used for audio signals, protection and a pilot frequency. The pilot frequency is a signal in the audio range that is transmitted continuou sly for failure detection. The voice signal is compressed and filtered into the 300 Hz to 4000 Hz range, an d this audio frequency is mixed with the carrier frequency. The carrier frequenc y is again filtered, amplified and transmitted. The transmission power of these HF carrier frequencies will be in the range of 0 to +32 dbW. This range is set a ccording to the distance between substations. PLCC can be used for interconnecti ng private branch exchanges (PBXs). To sectionalize the transmission network and protect against failures, a "wave t rap" is connected in series with the power (transmission) line. They consist of one or more sections of resonant circuits, which block the high frequency carrie r waves (24 KHz to 500 KHz) and let power frequency current (50 Hz - 60 Hz) pass through. Wave traps are used in switchyard of most power stations to prevent ca rrier from entering the station equipment. Each wave trap has a lightning arrest er to protect it from surge voltages. A coupling capacitor is used to connect the transmitters and receivers to the hi gh voltage line. This provides low impedance path for carrier energy to HV line but blocks the power frequency circuit by being a high impedance path. The coupl ing capacitor may be part of a capacitor voltage transformer used for voltage me asurement. Power line carriers may change its transmission system from analog to digital to enable Internet Protocol devices. Digital power line carrier (DPLC) was develop

ed for digital transmission via power lines. DPLC has the required quality of bi t error rate characteristics and transmission ability such as transmitting infor mation from monitored electric-supply stations and images.[citation needed] Power line carrier systems have long been a favorite at many utilities because i t allows them to reliably move data over an infrastructure that they control. Ma ny technologies are capable of performing multiple applications. For example, a communication system bought initially for automatic meter reading can sometimes also be used for load control or for demand response applications. A PLC carrier repeating station is a facility, at which a power line communicati on (PLC) signal on a powerline is refreshed. Therefore the signal is filtered ou t from the powerline, demodulated and modulated on a new carrier frequency, and then reinjected onto the powerline again. As PLC signals can carry long distance s (several 100 kilometres), such facilities only exist on very long power lines using PLC equipment. PLC is one of the technologies used for automatic meter reading. Both one-way an d two-way systems have been successfully used for decades. Interest in this appl ication has grown substantially in recent history not so much because there is an interest in automating a manual process, but because there is an interest in obt aining fresh data from all metered points in order to better control and operate the system. PLC is one of the technologies being used in Advanced Metering Infr astructure (AMI) systems. In a one-way (inbound only) system, readings "bubble up" from end devices (such as meters), through the communication infrastructure, to a "master station" whic h publishes the readings. A one-way system might be lower-cost than a two-way sy stem, but also is difficult to reconfigure should the operating environment chan ge. In a two-way system (supporting both outbound and inbound), commands can be broa dcast out from the master station to end devices (meters) -- allowing for reconf iguration of the network, or to obtain readings, or to convey messages, etc. The device at the end of the network may then respond (inbound) with a message that carries the desired value. Outbound messages injected at a utility substation w ill propagate to all points downstream. This type of broadcast allows the commun ication system to simultaneously reach many thousands of devices all of which are known to have power, and have been previously identified as candidates for load shed. PLC also may be a component of a Smart Grid. [edit] Medium frequency (MHz) [edit] Home control (narrowband) Power line communications technology can use the electrical power wiring within a home for home automation: for example, remote control of lighting and applianc es without installation of additional control wiring. Typically home-control power line communication devices operate by modulating in a carrier wave of between 20 and 200 kHz into the household wiring at the trans mitter. The carrier is modulated by digital signals. Each receiver in the system has an address and can be individually commanded by the signals transmitted ove r the household wiring and decoded at the receiver. These devices may be either plugged into regular power outlets, or permanently wired in place. Since the car rier signal may propagate to nearby homes (or apartments) on the same distributi on system, these control schemes have a "house address" that designates the owne r. A popular technology known as X10 has been used since the 1970s.[3] The "universal powerline bus", introduced in 1999, uses pulse-position modulatio n (PPM). The physical layer method is a very different scheme than the X10.[4] L onTalk, part of the LonWorks home automation product line, was accepted as part

