LA SALLEE POW WER LIN

NE COM MMUNIC CATION NS FOR THE

SCHOOLL OF ELECCTRICAL UTILITYY: PHYSSICAL LAYER DESIGN
N
ENGINEERING AND CHANNEL MODELINO NG

PhD Thesis
T | Ricard
R Aq
quilué de Pedro
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

Power Linne Communica

ations for the Electrical
E Utilityy: Physical Lay
yer Design annd Channel Moodeling

Ricard Aqquilué de Pedro

Research Group in Elecctromagnetism m and Communnications (GRECO)
Enginyeriia i Arquitectuura La Salle
Universita
at Ramon Llull
Quatre Camins,
C 2
08022 Barcelona, Spa ain
aquilue@sallee.url.edu
E-mail: ra

Advisor: Dr. Joan Lluís Pijoan i Vidal

Enginyeriia i Arquitectuura La Salle, Universitat
U Ram
mon Llull, Barce
elona, Spain

2
Abstract

A Elisabeet y a mis pad

dres, Mari Feli y Miguel

3
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

4
 Abstract

ABSSTRACT

The world of Pow wer line commuunications (PLC C) can be divvided into threee main typess: low voltage e PLC (LV-
PLC), medium voltage PLC (MV-PLC) and high voltage PLC C (HV-PLC). Thhese last years, LV-PLC has attracted
a great expectation since its wiideband capa abilities has made
m this technnology a suitaable choice for last-mile
acceess and in-hom
me communicattions. Moreoveer, LV-PLC also o includes a uttility oriented low frequencyy and low
speeed applicationns, such as autoomatic meter reading (AMR R), load distribbution, dynamic billing and so on. On
the other
o hand, MV-PLC
M and HV V-PLC, historiccally oriented to teleprotecction and teleccontrol tasks, are being
consiidered as a reliable coommunication channel. The e development of digital equipment and the
standdardization efforts are making thosse channels an attractivve medium for electrica al utilities
teleccommunicationns services, sincce the networkk, as well as inn LV-PLC, is already deployyed.

In this PhD disserttation, the threee different PLC

P topologiees are revieweed and the different comm munications
technniques in such channels exp posed. Then, a deep technological revieew of existing g AMR solutions for the
European CENELEC AMR systems deliver low
C band, as weell as HV-PLC systems is givven, showing thhat existing A
frequency diversity and HV-PLC C systems are anchored in old
o fashioned standards.
s

This work
w walks arround the three topologies, specifically, CENELEC
C band d utility orienteed applicationns, channel
measurement and modeling and d channel meaasurement and physical layeer design, rega arding LV-PLCC, MV-PLC
and HV-PLC resp pectively. Exissting CENELECC compliant systems
s deliveer low or none frequency y diversity
mechhanisms, yield ding in a low w robustness against
a coloreed noise and interference.. This work proposep a
multiicarrier based physical layer approa ach that, whiile keeping the complexiity low, delivers high
performance allow wing a greatt level of freqquency diverssity. Focusing on MV-PLC, a hybrid detterministic-
statisstical channel model for urbban undergrouund rings is de eveloped and,, finally, in HV V-PLC systems,, this work
propposes, based on o measuremeents and field tests, a wideb band physical layer in ordeer to increase data rate
whilee keeping low w both the pow wer spectral deensity and posssible interfereence to other systems.

5
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

6
 < Contentss

CON
NTENTS

Absttract ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Conttents ........................................................................................................................................................... 7
List of
o figures and
d tables ................................................................................................................................ 9
Acro
onyms ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Ackn
nowledgemen
nts ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Auth
hor’s presenta
ation ................................................................................................................................... 17
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 19
1..1. Historyy of power linee communicatioons for the ele
ectrical utility ................................................................ 19
1.1.1. Power Line Carrrier................................................................................................................................. 19
1.1.2. Ripple Carrier Signaling ....................................................................................................................... 22
1.1.3. Toowards the sta
andardizationn of the accesss and in–homee PLC technology ............................... 23
1..2. Contents of the thesiss ....................................................................................................................................... 25
2. Power line networks
n ............................................................................................................................ 27
2..1. High vooltage level ........................................................................................................................................... 28
2..2. Medium
m voltage netw
works .............................................................................................................................. 32
2..3. Low vooltage networkks ..................................................................................................................................... 36
3. Automatic meter
m reading and low com
mplexity robust modem dessign ............................................... 41
3..1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 41
3..2. Suitable modulationss for CENELEC A band................................................................................................. 42
3.2.1. N
Narrowband m
modulations ..................................................................................................................... 42
3.2.2. W
Wideband mod
dulations ........................................................................................................................ 42
3..3. Manufa
acturer solutions .................................................................................................................................... 44
3..4. Multica
arrier proposa
al for AMR systtems ........................................................................................................ 45
3.4.1. Zero crossings as
a a time refeerence ..................................................................................................... 45
3.4.2. SC-BPSK perfoormance in front of windowinng errors: Lea
ading to the M
MC approach .............. 46
3.4.3. M
MCM and mainns zero-crossinng jitter ................................................................................................... 46
3.4.4. Residual inter-ssymbol interfeerence: cyclic prefix
p and posstfix ...................................................... 47
3.4.5. Frrequency offseet and system
m perfomance......................................................................................... 49
3.4.6. Phase recoveryy ....................................................................................................................................... 51
3..5. Conclussions ........................................................................................................................................................ 51
4. Medium voltage channel measuremen
nts and its detterministic-sta
atistical modeel .............................. 53
4..1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 53
4..2. Characcterization and
d modeling ap
pproaches .............................................................................................. 53
4..3. Measurrements ................................................................................................................................................... 54
4.3.1. Fiield measurem
ments ............................................................................................................................... 55
4.3.2. La
aboratory measurements .................................................................................................................... 60

