O'Neal: The Residential Power Circuit as a Communication Medium

567

THE RESIDENTIAL POWER CIRCUIT AS A COMMUNICATION MEDIUM

J. B. O'Neal, Jr.
Center for Communications and Signal Processing
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
North Carolina State University
Box 7914
Raleigh, NC 27695

1. INTRODUCTION
This paper is a summary of work done to
characterize the residential power circuit as a
communication medium. Here the term residential power circuit refers to that part of the power
circuit on the secondary side of the distribution
transformer. This circuit is often used for communication signals for controlling appliances,
security devices, and for other purposes. The
frequencies of most interest in these systems
range from about 100 to 200 kHz. The interface
to this circuit is usually a 120 V or 240 V receptacle used to deliver power. These communication systems are called residential power line carrier systems. Other types of power line carrier
are distribution line carrier and transmission line
carrier both of which are used by the power utilities for communications purposes.
The communication properties of the
residential power circuit include
(a) The impedance at the receptacle
(b) The signal transfer between power
outlets within a residence
(c) Noise
(d) Standing waves
The primary objective in most residential
power line carrier systems is to communicate
information from one power outlet in a residence
to another. The communication medium, therefore, consists of everything connected to power
outlets. This includes house wiring in the walls

of the building, appliance wiring, the appliances

themselves, the service panel, the triplex wire
connecting the service panel to the distribution
transformer and the distribution transformer itself.
Since distribution transformers usually serve

Manuscript received June 9, 1986.

more than one residence, the loads and wiring of

all residences connected to the same transformer
must be included.
Following is a summary of this paper:
1. Because of the lack of any published data on
the transfer of the signal from the circuit on one
side of the distribution transformer secondary to
the other, measurements were made on six distribution transformers to determine the short circuit admittance parameters (y-parameters) at frequences from 20 to 300 kHz. From these measurements signal transfer and power line
impedance can be found.
2. The transfer of the signal between the two 120
V phase circuits (called Li -L2 transfer) takes
place in the distribution transformer and through
240 V loads if there are any. Apparently, signal
transfer occurs primarily through transformer
action rather than through winding capacitance.
The signal voltage on Li caused by a signal on
L2 is affected by the impedance between ground
and Li. The capacitance of the wiring involved
is so small that it usually has little effect on signal transfer at frequences below 300 kHz. For
typical resistive loads, signal attenuation between
Li and L2 was calculated to be from 2 to 15 dB
at 150 kHz depending on the distribution
transformer used and the size of the 120 V
loads. In most cases it is expected that the
attenuation in the field will be in this range. However, there are reports of attenuation in
residences being measured as high as 38 dB. It
may be possible for capacitative loads to
resonate with the inductance of the distribution
transformer and cause the signal transfer to vary
wildly with frequency.

0018-9200/86/0200-0567$01.00 1986 IEEE

568

IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. CE-32, No. 3, August 1986

3. Previously published work shows that the

impedance of the 120 and 240 volt residential
power circuits increases with frequency and is in
the range from about 5 to 32 ohms at 100 kHz.
It appears that this impedance is determined by
two parameters- the loads connected to the
network and the impedance of the distribution
transformer. The 120 volt loads at a neighbor's
residence can affect this impedance. Wiring
seems to have a relatively small effect. The
impedance is usually inductive. Plots of this
impedance vs. frequency are shown.
4. The principal source of noise is caused by
light dimmers which create noise at frequencies
which are multiples of 60 Hz. Universal motors
also create objectional noise but it is not as
strong as light dimmer noise. One experimental
study [1] reported that a 400 watt light dimmer
created sine waves of 80 mv rms at multiples of
60 Hz at frequences of 100 kHz.

5. Impedance modulation caused by rectifier circuits is modeled herein. It is shown how this
source of impairment alters the power spectrum
of the communications signal.