of some automation standards.[5] [edit] Low-speed narrow-band Narrowband power line communications began soon after electrical power supply be came widespread. Around the year 1922 the first carrier frequency systems began to operate over high-tension lines with frequencies of 15 to 500 kHz for telemet ry purposes, and this continues.[6] Consumer products such as baby alarms have b een available at least since 1940.[7] In the 1930s, ripple carrier signalling was introduced on the medium (10-20 kV) and low voltage (240/415 V) distribution systems. For many years the search cont inued for a cheap bi-directional technology suitable for applications such as re mote meter reading. For example, the Tokyo Electric Power Co ran experiments in the 1970s which reported successful bi-directional operation with several hundre d units.[8] Since the mid-1980s, there has been a surge of interest in using the potential of digital communications techniques and digital signal processing. T he drive is to produce a reliable system which is cheap enough to be widely inst alled and able to compete cost effectively with wireless solutions. But the narr owband powerline communications channel presents many technical challenges, a ma thematical channel model and a survey of work is available.[9] Applications of mains communications vary enormously, as would be expected of su ch a widely available medium. One natural application of narrow band power line communication is the control and telemetry of electrical equipment such as meter s, switches, heaters and domestic appliances. A number of active developments ar e considering such applications from a systems point of view, such as demand sid e management.[10] In this, domestic appliances would intelligently co-ordinate t heir use of resources, for example limiting peak loads. Control and telemetry applications include both 'utility side' applications, whi ch involves equipment belonging to the utility company (i.e. between the supply transformer substation up to the domestic meter), and 'consumer-side' applicatio ns which involves equipment in the consumer's premises. Possible utility-side ap plications include automatic meter reading (AMR), dynamic tariff control, load m anagement, load profile recording, credit control, pre-payment, remote connectio n, fraud detection and network management,[11] and could be extended to include gas and water. A project of EDF, France includes demand management, street lighting control, re mote metering and billing, customer specific tariff optimisation, contract manag ement, expense estimation and gas applications safety.[12] There are also many specialised niche applications which use the mains supply wi thin the home as a convenient data link for telemetry. For example, in the UK an d Europe a TV audience monitoring system uses powerline communications as a conv enient data path between devices that monitor TV viewing activity in different r ooms in a home and a data concentrator which is connected to a telephone modem. [edit] Medium-speed narrow-band The Distribution Line Carrier (DLC) System technology used a frequency range of 9 to 500 kHz with data rate up to 576 kbit/s.[13] A project called Real-time Energy Management via Powerlines and Internet (REMPLI ) was funded from 2003 to 2006 by the European Commission.[14] In 2009, a group of vendors formed the PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution (PRIME) alliance. [15] [edit] Transmitting radio programs Main article: Carrier current Sometimes PLC was used for transmitting radio programs over powerlines. When ope

rated in the AM radio band, it is known as a carrier current system. [edit] High-frequency (=1 MHz) High frequency communication may (re)use large portions of the radio spectrum fo r communication, or may use select (narrow) band(s), depending on the technology . [edit] Home networking (LAN) Power line communications can also be used in a home to interconnect home comput ers and peripherals, and home entertainment devices that have an Ethernet port. Powerline adapter sets plug into power outlets and establish an Ethernet connect ion using the existing electrical wiring in the home. (Power strips with filteri ng may absorb the power line signal.) This allows devices to share video and dat a without the inconvenience of running dedicated network cables. The most widely deployed powerline networking standard is from the HomePlug Powe rline Alliance. HomePlug AV is the most current of the HomePlug specifications a nd was adopted by the IEEE 1901 group as a baseline technology for their standar d, published 30 December 2010. HomePlug estimates that over 45 million HomePlug devices have been deployed worldwide. Other companies and organizations back dif ferent specifications for power line home networking and these include the Unive rsal Powerline Association, the HD-PLC Alliance and the ITU-T s G.hn specification . [edit] Broadband over power line (BPL) Main article: Broadband over power lines Broadband over power line (BPL) is a system to transmit two-way data over the ex isting electrical distribution wiring in a metropolitan area. This would avoid t he expense of a dedicated network of wires for data communication. However, beca use BPL uses some of the same radio frequencies used for over-the-air radio syst ems, interference is a problem. BPL would have applications in allowing utility companies to use smart metering and load management, providing two-way communica tion with customer equipment. [edit] Automotive uses Power-line technology enables in-vehicle network communication of data, voice, m usic and video signals by digital means over direct current (DC) battery power-l ine. Advanced digital communication techniques tailored to overcome hostile and noisy environment are implemented in a small size silicon device. One power line can be used for multiple independent networks. The benefits would be lower cost and weight (compared to separate power and control wiring), flexible modificati on, and ease of installation. Potential problems in vehicle applications would i nclude the higher cost of end devices, which must be equipped with active contro ls and communication, and the possibility of intereference with other radio freq uency devices in the vehicle or other places. Prototypes are successfully operational in vehicles, using automotive compatible protocols such as CAN-bus, LIN-bus over power line (DC-LIN) and [DC-bus].[16][1 7][18] LonWorks power line based control has been used for an HVAC system in a producti on model bus.[19] The SAE J1772 committee developing standard connectors for plug-in electric vehi cles proposes to use power line communication between the vehicle, off-board cha rging station, and the smart grid, without requiring an additional pin; SAE and the IEEE Standards Association are sharing their draft standards related to the smart grid and vehicle electrification.[20] [edit] Standards