7
 Pow munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
wer Line Comm

4.3.3. Joint measurement:

m input impedannce .................................................................................................. 63
4.4. MV channell topology moodeling and va
alidation ......................................................................................... 64
4.5. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................ 66
5. Hig
gh voltage cha
annel measurrements and MC-SS
M tests....................................................................... 67
5.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 67
5.2. Manufacturer solutions .................................................................................................................................... 68
5.3. Measuremeent and test sceenario ..................................................................................................................... 68
5.4. Measuremeents and resultss............................................................................................................................... 69
5.4.1. Attenuuation characteritics...................................................................................................................... 70
5.4.2. ground noise ................................................................................................................................... 70
Backg
5.4.3. Time spread
s and frequency sprea
ad ................................................................................................... 71
5.4.4. MCM design and teest: short link .......................................................................................................... 73
5.4.5. MCM design and teest: long link ........................................................................................................... 77
5.5. Outcomes and
a conclusionss............................................................................................................................... 79
6. Con
nclusions and
d future work .....................
. ......................................................................................... 81
6.1. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................ 81
6.2. Next steps .........................
. ................................................................................................................................ 82
7. Refferences ............................................................................................................................................. 83
8. pendix A. Included paperss ............................................................................................................. 89
App
8.1. A ................................................................................................................................................... 91
Appendix A.1
8.2. A ................................................................................................................................................ 101
Appendix A.2
8.3. A ................................................................................................................................................ 109
Appendix A.3
8.4. A ................................................................................................................................................ 117
Appendix A.4
8.5. A ................................................................................................................................................ 125
Appendix A.5
8.6. A ................................................................................................................................................ 137
Appendix A.6
9. App
pendix B. Autthor’s publica
ation list ............................................................................................... 149
9.1. Conference contributions.............................................................................................................................. 149
9.2. Journal conttributions ..................................................................................................................................... 149

8
 List of figures and
d tables

LISTT OF FIGUR
RES AND T ABLES

Figurre 1 PLC transsceptor.data transmission ap

pplications ............................................................................................. 21
Figurre 2 OPERA powerline
p acceess topology .................................................................................................................. 23
Figurre 3 The four main entities involved in PHY and MAC PLC
P specificatioons ........................................................ 25
Figurre 4 Power linne grid .................................................................................................................................................... 27
Figurre 5 “Egara” Distribution ESS, where the reeceiver is loca
ated ................................................................................ 28
Figurre 6 RF condittioning devicess at Endesa “EEgara” substattion ................................................................................ 30
Figurre 7 Line trap, coupling cap
pacitor and cooupling device in the HV netw
work .................................................... 30
Figurre 8 HV channnel model................................................................................................................................................ 31
Figurre 9 Star topoology. A singlee MV line feed
ds MV custome
ers and TS .................................................................... 32
Figurre 10 Star top
pology. Severa
al MV lines wiith branching ......................................................................................... 32
Figurre 11 Ring top
pology in norm
mal configurattion and in fauult configuratioon.......................................................... 33
Figurre 12 TS basicc scheme ................................................................................................................................................. 34
Figurre 13 MV Dim
mat CAMT cap
pacitive couplinng unit used inn the measurem
ments .................................................... 35
Figurre 14 Unipola
ar underground
d cable structuure........................................................................................................... 35
Figurre 15 MV channel model ............................................................................................................................................ 36
Figurre 16 LV grid devices .................................................................................................................................................. 38
Figurre 17 LV channnel model .............................................................................................................................................. 40
Figurre 18 CENELEC band maxim
mum levels ..................................................................................................................... 41
Figurre 19 DS-SS modulation
m schheme................................................................................................................................ 43
Figurre 20 OFDM modulation
m schheme ............................................................................................................................... 44
Figurre 21 SC-BPSK performance in front of windowing
w erro
ors ................................................................................. 46
Figurre 22 MC-BPSSK performancce in front mains zero-crossiing jitter ........................................................................ 47
Figurre 23 MC systtem performannce for variouus CP lengths .......................................................................................... 48
Figurre 24 MCM sp
pectrum ................................................................................................................................................... 50
Figurre 25 System performance for a frequency offset of 253 Hz, 8 subccarriers at 8 kbps ............................. 51
Figurre 26 Endesa BA07155 and
d BA07460 TSSs ............................................................................................................ 54
Figurre 27 MV ring
g segment atteenuation .......................................................................................................................... 55
Figurre 28 MV ring
g segment dela
ay power proofile ......................................................................................................... 57
Figurre 29 MV ring
g segment bacckground noisee statistics............................................................................................... 58
Figurre 30 Impulsivve waveform parameters
p .................................................................................................................... 58
Figurre 31 MV ring
g segment inteer-arrival and width times sttatistics........................................................................... 59
Figurre 32 MV ring
g segment pea
ak and averag
ge power statistics .............................................................................. 59
Figurre 33 MV cab
ble to N connector ................................................................................................................................. 60
Figurre 34 MV cab
ble S parameters................................................................................................................................... 61
Figurre 35 Extracteed MV cable parameters
p .................................................................................................................... 62
Figurre 36 MV coupler performa
ance variations .............................................................................................................. 63
Figurre 37 MV coupler S parameeters ............................................................................................................................... 63

9
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

Figure 38
8 Measured and real reflecction coefficiennt ..................................................................................................... 63
Figure 39
9 MV channel input impedance .......................................................................................................................... 64
Figure 40
0 MV model ............................................................................................................................................................ 65
Figure 41
1 Simulated toopology .......................................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 42
2 Measured and simulated attenuation
a chharacteristics .................................................................................. 66
Figure 43
3 110 kV 4 cirrcuits line ........................................................................................................................................ 69
Figure 44
4 Link attenuation ................................................................................................................................................. 70
Figure 45
5 Background noise .............................................................................................................................................. 71
Figure 46
6 Background noise statisticss............................................................................................................................... 71
Figure 47
7 Channel delay profile ...................................................................................................................................... 72
Figure 48
8 Frequency autocorrelation
a n function ................................................................................................................ 73
Figure 49
9 OFDM framee and symbol parameters .......................................................................................................... 75
Figure 50
0 OFDM perfoormance.......................................................................................................................................... 76
Figure 51
1 MC-SS perfoormance ......................................................................................................................................... 77
Figure 52
2 Long link atttenuation characteristic ................................................................................................................ 78
Figure 53
3 Long link delay spread .................................................................................................................................... 78