2. IMPEDANCE OF THE RESIDENTIAL

POWER OUTLET
The most extensive data on this subject has
been published by Nicholson and Malack of IBM
[2] who measured the impedance of 36 commercial power sources (1 15V1 + , 220v 1 + and
208V 3+). A comparison of these results with
European measurements are contained in [3].
Vines [1,4] measured the impedance at the wall
outlets for 1 1 5V and 220V single phase power at
four residences. The measurements by IBM [2,3]
where made at 25 discrete frequencies from 20
kHz to 300 MHz while the Vines' [1,4] measurements were concentrated at frequencies below
20 kHz but contained one measurement at 50
kHz and one at 100 kHz. The Vines' measurements were all made at residences while the IBM
measurements included commercial power
sources.

Fig. 1 is a plot of the maximum, minimum,

and mean measurements reported by Nicholson
and Malack. [2]

ie-

20 kHz

30 MHz

Fig. 1: Power Line Impedance Measurements by

Nicholson and Malack [2]
These measurements show a rather wide variation in the impedances seen at the power outlet.
For example, Fig. 1 shows that at 100 kHz the
minimum value of the magnitude of the
impedance is about 4 ohms, the mean is about
14 ohms and the maximum is about 32 ohms.

Vines' measurements in Fig. 2 show a minimum

of about 10 ohms and a maximum of about 32
ohms at 100 kHz. All impedances measured by
Vines were inductive while some measured by
Malack were capacitive.
The impedance of the power outlet is determined primarily by appliances connected to the
wiring and by the impedance of the distribution
transformer. The impedance of the secondary
side of a distribution transformer changes with
frequency and is inductive. At 100 kHz the
impedances of the secondary side of the distribution transformers were measured to be from
about 7 to 18 ohms with an angle of about 77 to
85 degrees inductive. The wiring between the
residence and the transformer could add an additional 1 to 3 ohms of inductance at 1 00 kHz
depending on the length of the line. This cursory

