Transcript Broadband over Power lines

Broadband over Power lines
by
Jayesh
Chi Bun
Mummoorthy
CS 536 – October 22, 2004
Broadband over power lines (BPL)
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FCC approved last week: power utilities free to carry
data on electrical wires to provide broadband services
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Benefits
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Better coverage than phone and cable (e.g. small towns
and rural areas)
Faster deployment
May lower the price
Challenges
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EM interference to various radio signals
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System to monitor interference,
Restrict service in areas where could affect public safety
High-voltage and fluctuation can corrupt data
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Clean data stream if power down to 7000V
How Stuff Works?
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Medium
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PHY
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Fibers / Phone lines (to skip
disruptive high-voltage lines)
Medium voltage wires
RF (bundled w/ AC)
4.3MHz – 20.9MHz
84 carriers
OFDM
MAC
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CSMA/CA
virtual carrier sense
contention resolution
Encoding: DQPSK
Error detection/correction: FEC,
ARQ
How Stuff Connected?
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How to plug in?
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Data rates
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Wireless router on poles
Special adaptor/modem plugged into electrical outlets
Homeplug Powerline Alliance: 14Mbps
Amperion: currently 20Mbps, 100Mbps next year
CVEC: claims 256Mbps bidirectionally
Prices
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Amperion: $19/mo
Home n/w device: $25
Wall-plugged Ethernet Bridge
The future
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Home network
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Easily create a network via electric outlets
Smart electrical grids and devices
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Read electrical usage
Diagnose maintenance problems and feed back
Traffic lights, surveillance cams networked
instantly
Control power use
Comments on the article & the topic
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Pros
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Cons
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Impact of BPL to broadband providers
Provided estimated cost of services
Proposed idea of smart electrical devices
No technical details about data transmission mechanism
over power line
No discussion of safety and security
Our Opinions
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Alternative to existing network infrastructure
Opportunity for smart devices
More trials and testing needed
Interference problems?
More at the hands of nature: Rain, Snow, ..
New medium: Properties of Aluminum wires???
Will it survive the opposition:
ARRL(163,000), FEMA, DERA & many more …
How Stuff Messed Up?
Short wave/CB: 5.9MHz – 27.41Mhz
Affected FEMA (emergency), ARRL (relay radio)