Table 1 Typical
T transp
port levels ....................................................................................................................................... 29
Table 2 Skin
S and soil effect
e attenuattions ........................................................................................................................ 31
Table 3 Main
M AMR PLC
C chip manufa
acturers.................................................................................................................... 45
Table 4 Zero-crossing
Z jiter parameteers ........................................................................................................................... 46
Table 5 Proposed
P systeem characterisstics ......................................................................................................................... 51
Table 6 MV
M PN sounding parameterrs ............................................................................................................................. 56
Table 7 Main
M HV poweer line carrier manufacturerrs...................................................................................................... 68
Table 8 MC-CDMA
M pa
arameters ........................................................................................................................................ 75
Table 9 MC-DS-CDMA
M A parameters ................................................................................................................................. 76
Table 10
0 Short link sysstem performa
ance ......................................................................................................................... 77
Table 11 Long link systtem performance .......................................................................................................................... 79

10
 Acronyms

ACR
RONYMS

AM: A
Amplitude Moodulation

AMRR: A
Automatic Meter Reading

ASK:: A
Amplitude Shift Keying

AWG
GN: A
Additive Whitte Gaussian Noise
N

BER: Bit Error Rate

BPL: Broadband Poower Line

BPSK
K: Binary Phase Shift Keying

CEPC
CA: C
Consumer Elecctronics Powerrline Communiccation Alliancee

CP: C
Cyclic Prefix

CPE: C
Customer Prem
mises Equipmeent

DCSK: Differential Code Shift Keying

DCTPP: Digital Carrier Transmissionn over Power line

DCTSS: D
Departament d Comunicacions I Teoria deel Senyal, Dep
de partment of Coommunicationss and
SSignal Theory

DHC
CP: Dynamic Host Configurationn Protocol

DPLC
C: Digital Power Line Carrier

DSB--AM: Double Side Band

B – Amplitude Modulatio
on

DS-SSS: Direct Sequennce – Spread Spectrum

S

EHV:: Extremely Hig

gh Voltage

EMC
C: Electromagnettic Compatibillity

EPR: Ethylene Prop

pylene Rubber

ES: Electrical Subsstation

ETSI:: European Teleecommunicatioons Standards Institute

EU: Electrical Utilitty

FFT: Fast Fourier Trransform

FH-SSS: Frequency Hoopping – Sprea

ad Spectrum

FSK: Frequency Shiift Keying

FTP: File Transfer Protocol

P

GPS: G
Global Positiooning System

11
 Pow munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
wer Line Comm

GRECO: Grupp de Recerca enn Electromagneetisme I Comunicacions, Reseearch Group iin

Electromagnetism and
a Communiccations

HE: Head
d End

HF: High Frequency

HV: High Voltage

HVAC: High Voltage Alternating Currennt

HV-PLC: High Voltage – Poower Line Com

mmunications

ICI: Inter--Carrier Interfference

IEC: Internnational Electrrotechnical Coommission

IEEE: al and Electronics Engineerss

Instituute of Electrica

IFFT: Inverrse Fast Fourieer Transform

IIIT: Institut für Industrieelle Informationstechnik

IP: Internnet Protocol

ISI: Inter--Symbol Interfference

ISP: Internnet Services Provider

LV: Low Voltage

LV-PLC: Low Voltage – Pow

wer Line Comm
munications

MAC: Medium Access Coontrol

MBOK: Maryy Biorthogonal Keying

MC: Multiicarrier

MC-CDM
MA: Multiicarrier – Code Division Mulltiple Access

MC-DS-C
CDMA: Multiicarrier – Direect Sequence – Code Divisio
on Multiple Acccess

MCM: Multiicarrier Modullation

MC-SS: Multiicarrier – Spreead Spectrum

MV: Medium Voltage

MV-PLC: Medium Voltage – Power Line Communication

C ns

MWNA: Microowave Network Analyzer

OFDM: Orthogonal Frequeency Division Multiplexing

M

OPERA: Open Power Line Communicatio

C ns European Research
R Alliannce

PEP: Peakk Envelope Pow

wer

PHY: Physiical

12
 Acronyms

PLC: Power Line Coommunicationss

PN: Pseudo-Noise

POP: Point of Preseence

PPS: Pulse per Secoond

PSD:: Power Spectra

al Density

PSK: Phase Shift Keeying

N:
PTSN Public Telephoone Switched Network

QAM
M: Q
Quadrature A
Amplitude Keyying

RADIUS: Remote Autheentication Dial--In User Server

RCS:: Ripple Carrier Signaling

RE: Repeater

RF: Radio Frequenncy

RMU
U: Ring Main Uniit

RTTEE: ment and Telecommunicationss Terminal Equuipment

Radio Equipm

SCM
M: S
Single Carrierr Modulation

S-FSK: S
Spread – Freq
quency Shift Keying
K

SS: S
Spread Specttrum

SSB--AM: S
Single and – Amplitude Modulation
Side Ba

TS: T
Transformer S
Station

V:
UHV Ultra High Voltage

UPA: Universal Pow

werline Alliancee

URL: Universitat Ram

mon Llull, Ram
mon Llull Univerrsity

VoIPP: V
Voice over Intternet Protocol

VSF--OFCDM: V
Variable Spreeading Factor – Orthogonal Frequency and Code Divission Multiplexiing

XLPEE: C
Cross-Linked P
Polyethylene

13
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

14
 A
Acknowledgem
ments

ACK
KNOWLEDG
GEMENTS 1

First of all, many thanks to Dr. Joan Lluís Pijjoan, who enccouraged me to pursue the PhD at the end e of my
Mastter studies and for doing hish best while pushing me thhrough this exxciting, lonely and fulfilling journey. I
don’tt want to forgget the rest off the Researchh Group in Ele
ectromagnetism
m and Commuunications (GRECO) and
Communications and Signal Theeory Departmeent staff: Carlles Vilella, Miq quel Ribó, David Badia, Joan Ramón
Reguué, David Miralles, Simó Graells,
G Javieer Pajares, Paablo Rodrigueez and Alberrt Miquel Sánnchez, for
makiing my PhD a great and unforgettablle adventure. I would likee to have a special mention to my
officcemates and friends,
f Ismaeel Gutierrez, Pau Bergada a and Marc Deumal,
D greatt engineers and
a better
persons, for sharinng those funny moments, those great illusioons… Good luuck and may tthe force be with
w you…

Furthhermore, I would
w like to express myy gratitude to t the “Powerliners” at Institut für Inndustrielle
Inforrmationstechnikk (IIIT), Universsität Karlsruhee, in Germanyy, Timo Kistner and Michael Bauer, and to o the other
IIIT sttaff, especiallly to Prof. Dr. Klaus Dostert for his hospita
ality and the others
o PhD stuudents for makke me feel
as if I were at hom me.