569

O'Neal: The Residential Power Circuit as a Communication Medium

x-

0-

2!.4
0
z

2'00

a-

~~~~~~x

16
6~~~~~~

I
z

A. Distribution Transformer
The distribution transformer is a 3 port network consisting of a primary port and two secondary ports. The analysis of such 3 port networks
by the use of short circuit admittance parameters
(y-parameters) is given in standard texts on networks such as Van Valkenburg [7]. Fortunately,
our measurements have shown that the transfer
of a signal from one secondary side of the
transformer (Li) to the other side (L2) at frequencies above 20 kHz is affected very little by the
primary impedance Zp. This permits us to
analyze the transformer by using 2 port network
analysis as shown in Fig. 3. What follows is a
brief analysis showing how Li-12 signal transfer
and the secondary impedance of these
transformers can be calculated from the short circuit admittance parameters (y-parameters).

A
&- 20 KHZ

2)8

0)
I
x

3. SIGNAL TRANSFER WITHIN RESIDENCES

100 KHZ
50 KHZ

I12

00

ox

a
0&

AA
A A

000

xx

0
n
lw

1
0

I,
I

II

12

16

20

240V

REAL PART N OHMS

Fig. 2: Impedance Measurements by Vines [1].

analysis of the components involved is quite consistent with the measurements shown in Figs. 1
and 2. Loads connected to all residences on the
distribution transformer must be considered.
For testing purposes it is often important to
simulate the impedance of the residential power
line circuit. Networks which do this are called
Line Impedance Stabilization Networks (LISN).
The LISN specified for many measurements is
discussed in [5]. This IEEE standard LISN is a
good approximation to the mean value of the
impedance measurements shown in Fig. 1 for
frequencies between about 200 kHz and 1 MHz.
LISNs which better represent the measurements
in Fig. 1 and 2 at lower frequencies where
residential power line carrier systems are likely to
operate are discussed in [6].

(a) Distribution Transformer

(Fig. 3)

Li
._,-----

Vi

I2

II

L2

-3

YA

(b) 7r Network Model

V2

IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. CE-32, No. 3, August 1986

570

Li I1

12 L2

(c) Two Generator Model

Fig. 3: Two-Port Model for Secondary Side

of a Distribution Transformer
The distribution transformer shown in Fig.
3(a) can be represented by the 2 port network
shown in Fig. 3(b). Once the y-parameters are
known, the performance of the transformer can
be determined with any loads connected in parallel with YA or YB. The short-circuit admittance
parameters are measured as follows:

12

(2)
Y21 V1 + Y22 V2
By inserting an admittance Y, on one side
of the distribution transformer as shown in Fig.
3(c) it is relatively easy to derive some important
properties of distribution transformers in terms of
the y-parameters. The details of the derivations
of the following expressions are contained in
[6,7].
Voltage transfer function:
V1
Y12

V2

Z2

Y21 12/V1 V2
short circuited)
=

(apply voltage

to

Li

with L2

V2

/2

(yl+Yll)Y22-Yl22

V1

Y12

'2

Y12 Y22(Y1Y11)

Current transfer function:

These y-parameters must be measured at the

frequencies of interest. They will be functions of
frequency. From these 3 measurements the elements in the wr networks are found as follows:
YA Yll + Y21
YB Y22 + Y21
Y21
YC

/2

(4)

Transfer impedance:

Y22 = 12iV2IV1 = (apply voltage to L2 with Li

short circuited)

The ys define the transformer completely. The

two generator model of Fig. 3(c) is often useful in
gaining insight and is ideally suited for use in circuit analysis programs such as SPICE. The two
generator model is easily inferred from the equations which relate 11,12,V1,V2 and the yparameters.
/1 Yll V( + Y12 V21)

(3)

Secondary impedance:

1 V1 Iv2 = 0 (apply voltage to Li with L2

short circuited)

Yii

Y1 +Y11

_1

(Y1y112
Y22(y1
+Yll)
y2

Y~2
Y12

(5)

(6)

B. Transformer Measurements
Since no measurements of the yparameters could be found which would give the
signal transfer from Li to L2 at frequencies of
interest, some measurements were made by two
students from N.C. State University on six distribution transformers in a transformer yard at the
Carolina Power and Light Co. The transformers
were not energized with 60 Hz power when the
y-parameters were measured. Previous work
has shown that energizing the transformers
doesn't change these measurements at frequencies above 2 kHz. The values Of Y11,Y12 and Y22
were measured at 7 frequencies between 20 and
300 kHz. The transformer sizes were 5, 10, 25