Two distinctly different sets of standards apply to powerline networking as of e arly 2010. Within homes, the HomePlug AV and IEEE 1901 standards specify how, gl obally, existing AC wires should be employed for data purposes. The IEEE 1901 in cludes HomePlug AV as a baseline technology, so any IEEE 1901 products are fully interoperable with HomePlug AV, HomePlug Green PHY or the forthcoming HomePlug AV2 specification (under development now and expected to be approved in Q1 2011) . [edit] Standards organizations Several competing organizations have developed specifications, including the Hom ePlug Powerline Alliance, Universal Powerline Association and HD-PLC Alliance. O n December 2008, the ITU-T adopted Recommendation G.hn/G.9960 as a standard for high-speed powerline, coax and phoneline communications.[21] The National Energy Marketers Association was also involved in advocating for standards. IEEE P1901 is an IEEE working group developing the global standard for high speed powerlin e communications. In July 2009, the working group approved its "IEEE 1901 Draft Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physi cal Layer Specifications" as an IEEE draft standard for broadband over power lin es defining medium access control and physical layer specifications. The IEEE 19 01 Draft Standard was published by the IEEE in January 2010, the final standard approved on 30 September 2010 and published on 1 February 2011. NIST has included IEEE 1901, HomePlug AV and ITU-T G.hn as "Additional Standards Identified by NIST Subject to Further Review" for the Smart grid in the United States.[22] [edit] See also HomePlug Powerline Alliance HomePNA IEEE 1901 KNX (standard) List of broadband over power line deployments LonWorks Multimedia over Coax Alliance PLC carrier repeating station Residential gateway Universal Powerline Association IEC 61334 [edit] References ^ "ARRL Strengthens the Case for Mandatory BPL Notching". News release (Amer ican Amateur Radio League). 2 December 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2011. ^ Stanley H. Horowitz, Arun G. Phadke Power system relaying third edition, J ohn Wiley and Sons, 2008 ISBN 0470057122 pages 64-65 ^ Edward B.Driscoll, Jr.. "The history of X10". Retrieved 22 July 2011. ^ "What is Univeral Powerline Bus?". Powerline Control Systems, Inc. Retriev ed 22 July 2011. ^ "Echelon Announces ISO/IEC Standardization of LonWorks Control Networks". N ews release (Echelon Corporation). 3 December 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2011. ^ K Dostert, 1997, Telecommunications over the Power Distribution Grid- Poss ibilities and Limitations Proc 1997 Internat. Symp. on Power Line Comms and its Applications pp1-9 ^ R Broadridge `Power line modems and networks' 4 th International Conference on Metering Applications and Tariffs for Electricity Supply IEE conf. Publ 300 1 984 pp 294-296 (London UK: IEE) ^ M Hosono et al., Improved Automatic meter reading and load control system and its operational achievement, 4th international conference on metering, appar atus and tariffs for electricity supply pp 90-94, 26-28 October 1982, IEE ^ D Cooper, T Jeans, Narrowband, Low Data Rate Communications on the Low-Vol

tage Mains in the CENELEC Frequencies- Part I: Noise and Attenuation, IEEE Trans on Power Delivery, vol 17 no 3 July 2002 pp 718-723 ^ J Newbury, Communication requirements and standards for low voltage mains signalling, IEEE trans. on Power Delivery, Vol 13 no 1, Jan 1998, pp 46-49 ^ T J Sheppard 'Mains Communications- a practical metering system' 7th Inter national Conference on Metering Applications and Tariffs for Electricity Supply pp 223-227 17-19 November 1992 (London UK: IEE 1992) ^ G Duval, Applications of power line carrier at Electricite de France Proc 1997 Internat. Symp. on Power Line Comms and its Applications pp76-80 ^ "Distribution Line Carrier System". Power-Q Sendirian Bhd. Archived from t he original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2011. ^ "Real-time Energy Management via Powerlines and Internet". official web si te. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2011. ^ "Welcome To PRIME Alliance". Official web site. Retrieved 22 July 2011. ^ "DCB500 SPI/UART power-line communication modem transceiver for automotive network". Yamar.com. Retrieved 2010-10-11. ^ "DC-LIN Over Power line"[1] ^ Y. Koren, Y. Seri "Using LIN Over Powerline Communication to Control Truck and Trailer Backlights" - SPARC 2007 [2] ^ "Daewoo Bus Case Study". Echelon.com. Retrieved 2010-10-11. ^ Pokrzywa, Jack; Reidy, Mary (2011-08-12). "SAE's J1772 'combo connector' f or ac and dc charging advances with IEEE's help". SAE International. Retrieved 2 011-08-12. ^ "http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/newslog/New+Global+Standard+For+Fully+Networked+ Home.aspx". Itu.int. 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2010-10-11. ^ "NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Rel ease 1.0". Nist.gov. Retrieved 2010-10-11. [edit] Sources Powerline Communication: Potential and Critical System, Existing Technologie s and Prospects for Future Development http://www.tesionline.it/default/tesi.asp ?idt=34078 Blackburn, J. L., ed. (1976). Applied Protective Relaying. Newark, N.J.: Wes tinghouse Electric Corp., Relay-Instrument Division. OCLC 2423329. LCCN 76-00806 0. Carcelle, Xavier (2006) (in French). Rseaux CPL par la pratique. Paris: Eyrol les. ISBN 9782212119305. OCLC 421746698.