Finallly, I also wouuld like to meention Germánn Sánchez and

d José Comabbella, from Enndesa Networrk Factory
S.L., a great modeel of support to the pure reesearch and development
d f
from the priva
ate sector, for the great
workk we have donne together.

1 Thee author wantts to acknowleedge the pre--doctoral granntship of the “Departament

“ d’Universitats,, Recerca i
Socieetat de la Infoormació de laa Generalitat de
d Catalunya” especially thhe program “Beques doctorrals per la
formmació de persoonal investigaador (FI)” froom which the author has been beneficciary; and the e Spanish
Government projeects REN2003 3-08376-C02-01 and CGL2005-24213 3-E, that havee partially fuunded the
initia
al work of this thesis.

15
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

16
 Auuthor’s presenttation

AUTTHOR’S PR
RESENTATIO
ON

Ricarrd Aquilué recceived the BScc and MSc deg grees in Telecommunicationss Engineering from La Salle School of
Enginneering, Ramoon Llull Universsity, in Barceloona, Spain, in 2003 and 20 004, respectivvely. Since 200
06 he is a
FI PhhD Fellow fromm the Catalann Governmentt (Departament d’Universitatts, Recerca i Soocietat de la Informació
I
de laa Generalitat de Catalunyaa). He joined the Research Group in Eleectromagnetism and Comm munications
(GREECO) that belongs to the Department
D off Communications and Signa al Theory (DCCTS) in 2003, where he
has participated in i several pub blic and privaate research projects,
p mainly in high freqquency (HF) ioonospheric
comm munications annd power line communicatioons. Nowaday ys he continuess in the DCTS at the same university,
comb bining researcch and manag gement activitiies, mainly focused on the fields of pow wer line commuunications,
adap ptive multicarrrier systems annd software defined
d radio.

From
m September 2003,
2 he partticipated activvely into the Antarctic projecct “Characterization and mo odeling of
the Antarctic
A ionospheric channel: Advanced HF communiccations” fundeed by the Minnistry of Education and
Sciennce from the Spanish
S Goveernment, wheree he worked in the design and implemenntation on the e software
radioo based channnel sounding system and data d transceivver. Also, rela
ated to this prroject, from January to
Marcch, 2006, he realized
r a twoo months stay in the Spanishh Antarctic Ba ase “Juan Carlos I”. (For more details,
the reader
r is referrred to refereence [1] and Appendix
A A.1, where previoous work relateed to HF can be b found).

At thhe beginning of o 2006, conssequence of a private fund ded project froom Endesa Diistribución Elécctrica S.L.,
the author
a movedd to power linne communica ations, specificcally on low voltage
v poweer line automa atic meter
readding technolog gy. Related too this researcch field, he did d a three months
m researcch stage at Institut
I für
Indusstrielle Informaationstechnik (IIIT), Universitäät Karlsruhe, Germany.
G Theen, due to a second projectt, this time
from
m Endesa Netw work Factory S.L.,
S he focused his researchh activities to mediumm and hhigh voltage power
p line
comm munications, reegarding modulation designn and channel modeling.

17
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

18
 Introductionn

CHAPTTER 1
1. INTRODUC
CTION

1.1.. HISTORY OF
O POWERR LINE COM
MMUNICATI ONS FOR THE ELECTRRICAL UTILI TY

The power grid has been used as a communnications mediium since the beginnings of 20th century, when the
power grid main exploitation
e p
purpose was thhe transmission of voice in the
t high voltage (HV) netwo ork [2][3].
Rapiidly, other appplications suchh as operatioons manageme ent, monitoring
g and troubleeshooting, thatt required
bidirrectional flow of messages,, took an imp portant role inn the HV comm munication sceenario. Since telephone
netw
work could not be found in every
e point annd its reliability
y was not enoough to cope wwith the requirrements of
the services
s mentiioned before,, these services were deployed on the power lines. Moreover, the use of
telep
phony or any other
o kind of leased
l line woouldn’t be ecoonomical for la
arge distances.

The electrical
e utilitties (EUs) operrations on the high voltage lines can be grouped into thhree classes:

1. Operatioon managemennt
2. Monitorinng
3. Limitationn and removall of failures

Opeeration management tasks ta ake care for the optimum ennergy distribuution, trying to generate wha at is to be
consuumed, keeping g enough energy to cope with
w demand peaks p and avooiding the exccess of reserves around
the network.
n In ca
ase of failure in the HV nettwork, the fasst and reliablee exchange of data betwe een power
plants, transformer stations and substations, switching equippment and couupling points tto neighboring
g networks
is a key
k factor when trying to minimize
m the im
mpact of that failure
f to the rest
r of the network. The monnitoring of
that data, regardiing the network state, is carrried out by means
m of tracking energy reequirement, voltage and
frequency, yielding to a fast reaaction capability in front of networks failures.

In the past, the data was transsmitted by ann operator thrrough the teleephone network but, in the course of
time,, the automatic, reliable annd fast transm
mission of all the
t data mentioned beforee became an important
issuee of the EUs. Since
S most of them
t have alwways seen the e HV network as its natural medium to tra
ansmit the
mana agement and monitoring innformation, EU Us, pushed by the necessity of having theeir own data networks,
led to
t the quick deevelopment off power line caarrier (PLC) sy
ystems [4].