and 50 kVA with 2 transformers measured for
each of the 5 and 10 kVA cases. The detailed

571

O'Neal: The Residential Power Circuit as a Communication Medium

measurements, raw data, and the measurement

set-up are contained in [6]. Distribution
transformers are of two types - core type and
shell type [8]. Further work is needed to determine whether or not these two types have different L1-L2 transfer characteristics. A number
of important conclusions can be determined from
a cursory examination of these measurements.
Table 1 gives the measurements Of Y11,Y22
and Y12 for three transformers. The magnitudes
given are 20 log y. The values of the yparameters are different for different transformers, even for transformers of the same kVA rating. The data show that there are no resonant
effects in the transformer over the frequencies of
interest. The fact that Yii and Y12 decreases
with frequency will cause the secondary
impedance of the residential power circuit to be
inductive. This is also implied by the negative
angle of Yll and Y22 and is borne out by Vines'
measurements shown in Fig. 2.

Transformer: /O kVA; RTE S/N 791126223

Freq

dB

20
50
100
150
200
250
300

-6.09
- 14.20
-19.18
-22.74
-25.26
-27.40
-29.14

Freq

(kHz)

dB

20
50
100
150
200
250
300

+ 1.47

-8.24
-12.63
-17.03
-18.94
-21.24
-22.64

Phase
-63.74
-80.28
-79.04

-82.53
-84.82

-84.94
-85.84

d
dB

-6.36
-12.34
-19.02
-21.90
-24.65
-26.30
-28.00

Phase

dB

-87.7
-84.12
-89.44
-88.75
-88.74
-89.60
-89.82

+ 1.74

-8.15

-12.34

-16.82
-18.66
-21.01
-22.40

Phase
-62.66
-79.70
-78.07
-81.80
-84.34
-84.33
-85.36

Transformer: 25 kVA; Westinghouse S/N tiM1018

Style C1712V25L6A
Freq

(kHz)

dB

20

-3.52
-11.26
-16.89
-20.36
-22.98
-25.07

50
100

150

200
250
300

-26.82

Yii

Phase

-74.50
-80.39
-83.91
-84.78
-86.14
-86.67
-87.31 1

dB
- 6.02
-13.04

-18.98

-22.28
-24.67
-26.58
-28.08

Y2

Phase

dB

-75.46

-3.47
-11.47
-17.07
-20.57
-23.22
-25.34
-27.13

-81.87
-84.36
-85.94
-86.54
-87.30
-87.81

Y2

Phase

dB

-72.18
-79.87
-76.04
-81.84
-84.60
-85.58
-86.09

-9.38
-15.70
-21.62
-24.88
-27.34
-29.09
-30.48

Y12

Phase

dB

-74.78
-79.86
-87.31
-85.90
-85.78
-86.43
-87.10

-5.55
-13.79
-18.82
-22.39
-24.90
-27.02
-28.72

-2 -

-77.96
-82.07
-84.96

-85.57

486.82

-87.28

Phase
-70.78
-79.54
-76.48
-81.90
-84.46
-85.44
-86.00

cm

cm1

-6

coJc-

-8
-10

\y CD
lro

i;

-12
m

:r

-14

1
I

LaJ

-16

CM

-2

CO1.
LO
<0
-

LU
az

:.r

-6

I-

-8
co
wCJ

-10
m

-12

>
...

-14i

>yO
cm

-4

ui

-6

Phase

Y2

Y1 = 0

-4-

10

Table 1
Secondary y-parameter measurements for three
distribution transformers

Transformer: 50 kVA; RTE S/N 831032717

(kHz)

-84

-1tO
-12
100

150

F-ECUENCY IN KHz

-87.85

Fig. 4: Magnitude of voltage transfer ratio IV1iV21

for 3 values of load admittance Y,

vs. frequency
on L1.

572

IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. CE-32, No. 3, August 1986

Fig. 4 is a plot of calculated values of voltage transfer ratio V1/V2 when Li is loaded with
values of Y, = 0, 0.125 and 0.250 mhos. When
there is no load (YV =0), there is very little loss of
signal. As the load increases so does the voltage attenuation from Li to L2. The attenuation
also increases with frequency implying that lower
frequencies will have better L1-L2 signal transfer
than higher frequencies. The value Y1 = 0.125
represents a full load on a circuit in a residence
with a 15 amp. circuit breaker since
Zl=120/15=8. Some 120 V electric heaters can
have an impedance only slightly greater than 8
ohms. The value Y1 = 0.250 mhos, representing a resistance of 4 ohms, was used because
the impedance appearing across a 120 V secondary circuit of the transformer is the impedances
of all residences across this circuit. The Y1 =
0.250 case could occur when two residences
have 8 ohm heaters operating on the same circuit. It is not uncommon for a distribution
transformer to serve 4-8 residences each of
which may have loads across the secondary.
The greatest attenuation from Li to L2 shown is
about 16 dB for the 10 kVA transformer. The
values of V1/V2 shown in this figure were calculated using equation (3). The time allocated to
this study did not permit calculations of the voltage transfer ratio for a wider variety of loads.
Calculations of the secondary impedance of
the transformers are easily made from equation
(4). Care must be taken to avoid having confidence in such calculations when the difference