1.1 .1. POWERR LINE CAR RIER

The power grid wasw not origina ally designed to transmit da

ata through itts circuits; how
wever, the relia
able data
transsmission is posssible with low
w power, over a relatively broad
b availab
ble spectrum. IIn HV networkks, the PLC
frequency range is i upper limiteed by standarrd at 500 kHzz [5][6] and loower limited b by the same ata 40 kHz,
loweer frequencies can be achievved in practicee (15 kHz – 25 kHz, limited d by the coupliing capacitor), though.

t task handlling was donee by means of voice. The voice frequency band (300 - 2400 Hz)
At thhe beginning, the
had to be transmiitted successfuully under marrginal conditio
ons. Only amp plitude modulaation (AM) waas suitable
to transmit data through
t the HV links. The equipment
e req
quirements forr transmitting and receiving
g a simple
doub ble-sideband AM (DSB-AM)) without supp pressed carrier are considerrably less than the ones req
quired for
the same approa ach with suppressed carriier. Although suppressing the carrier means a red duction of
interrmodulation rissk when dealiing with multip
ple channel PLLC, this approoach was not cconsidered for PLC due
to the high receiveer cost, and DSSB-AM withoutt suppressed carrier
c was used until aboutt 1940.

The increasing lacck of free frrequency rangge, forced thee EU to repla ace their DSBB-AM links wiith single-
sidebband AM (SSBB-AM). An SSBB-AM system occupies
o half the
t bandwidthh that a DSB-A AM does. This migration
to SSSB-AM systems caused the current
c typical 4 kHz channeelization of thee HV frequenccy range.

19
 Pow munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
wer Line Comm

In the couurse of time, the

t quality of service that thhe EUs desired d from their data
d network became difficcult to
achieve, even impossib ble, by means of voice channnels. Moreove er, human based systems tra ansmitting the data
through voice
v channels couldn’t supp port a real fulll-time monitoring of critical data as they were suppose ed to.
The measurement and transmission of the netwoork state and management operations ccould be trigg gered
much fastter, reliable and
a easier usinng digital systtems. These digital systems didn’t get thee redundancy level
that can be found inheerently in huma an voice (the corruption
c of one
o single datta bit can lead d to critical errrors),
and althoough there wa as quite good d knowledge of o coding techhniques, the hardware
h plattforms didn’t allow
their implementation. Actually,
A the data
d protectioon technique used on these channels was based on ma ajority
vote at thhe receiver sitee from the muultiple replicas of the information sent by the transmitter.

At the beeginning of thheir deploymeent, the digita

al systems’ da
ata rates weree low, i.e. 500 bps in a 12 20 Hz
bandwidth using amplitude shift keyying (ASK) or frequency shift keying (FSK). This alloweed the transm mission
gital channels in one 4 kHzz voice channeel. Soon, the data
of 33 dig d rates rosse from 50 bpps to 100 bpss and
200 bps.. With the incrrease of the power
p grid auutomation leve
el, the needed d data rates reequirements grown
g
to support the transmiission of such a complex syystem. Higherr rate digital transmission cchannels with 600,
1200 and d 2400 bps had to be used d. At 2400 bpps, the whole 4 kHz channel was used [4].

Nowadayys, PLC system ms are based d on the comb bination of annalog and dig gital techniques. This prese
ents a
higher deegree of flexxibility for thee customer. At A the same time,
t it solvess the problemm of relatively
y low
reliabilityy of the digita
al PLC for taskks such as teleeprotection annd overcomes the rate limitaation of the annalog
PLC.

If focusing in data transmission, the state of the art of PLC still comprises both
b analog and digital sysstems.
Analog systems
s (designed by analoog or digital technology)
t usse SSB-AM with
w suppressed d carrier on 4 kHz
channels in order to keeep compatible with legacyy equipment. These
T analog systems
s allow the transmissiion of
voice and d data by meeans of a digital modulatioon stage befo ore the SSB-AM M modulator, with speeds up to
2400 bp ps. On the otheer hand, digita
al systems alloow access to data
d servers, data
d networkss and manage ement
applications (Figure 1).

20
 Introductionn

Line trap

Coupling
C
device

Matching
M
device

M
Management u
unit
PLC transceptor
Voicce lines

Data servers
IP network
n

Figure 1 PLC tran

nsceptor.data transmission appliccations

Current digital sysstems based on

o quadraturee amplitude modulation
m (QA AM) single ca
arrier modulattion (SCM)
can reach a net bit rate of up u to 80 kbp ps in a 16 kH Hz bandwidth [7]. Orthogoonal frequenccy division
multiiplexing (OFD
DM), the most efficient multiicarrier modullation (MCM), begins to pla
ay an importa ant role in
HV communication
c ns due to its inherent robuustness against multipath effects
e and nnarrowband innterferers.
OFDDM is becoming g the choice for
f manufacturrer’s next genneration HV power line com mmunications equipment,
e
delivvering a data rate of 256 kbps
k availablee to the user in a bandwidtth beyond the typical 4, 8 or
o 16 kHz,
extending the usable carrier freequency rangee up to 1 MHzz [8].

Besid
de traditional core servicess mentioned before,
b (opera
ation manageement, monitorring and limitation and
remooval of failurees), EUs would
d like to satisfy increasing need
n of new internal
i servicces, taking benefit from
the use
u of their owwn power grids, like [9]:

• Demand prediction
• mer overload analysis
Transform
• Outage Localization
L
• Support for
f advanced grid control & automation
• Network Optimization
• Security related
r commuunication (videeo / audio)

Nowwadays, the sttandards rega arding HV coommunications are obsoletee. IEC-TC57 W Workgroup 20 0 recently
startted to work on
o the new sta andard includ
ding HV digita
al carrier trannsmission overr power line (DCTP) or
digittal power line carrier (DPLC
C).