Y1l Y22 - Y22 is much smaller than the quantities involved. The accuracy of the measurements can dramatically affect the calculation of
secondary impedances when this is the case. A
similar situation holds for calculations of transimpedance V1/12.
The y-parameters can be used to determine
signal transfer for a wide variety of circumstances not covered here. These yparameters determine the characteristics of the
transformer exactly when its operation is linear.
Previous work on many occasions has shown
that energizing the transformer at 60 Hz does not
change the y-parameters for frequencies above
20 KHz.

C. The Effect of Wiring on Signal Transfer

The capacitance and inductance of common
residential wiring were measured by Vines [1] at
frequencies from 5 to 100 kHz. The measurements showed little dependence on frequency
and are likely to be accurate for frequencies at
least as high as 500 kHz. It is important to know
whether or not the triplex that connects the
residential service panel to the distribution
transformer has a significant effect on signal
transfer from L1 to L2. Vines measured Al 1/0
triplex to have a line-to-line capacitance of 16.2
pF/ft. Thus a 200 ft. length of such wire would
have a capacitance of 3240 pF. At 150 kHz this
gives an admittance whose magnitude is about
-50 dB. This admittance occurs in parallel with
Yc in Fig. 3(b). For every transformer tested the
mangnitude of Yc = -Y21 was never less than
-32 dB. Thus, the effect of the capacitance of
the triplex wire is always small compared to Yc
and can be neglected. This is not necessarily
true of the inductance of the triplex which occurs
in series with Y1 in Fig. 3(c).
A 240 V load connected from Li to L2 will
generally cause an increase in the signal transfer
from L2 to Li. For example a 5 kW load from L1
to L2 is represented by a resistance of about
11.5 ohms. This is an admittance with a magnitude of -21.2 dB. When this is larger than the
Y12 of the transformer, it will increase the transfer
of signal between Li and L2.
D. Added Coupling Mechanisms
It will be a simple matter to construct a plug
for a 240 V outlet that contains a coupling
mechanism-a capacitor of the right size would
do the job. This device could have a male plug
and a female receptacle so that it could be
plugged into a wall socket and provide a receptacle for an appliance. Such coupling mechanisms
could be sold separately or in conjunction with a
transmitting unit. The coupling mechanism would
guarantee strong signal coupling between
phases.

O'Neal: The Residential Power Circuit as a Communication Medium

E. Signal Transfer into the Primary Side of

The Distribution Line
For obvious reasons it is desirable to confine the signal used by the residential power line
carrier system to the secondary side of the distribution transformer. For power line carrier systems used by the power companies, just the
opposite is true. They wish to communicate from
residences on the secondary of the distribution
transformer to substations on the primary. After
experimenting with many frequencies, this industry has settled on using frequencies in the range
of 4-15 kHz. This was done primarily because
signals at these lower frequencies do propagate
reasonably well through distribution transformers
(9]. Standing wave effects are also more
manageable at these lower frequencies. Propagation from the secondary to the primary of distribution transformers decreases as the frequency
is increased. Frequencies above about 100 kHz
will be better confined to the secondary side of
the transformer than lower frequencies.

F. Standing Wave Consideration

Standing wave effects will begin to occur
when the physical dimensions of the communications medium are comparable to about one-eight
of a wavelength. The wavelength of a signal of
frequency f is given by A=c/f where c is the
speed of light in the transmission medium. For
the media of interest c will be slightly less than
3x 108 meters/sec, which is the speed of light in
free space. At 100, 150 and 200 kHz, X/8 is
about 1220, 816, and 610 feet, respectively. The
length of the communications path on the secondary side of the power distribution system will be
determined primarily by the length of the triplex
wire connecting the residences to the distribution
transformer. Usually, several residences use the
same distribution transformer. It would be rare
that a linear run of this wiring would exceed 600
feet in length although the total length of
branches might occasionally exceed 600 feet.
Thus, standing wave effects would be rare at frequencies below about 200 kHz for residential wiring. Statistics on the length of this wiring are
unavailable.

573

4. NOISE AND OTHER IMPAIRMENTS

The noise which is most detrimental to
residential power line carrier systems is noise
generated on the secondary side of the distribution transformer. This noise is generated primarily by appliances connected to the same
transformer secondary to which the PLC system
is connected. The two primary sources of noise
will be triacs used in light dimmers and universal
motors. Triacs generate noise synchronous with
the 60 Hz power signal and this noise appears
as harmonics of 60 Hz. Universal motors generate noise because they use brushes which
cause a switching action. This noise is not generally synchronous with 60 Hz. There is little
doubt that the noise produced by the triacs will
generally have higher energy than that from
universal motors in the 100-200 kHz region
where residential power line carrier systems are
expected to operate. Furthermore, light dimmers
are often left on for long periods of time whereas
universal motors are used intermittently. Most of
the information which follows was taken from
Vines [10] including Fig. 5 which shows noise
voltage spectra (20 log V,rs) for several noise
sources as well as background noise in a typical
residential environment.

100 watt light dinmer

0

050

sechine

%1 sanider

backg r'und
-100

1.

20

40

i-

HZ 60

80

+-

Fig. 5: Voltage Spectra for 3 universal motors

compaired to light dimmers operating into the
60 Hz power circuit. [1]

1 00

574

IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. CE-32, No. 3, August 1986

A. Synchronous Noise
The solid state light dimmer is used with up
to 600 watts of incandescent lighting to provide
continuously variable lamp brightness. The dimmer is wired in series with the incandescent
lights and controls lamp brightness by switching
on and off rapidly through the use of SCR's or
triacs. The National Electrical Manufacturers
Association has established limits on allowable
noise as a function of frequency, but the lowest
frequency specified is 500 kHz. The noise generated by this device is a function of the triac and
the elements of the switching network.
Voltage and current waveforms which occur
in the operation of a particular dimmer with a 100
watt (144 ohm) lamp are shown in [10]. The
switch (triac) closes early in the first half-cycle for
maximum brightness and late in the first halfcycle for minimum brightness, and then opens
during the zero crossing. This repeats for the
second half-cycle. The high-frequency voltage
produced is a damped oscillatory waveform with
natural resonant frequency of approximately 125
kHz [11]. When the dimmer is adjusted for maximum brightness, voltage is not applied to the
lamp during the complete cycle so that sharp
leading edges are still present in the current
waveform. Since the switching of the triac
(dv/dt= 1 OOv/usec) is much faster than the
change in 120 volt 60 Hz excitation voltage,
extremely high frequency components are produced.
Vines' analysis of the light dimmer shows
that both even and odd harmonics of 60 Hz are
produced and their relative strength depends on
the setting of the dimmer. Fig. 5 shows a spectrum of the noise voltage produced by a 100 watt
light dimmer. Notice that the spectrum actually
increases with frequency. This is true because
the impedance of the power circuit which feeds
the light dimmer increases with frequency. Fig. 6
is an expanded plot of the spectrum about 12480
Hz. This figure shows the sharp spectral lines
produced at both even and odd harmonics of 60
Hz.

-20

-40

&A

19
0

bd

-60 _

a,11

a10

208tb Harmonic
of 60 Hz
odd envelope

eten envelope

P.

-80

11 IL-I-I
-4t1-Ti TitlE~~~~~~~~~
i~1T[ias
W I

l 1968

IsZZ"

s~~~~~~~~~~~~lf I.

124ao

Frequency ln kHz

1Z736

LZ99z

Fig. 6 Expanded plot of the voltage spectrum of

the light dimmer about 12 480 Hz, showing both
odd and even harmonics-from [1].
In summary, the solid-state light dimmer
produces 60 Hz harmonic noise whose odd and
even components depend on the setting of the
dimmer control. The noise amplitude is determinecl by the lamp load, the dimmer low-pass
filter, the triac firing point with respect to the excitation voltage, and the power circuit impedance.
Vines observed that the noise voltage produced
had a magnitude of 80 mV rms per spectral line
for 400 watts of lighting. It is likely that light dimmers can produce noise of this magnitude up to