21
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

1.1.2. RIPPLE CARRRIER SIGN

NALING

Regardinng the medium m and low volttage levels (M

MV and LV), thhe main data application p performed on these
networks is load distribbution. MV annd LV networkks were used as a communication medium m for the firstt time
around 1930.
1 Initial ripple carrier signaling (RRCS) practical applicationss were perfoormed in Potssdam,
Germanyy, at 1930, unnder the frameework of a Sieemens’ projectt called Teleneerg. The first p
practical use of
o this
technolog
gy was also ca arried out in Germany,
G in Sttuttgart and Magdenburg,
M i 1935 by AEEG.
in

While thee HV level prresents a rela atively easy too match (200 0 – 400 Ω) frriendly overheead lines for data
transmissiion for frequeencies up to 500 kHz and d even 1 MHz, MV and LV V are hostile environmentss with
unpredicttable branchinng (LV) and coonnected load ds that decreaase the channeel input impeddance down to o tens
even tentths of ohm. Thiis scenario calls for a high power
p injection dimensionedd for the network peak load d (this
causes the impossibilityy of transmitting data in thee uplink), in order to cover the maximum m MV and LV area.
Since eveery active consumer adds itts load to the network, a hig ghly populateed network can represent a very
low loadd. Due to the large number of differentt network connfigurations, thhe exact trannsmit power values v
cannot bee given, but trransmission poowers between 10 and 100 0 kW are com mmon. To let thhe informationn flow
from the power supply to the custoomers, the aud dio band freq quency rangee was chosen for signaling.. That
frequencyy (often beloow 1 kHz) pa assed throughh the MV to LV transform mers experiencing only a minor
attenuation. The data a rates were obviously very low, but enough e for ta
ask regarding g load distribbution
command d transmission.. However, thiis transmission has to be hig ghly reliable, even with no feedback channel
availablee.

Initially, multiple freq

quency RCS systems
s weree used: the receiver
r has to correctly detect the exacte
combinattion of frequeencies beforee triggering itts related funnction. Since generating and injecting single
s
frequencyy signals into the network was seen to be more cost effective, in 1940 RCS syystems began their
migrationn to this approach. Due to its low generration complex xity, ASK wass the modulatiion scheme ussed in
single freequency networks. The duration of an RCS R ASK modulated telegram could takke from 28 to o 180
seconds. 10 to 60 imp pulses (with a guard time after each im mpulse) were transmitted p per telegram. Such
lasting signals offer a high robustneess against traansient interfe
erers and impulse events. Inn order to incrrease
the safetyy of RCS systeems, the digita
al message is coded
c onto a high dimensioon codeword b before transmiission.
Since theere are forbiddden binary combinations
c o that codew
of word, this technnique permits the detectionn and
even the correction of received messsages. Moreoover, if this is not enough, the t transmitteed message will
w be
retransmiitted at interva
als of several minutes [4].

Recently, EUs realized that RCS is still

s a good soolution for loa ad balancing management but their techhnical
limitations cannot copee with current utilities needs like telecontrrolling and telemetering, moost especially after
the dereg gulation of thee energy markket, e.g., selecctive addressing (with RCS all customers in the same MV-LV
M
mesh aree addressed in parallel). Moreover,
M withh the telecommmunications market liberalizzation EUs can use
their ownn infrastructuree, the power line grid (speecially the MVV and LV netw works), to delivver communicaations
services. Figure 2 showws the power line access top pology propossed by OPERA A (Open PLC EEuropean Rese earch
Alliance) [10]. In this new scenario, several techhnologies try to exploit thee MV and LV V channel in a non
standardized way. Thee multivendor interoperabillity issue represents a serioous problem foor the PLC ind dustry
developm ment.

22
 Introductionn

PTSN Internet

A
Autoconfiguration Database
D RAD
DIUS Database

DH
HCP Server FTP Server RADIUS Server VoIP Gatew
way ISP PO
OP

Core Network

POP

Optical Backbone
B LV Cell

PLC to Optical
O Bridge
PLC to Op
ptical Bridge MV node / LV HE
MV Ring MV
V Ring

MV nod
de / LV HE
M node / LV HE
MV E
CPE
LV
V Cell

LV RE
POP P: Point of Presen
nce
HE:: Head End LV Cell
C
CPE E: Costumer Prem mises Equipment L RE
LV
RE:: Repeater
CPE
C
ISP: Internet Service
e Provider
VoIPP: Voice over IP
IP: Internet
I Protocol
PTSSN: Public Telephhone Switched Ne etwork LV RE
R
FTPP: File Transfer Protocol CPE
DHC CP: Dynamic Hos st Configuration Protocol
P
RAD DIUS: Remote Au uthentication Dial--In User Server CPE

Figure 2 OPERA
O powerlinee access topology
y

1.1 .3. TOWARRDS THE STTANDARDIZZATION OF THE ACCE SS AND IN –HOME PLC
C
TECHNO LOGY

Standardization makes
m devices be compatib ble with each others.
o Devicees compliant w
with different standards
will not
n be able too coexist in thee same grid. This
T is a seriouus impairment for power linne communicattions (PLC)
indusstry developm
ment and an inconvenient forr end-users.

23
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

There aree four main alliances

a or consortiums that are working (or have worrked) on PLC p
physical (PHY) and
medium access
a control (MAC) level specifications (Figure
( 3):

1. UPA (Universa al Powerline Association).

A W
While supportting OPERA and
a its access specification,, UPA
works on its own
o in-home sp pecification. Within
W others, UPA
U has the foollowing memb
bers:

• AcBel • Ambient • AArteche

• Buffalo • BPL • CComtrend
• Corinex • Current • CCypress
• DS2 • DukePower • IIlevo
• Intersil • Itochu • KKorea ERI
• Logitec • Netgear • PPirelli
• Toshiba • Watteco

2. Homeplug. Firstly
F focused
d on in-homee networking (version1.0 and recentlyy version AV V for
audiovisual applications) Homeplug
H has also released
d specifications regarding a
access (versionn BPL)
and control (vversion CC). Within
W others, Homeplug
H has the following members:

• Linksys • Comcast • Intel

• Motorola • Samsung • SSharp
• Gigle • Huawei • Intellon
• Ariane Conntrols • COMTek • CCurrent
• Korea ERI • STMicroelectroniics • YYitran
• Belkin • D-Link • Electricite de Frannce
• Philips CE • ZyXEL • LG
• Texas Instruuments • 2Wire • France Telecom
• Analog Devvices • Fujitsu Siemens

3. CEPCA (Conssumer Electronnics Powerlinee Communication Alliance). CEPCA is working on in-home

specification for
f audiovisua
al applicationss. Within otherrs, CEPCA has the following members:

• ACN • Analog Devices • DDelta Electronics

• Hitachi • Mitsubishi • PPanasonic
• Philips • Pioneer • SSanyo
• SiConnect • Sony • SST&T
• Toshiba • Xeline • YYamaha

4. OPERA (Open PLC Europeean Research Alliance). OP PERA project 1 has finished
d with a com
mplete
specification for
f access netw
works, involvinng both the LV
V and the MV grid. Within others, OPERA
A has
the following members:

• Swiss Federral Institute of • University of Co

omillas • U
University of Dressden
Technologyy
• University of
o Duisburg- • University of Ka
arlsruhe • UUniversity Politécnnica
Essen MMadrid
• University Ramon
R Llull • Electricite de Fra
ance • EEnergias de Portuugal
• Iberdrola • LinzAG Strom • UUnion Fenosa
• Celg • CTI • DDS2
• Amperion • Dimat • SSchneider Electricc
PPowerline
CCommunications
• Eichhoff • Telvent • RRobotiker

24
 Introductionn

Figure 3 Th
he four main entities involved in PHY and MAC PLC
P specificationss

Rega arding access and in-home services, PLC technology ne eeds, in a short time frame,, the specifications from
the previous
p organizations to yield
y in one, or
o several well accepted sta andards, in orrder to avoid a serious
damage to the PLC P industry. Currently,
C onee internationa
al standardiza ation body, i.e. the IEEE (Innstitute of
Electtrical and Elecctronics Engineeers), and twoo European bodies,
b i.e. thee ETSI (Europeean Telecommmunications
Standards Institutte) and the CENELEC (European Comm mittee for Electrotechnical Standardiza ation) are
concerned with acccess, in-homee and their cooexistence. ETTSI and CENELEC work on same field addressing a
diffeerent standardd aspects [9][11][12].

The interested entities,

e such as the four mentioned before, will submit their specificationns to the
standdardization bodies in orderr to contributee to the accesss and in-homee standardizattion process. Inn order to
adop pt one, or sevveral standard
ds from one, oro many prop posals, a minimmum consensuss has to be re eached, so
discuussions and coompromises frrom the differrent players will
w be needeed. Standardizzation bodiess can only
recommend a stanndard proced dure to exploitt the PLC channel, but the regulatory enntities in each region or
eachh country are the ones thatt will allow or not the PLC C devices acceess to the market. The most relevant
direcctives involved
d with PLC reg
gulation are:

1. EMC2 dirrective 2004/108/EG

2. Low Volta age Directive 73/23/EEC
3. RTTE3 dirrective 1999/55/EC
4. And seveeral directives concerned witth the liberalizzation of the telecommunica
t ation sector.

Rega arding the low

w frequency raange of the Euuropean powe er grid, the European standaard CENELEC EN50065
ruless the PLC frequency range from
f 9 to 1488.5 kHz. This sttandard mana age that frequuency range inn 4 bands,
nameed A, B, C annd D band. Thhe first one iss reserved forr the EU and its licensers, wwhile the last three are
intennded for priva
ate use [13].

1.2.. CONTENTSS OF THE THESIS

T

After this introducttion to the PLCC and its rolee regarding EU

Us, a brief exxplanation of tthe PLC channnel will be
given, for the LV, MV and HV networks. Then, the work co oncerning the LV PLC will bbe presented. This work
will focus
f on the sttate of the arrt of the AMR systems, and a new multica arrier based low complexity y physical
layer scheme. Currrent manufaccturer solutions, as well as existing prop posals in the literature, offfer limited
diversity or, on thee other hand, they are too complex
c to be
e implemented d at a large sccale with reduuced costs.
A zeero-crossing syynchronized multicarrier
m bassed physical layer seems too be the curreent trend in ro
obust AMR
modem design.

Afterwards, the MV
M channel measurements and a the formuulation of a deterministic-st
d tatistical channel model
will be introduced
d. Current MV channel topoology model proposals
p al with particular issues or are
dea a based
on behavioral
b aracterization (multipath moodels), providinng a non complete or an im
cha mprecise channnel model.

2 Eleectromagnetic Compatibility
3 Rad dio Equipmentt and Telecom
mmunications Teerminal Equipm
ment

25
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

For this kind of scennario and foocusing on thhe channel trransfer function, by meanns of a strucctural
characterrization of thee MV network devices, this work will prop
pose a low coomplexity and
d high versatile
e MV
network channel
c transfer function moodel.

Then the reader will be driven to the HV measureements and fie eld tests, show
wing the charaacteristics of thhe HV
communiccation channeel and the performance
p of a multicaarrier spread d spectrum m modulation in such
environment. This workk will show whhy the evolution of HV-PLC C should pointt to the use of large bandwidth
modulatioons in order too enhance thee link capacityy while keepinng the power spectral denssity low, two of o the
main handicaps in the current
c HV-PLC implementations. Moreover, the readerr will see how the combinatiion of
multicarriier modulationns with spread
d spectrum tecchniques can beat
b all the existing and deeployed syste ems in
terms of user
u data ratee while delivering high adaptive and qua ality of servicee capabilities.

Finally, thhe concluding remarks will be summarizeed and afterw

wards, the rea
ader will find in the appendixes
the three main papers regarding thee LV, MV and HV work:

LV: PHYSICAL LAYER DESIIGN

R. Aquilué, M.. Deumal, J.L. Pijoan, L. Corbbeira, “A Low Complexity Multicarrier
M Proposal for Me
edium
Rate Demand ding Automattic Meter Rea ading Systems”, in Proc. IEEE Symposiuum on Powerr Line
Communicatioons and its App plications (ISPLC2007), Pisa
a, Italy, 2007.