frequencies of 200 kHz although the measurements made by Vines were at frequencies
between 0 and 100 kHz.
B. Universal Motors
Common to most residences are a plethora
of appliances containing universal motors.
These are small series-wound motors which can
operate on ac or dc voltage. Their light weight
makes them ideal for small appliances, especially
hand-held ones. This type of motor is found in
vacuum cleaners, mixers, blenders, sewing
machines, and portable hand-held sanders, drills,
and saws. Universal motors contain brushes,
and their performance is similar to that of dc
series motors: when a load is placed on the
motor, the speed decreases; and when the voltage to the motor is increased, the speed
increases. A series connected variable resistor

O'Neal: The Residential Power Circuit as a Communication Medium

can be used to obtain a continuously variable

speed from the motor, and changing the field
winding can be used to obtain different discrete
speeds. Some appliances now use solid state
switching devices to control their speed. The
noise generated by motors with brushes has a
random amplitude and frequency and can cause
radio interference. The light dimmer current has
much sharper transitions than the universal
motor current and this is reflected in the spectra
shown in Fig. 5 which contains the spectrum of
several typical universal motors. The light dimmer produces higher noise voltage at higher frequencies than the universal motors. This is verified by a comparison between the light dimmer
noise spectrum and the universal motor spectra.
This figure, made by a Nicholet 660B digital
spectrum analyzer, shows that the light dimmer
has a spectrum at 100 kHz which is about 25 dB
greater than the 6 universal motors tested.
Although the figure does not cover the range
from 100 to 200 kHz, we conjecture that the light
dimmer noise is much greater than the universal
motor noises in this region as well.

C. Other Noise Sources

Vines measured the noise produced by
many other appliances. He found that there was
very little noise produced by induction motors,
fluorescent lighting and other appliances at 100
kHz when compared to the noise level of light
dimmers and universal motors. Television
receivers produced a significant amount of noise
at multiples of the line rate of 15734 Hz. Multiples of this frequency should be avoided by all
power line carrier systems.
D. Impedance Modulators
Rectifier circuits which are used to create a
smooth dc voltage from the ac power voltage
create an impairment known as impedance
modulation. When a rectifier turns on, either
once or twice during a 60 Hz cycle, it places a
large capacitor directly across the power circuit.
This causes the impedance seen by a PLC
transmitter or receiver to change at a 60 or 120
Hz rate. Since the signal voltage is developed
across this time varying impedance, it becomes

575

amplitude modulated at a 60 or 120 Hz rate.

A simple model of impedance modulation is
shown in Fig. 7. The (a) part of this figure shows
the signal Vm (t) developed by feeding a current
i(t) from a constant current source transmitter
into a varying impedance Z(t). The (b) part of
Fig. 7 shows that we may model the Vm (t) as a
signal VO(t) with no impedance modulation multiplied by a modulating signal m (t) which can be
expressed as a fourier series. If SO(f ) is the
power spectrum of the signal VO(t) without
impedance modulation, then the power spectrum
of the signal with impedance modulation is
SM (t)=So(f )+-E A2[SO(f -160)+S0(f +160)1

A sketch of this spectrum is shown in Fig. 7(c).

is (t)

vm(t)

(a) Varying Impedance

Vm (t)

V. (t)

m(t) =1 + - Aicos(2,ri60 + ei)

(b) Signal Amplitude Modulation

SO(f) - NO IMP. MOD.

I

A2S(f+60)

f0-60

/TA2So(f-60)
- t A0
/2

fo

fo+ 60

-120)

f+120

(c) Power Spectrum of Impedance Modulated Signal

Fig 7: Model of Impedance Modulation

576

IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. CE-32, No. 3, August 1986

The power spectrum is composed of the spectrum of the unmodulated signal SO(f) plus
attenuated replicas of SO(f) that occur at frequencies f oi60, where f0 is the center frequency of the PLC signal. For a full wave rectifier the values of Ai for i odd will be very small so
that the spectral lobes will exist primarily at f0
plus multiples of 120 Hz. Experimental evidence
on the severity of this impedance modulation
could not be found.
A more thorough analysis of this impairment