MV: CHANNEEL MODEL

R. Aquilué, M.
M Ribó, J.R. Regué,
R J.L. Pijoan, G. Sánchez, “Urban Underground d Medium Vo
oltage
Channel Measurements and a Charactterization”, inn Proc. IEEEE Symposium on Power Line
Communicatioons and its App
plications (ISPLC2008), Jejuu, South Korea, 2008.

HV: PHYSICA AL LAYER DESSIGN

R. Aquilué, J.LL. Pijoan, G. Sánchez,
S “High Voltage Chhannel Measurrements and FField Test of a Low
Power OFDM M System”, in Proc.
P IEEE Sym
mposium on Poower Line Com
mmunications a
and its Applicaations
(ISPLC2008), Jeju, South Koorea, 2008.

Then, two extended versions of the two latter papers reccently accepteed for publiccation on the
e IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery will follow:
f

MV: CHANNEEL MODEL

R. Aquilué, M. Ribó, J.R. Regué, J.L. Pijoa
an, G. Sánchezz, “Scattering Parameters Based Undergrround
Medium Volttage Power Line Commuunications Cha annel Measurements, Cha aracterization and
Modeling”, acccepted for puublication in IEEEE Transactions on Power Delivery,
D June 2008.

HV: PHYSICA AL LAYER DESSIGN

R. Aquilué, I. Gutiérrez, J.LL. Pijoan, G. Sánchez,
S “Highh Voltage Mullticarrier Spreead Spectrum Field
Test”, accepteed for publication in IEEE Traansactions on Power Deliverry, May 2008 8.

As well as
a the paper regarding
r HF ionospheric communicationss, which can be
b considered as an introduuctory
work to frequency
f seleective and inteerference limiteed environmennts:

HF: PHYSICA AL LAYER DESIIGN

R. Aquilué, P.. Bergadà, M.
M Deumal, J.L. Pijoan, “Mullticarrier Symbol Design foor HF Transmissions
from Antarctica Based onn Real Channnel Measurem ments”, in Prooc. IEEE Military Comunica
ations
Conference (MMILCOM2006 6), Washingtonn, United State
es, 2006.

26
 Poower line netw
works

CHAPTTER 2
2. POWER LIN
NE NETWO RKS

The EU
E power grid
d can be divid
ded into three stages:

1. Generatiion stage
2. Transportt stage
3. Distributioon stage

The generated
g energy flows froom the powerr plants throug gh the power line grid (Figuure 4) until reaaching the
final customer. Tyypically, poweer is generateed at tenths of o kV. Before transporting this power to owards its
consuumption point,, a step-up eleectrical substa
ation (ES), usua
ally located cloose to the genneration point,, increases
the voltage
v to thee high voltagee (HV) levels, decreasing thhe current flow w in order to reduce the tra ansmission
lossees [21]. At this point, one can
c define the frontier bettween the geeneration and the transportt network.
Those HV levels ra ange from 10 00 kV up to 400
4 kV appro oximately. Althhough every lline transportiing power
with voltages oveer 100 kV cann be considerred HV, transm mission levels over 500 kV V are often pa articularly
referrred as ultra HVH levels. Steep-down transformation cann be done proogressively as the power ap pproaches
its coonsumption point in step-d down ESs. Thee ESs that tra ansform MV levels
l to LV levels are referred as
Transform Substations (TS) [22].

ES
TS

TSS TS

TS

ES

Mete
er

Generation Transport Distributionn

Mediuum voltage (≈ 10
0
Highh voltage (>100 kV)
k Low voltage
e (<400 V)
kV
k - 30 kV)

F
Figure 4 Power liine grid

arding its loca

Rega alization among the power line grid, the ESs
E can be classified by the following way
y:

1. Generatiion ES: Located close to the generation points,

p they steep-up the powwer plant outgoing level
to the HV
V transport onee, incorporatinng the genera
ated power intto the grid.

27
 Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling

2. Transport ES: Interconnectioon node of a variable

v numbber of transport lines. They a
also can step-down
levels from tra
ansport to sub
btransport volttages, both of them in the HV range.
3. Distribution ESS and TS: Theey step-down the incoming HV transport level to med dium voltage (MV)
and (LV) leveels (primary annd secondary distribution), suitable for loocal distributioon. The distrib
bution
ES, located neear the end user,
u is the froontier betweenn the HV and the MV level.. The MV leve el can
be distributedd into commerccial or residenntial areas to a posterior steep-down into the LV range at TS
or can be delivered directlyy to a high coonsumption industrial customeer.

In Figure 5 one imagee of the “Egarra” distributioon ES (Endesa)) is shown. At the right, thee 110 kV to 25 2 kV
step-dowwn transformerr can be found d. At the left, there
t is a 110
0 kV to LV trannsformer. This one is in charge of
feeding the
t ES. Behind d, the switching
g, buses and protection
p devvices can be seen,
s as well a
as the incominng HV
line that feeds
f the ES.

Figure 5 “Egara” Distributiion ES

Usually, an
a ES is operaated remotelyy, so a reliable communicatiion network iss mandatory. A
An ES can perform
one or moore than one of
o the followinng functions:

• Voltage transsformations.
• Switching funcctions:
o Switcching transporrt and distribuution circuits intto and out of the power griid.
o Connnecting and diisconnecting power plants to o the power network.
o Provviding automattic disconnectioon of line segm ments experieencing faults.
• Measure of thhe electric pow
wer quality thrrough measure ement transforrmers.
• Provide proteection against power grid faaults and other unexpected events such ass lightings.
• Coupling of thhe communicattions equipment.

The TSs are

a those prem a the distribution stage that separate thee MV from thee LV level. From the
mises located at
TS, several feeders deepart to the customer premisses [22].

2.1. HIG
GH VOLTAG
GE LEVEL

The HV leevel comprises the power grid

g transport stage. The typical levels thhat can be fouund in such nettwork
are show
wn in Table 1 [22]4.

4 Only HV
V Alternating Current (HVAC) levels are took
t into account

28