results from specifying the current source
impedance and being more specific about the
value of Z(t). This would not change the general
shape of the resulting spectrum shown in Fig.
7(c).
5. THE DESIGN OF RESIDENTIAL POWER
LINE CARRIER SYSTEMS
Given the characteristics of the residential
power circuit as a communications medium, what
design features would permit residential power
line carrier systems to best utilize this medium?
Following are four suggestions.
1. The most severe noise seems to occur near
the peaks of the 60 Hz power signal. Thus
transmitting a signal at or near the zero crossing
of this signal would seem to be an advantage.
The X-10 signal design utilizes this idea. This
signal design would also avoid the impedance
modulation impairment which switches capacitors
across the line near the peaks of the 60 Hz signal. Thus, time domain techniques at the receiver
can be used to "listen" for the signal only near
the 60 Hz zero crossings where the noise is low.

2. Frequency domain concepts can also be used

to avoid noise at multiples of 60 Hz. Using this
technique the signal carrier and baud are synchronous with the 60 Hz signal and the power
spectrum is placed between multiples of 60 Hz.

3. We conjecture that the frequency response of

the residential power circuit may contain "holes"
due to resonances. These holes are unpredictable frequencies of severe attenuation. Some
sort of frequency spreading technique such as

spread spectrum [12] or the use of multiple carriers would help combat this problem.
4. Since the most severe noise is impulsive,
clipping the signal at the receiver may be advan-

tageous.

6. REFERENCES

(1) R.M. Vines, "The Characterization of

Residential Impedances and Noise Sources
for Power Line Carrier Communications,"
Report of the Center for Communications
and Signal Processing, Box 7914, Raleigh,
NC 27695-7914, June 10, 1983.
(2) J.R. Nicholson and J.A. Malack, "RF
Impedance of Power Lines and Line
Impedance Stabilization Networks in Conducted Interferences Measurement," IEEE
Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. EMC-15, No. 2, May 1973, pp.
(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

84-86.
J.A. Malack and J.R. Engstrom, "RF
Impedance of United States and European
Power Lines," IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. EMC-18,
No. 1, February 1976, pp. 36-38.
R.M. Vines, J. Trussell, K. Shuey, and J.B.
O'Neal, "Impedance of the Residential
Power Distribution Circuit," IEEE Transactions of Electromagnetic Compatibility, pp.
6-13, February 1985.
"Radio Interference: Methods of Measurement of Conducted Interference Output to
the Power Line from FM and Television
Broadcast Receivers in the Range of 300
kHz to 25 MHz," ANSI/IEEE Standard 2131961, IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. 345 East 47th
Street, New York, NY 10017.
J.B. O'Neal Jr., "The Transmission Medium,
Impairments and Testing of Residential
Power Line Carrier Systems," EIA report
dated Jan. 1, 1986.
M.E. Van Valkenburg, Network Analysis,

Prentice-Hall, second edition, 1964, Englewood Cliffs, NY.

O'Neal: The Residential Power Circuit as a Communication Medium

577

(8) EE Staff at MIT, Magnetic Circuits and

Transformers, John Wiley and Sons, 1943.
(9) K.C. Shuey, "Distribution Transformers at
Power-Line Carrier Frequencies," IEEE
Global Telecommunication Conference,
Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 1983, pp. 483-486.
(10) R.M. Vines, H.J. Trussell, L. Gale and J.B.
O'Neal Jr., "Noise on Residential Power
Distribution Circuits," IEEE Transactions on
Electromagnetic Compatibility, pp. 161-168,
November 1984.
(11) D.R. Grafham and F.B. Goden, eds., SCR
Manual Sixth Edition, General Electric
Company, 1979, 00 307-309, 489-496, 670.
(12) P.K. Van der Gracht and R.W. Donaldson,
"Communication Using Pseudonoise Modulation on Electric Power Distribution Circuits," IEEE Transaction on Communications, Sept. 1985, pp. 964-974.

BioaraDhv of J. Ben O'tNeal, Jr.

Ben O'Neal attended Ga.

Tech.. the University of South Carolina. and

the University of Florida from which he obtained the Ph. D. in

Electrical Enaineerina in 1964. From 1964 to 1967 he was with Bell

TeleDhone Laboratories. Since that time he has been on the faculty of

the Electrical and ComDuter Enaineerina Devartment at North Carolina

State Universitv where he does research and teaches.

He is currently

Distinauished Professor with the Center for Communications and Sianal

Processina .