Mathematical Model for the Transmission Rate versus File Length for a PLC System

Marcelo S. Alencar and Fabrcio B. S. Carvalho

Institute for Advanced Studies in Communications Department of Electrical Engineering Federal University of Campina Grande Campina Grande, PB,Brazil Email: {malencar,frabiciobsc}@dee.ufcg.edu.br

Waslon Terllizzie Ara jo Lopes u

Institute for Advanced Studies in Communications Department of Electrical Engineering College AREA1 Salvador, BA, Brazil Email: waslon@area1.br

Abstract One of the most intriguing and challenging aspects to be considered in the process of standardization of television systems, is the denition of the return channel (or interactive channel). The key element in the digital TV standard is the possibility of interaction or capability of reverse communication. The use of power line communications (PLC) is being considered as a proposal for the return channel of the Brazilian Digital Television System. This article presents a mathematical model for transmission rate, as a function of the le length, for a PLC equipment. The model is based on measurements performed in several environments. The experiments were carried out in residential and non-residential buildings. Different parameters such as maximum distance, performance loss, maximum transmission rate, system loading tests and video transmission were analyzed. Based on the data obtained, the use of PLC for the return channel is discussed. As a result, the mathematical modeling allows the computation of the maximum transmission rate for each PLC channel, using parameters obtained from the measurements. This research is part of a project sponsored by the Ministry of Communications, through the Brazilian Agency for Studies and Projects.

presents the key aspects related to the application of PLC on the return channel of the SBTVD. The mathematical model for the transmission rate, as a function of the le length, is described in Section IV while Section V is devoted for the conclusions. II. PLC T ECHNOLOGY The use of the PLC technology for data transmission over low and medium voltage power lines is not a novelty. In the 1950s, the Ripple Control method was rst applied. For low frequencies (between 100 and 900 Hz) it was possible to transmit data at low rates over high voltage power lines (over 100 kV). Only unidirectional communication was allowed. The method is still used nowadays in the control of public illumination in motorways, load switching and billing [2]. Ever since the deregulation of the telecommunications market (rstly, in the USA and later in Europe and Asia) and because of the growth of the Internet (as a result of advances in signal processing techniques), the world has seen an increase in the demand for communication services. To cope with this, data transmission over power lines seems to be an interesting solution [3]. The term Power Line Communications (PLC), also known as Power Line Telecommunications (PLT), is applied to technologies, applications and services related to communication between different users over power lines [4]. To assure adequate coexistence and an efcient separation between systems, the frequency range for communications is very large in comparison to the frequencies commonly used in power lines (50 or 60 Hz): from 3 to 148.5 kHz for PLC applications in utility companies and from 1 to 30 MHz for home and ofce applications. Data transmission over power line is a difcult task because power lines were not originally designed for communication purposes. Some of the problems encountered include: variable impedance, noise (typical noise sources are brush motors, uorescent and halogen lamps, switching power supplies and dimmer switches), high attenuation levels (it depends on many factors, such as, the quantity and nature of the connected load, the size and the topology of the network, the impedance of the

I. I NTRODUCTION The Brazilian Digital Television System (SBTVD) development started in 2004. Several academic institutions and research centers all over the country formed a consortia to dene a national digital television standard. One of the aspects to be considered in the process of standardization is the denition of a return channel (or interactive channel) of the SBTVD, which will allow interactive access by users. The return channel plays an important role in the Brazilian government strategy to provide access to the digital world for an increasing number of citizens (digital inclusion). In [1], the author presents an analysis of the use of power line communications (PLC) techniques for the return channel (or interactive channel). Experiments were carried out in some ordinary Brazilian houses and in no-residential areas. Based on the measurement results, important issues were considered and alternative uses of the technique were discussed. It worth to mention that no mathematical formulation was derived. This paper presents a mathematical model for the transmission rate, based on measurements performed in several environments. The remaining of this paper is organized as follow: Section II discusses the PLC technology. Section III

wires and must be considered in the electrical channel analysis [5]. III. R ETURN C HANNEL FOR THE B RAZILIAN D IGITAL TV The new Brazilian digital television standard, which is still under development, has the potential to allow interactivity which is expected given the fact that the television is the most widely used source of information. Once interactivity is accomplished, the digital TV is to pave the way for technology convergence, especially with the Internet, and will considerably change the form and the content of the TV shows currently aired today. Interactive shows, e-commerce, program selection and Internet access are amongst the new services to be available on the Brazilian Digital TV. One of the most intriguing and challenging aspects to be considered, has to do with the denition of the return channel (or interactive channel). The key element in the digital TV standard is the possibility of interaction or capability of reverse communication. People that own old TV sets will still benet from the introduction of the digital TV technology. By installing a special device, a set-top box, they will be able to watch the shows and take advantage of the interactive channel. The digital television committee is currently studying ve proposals for the return channel: data communication channels used in cellular systems (GSM or CDMA); ad-hoc networks; radiofrequency; conventional telephone networks with an xDSL modem or a cable modem; power line communications. Other technologies, such as satellite and WiMax, are also under evaluation for such purpose [6]. In this article, the use of PLC for the return channel is analyzed. Due to the difculties involved in data transmission and the high proportion of residential areas already covered by power line networks 99.5% of the population. PLC seems to be appropriate. Experiments were carried out in residential and no-residential environments. Different parameters such as maximum distance, performance loss, maximum transmission rate, system loading tests and video transmission were analyzed. Based on the data obtained, the use of PLC for the return channel is discussed. IV. T RANSMISSION M ODEL Modeling and analysis of noise effects on broadband power line communications is a topic of interest and some results have been published in the literature [7] [8] [9]. Figure 1 shows the PLC transmission rate versus le size for four environments. These curves were obtained by using the procedure described in [1]. The general behavior of the transmission rate R(n) curves leads a model for the le size n and the R(n). This model is described by R(n) = f(n, Pf ), (1) where Pf is the channel frame error rate. As higher is the transmission rate, higher is frame size. However, the error probability limits this increasing. This effect can be included in the previous expression as a linear function of n, so R(n) = g(n).h(Pf ), (2)
Average data rate (Mb/s)

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 4 Packet length (Mb) 5 6 House 1 House 2 House 3 House 4 Industry

Fig. 1. PLC transmission rate as a function of the le length for several environments (no load).

where g(n) is a linear function of n, i.e., g(n) = KG n (3)

Moreover, h(Pf ) is the probability density function for the frame error rate which can modeled as h(Pf ) = f(1 Pf ) where f() is a function chosen to better t the model to the experimental data. Assuming a non-coded system and uniform distribution of symbols, The packet error probability or re-transmission probability is given by Pf = 1 (1 )n , (4)

where is the bit error probability. Assuming a small bit error probability ( 1), the previous expression can be re-written as Pf n. Thus, Equation 2 becomes R(n) = KG nh(1 n). (6) (5)

A linear relationship between the rate transmission and h() is a rst approximation to complete the formulation. One possibility is h(n) = KH (1 n), (7) which corresponds to a constant for a zero error probability and zero for a unitary packet error probability. It is important to mention that this conditions are coherent with the rst assumption. Equation 6 results in R(n) = Kn(1 n), (8)

where K = KG KH . The previous expression well ts two features of R(n) illustrated in Figure 2: a quasi-linear increasing for small n and a monotonically decreasing for higher error probability of

the PLC channel. Moreover, it can be used to determine the optimum le size for transmission just by deriving Equation 8 and nding the root of the corresponding equation, dR(n) = K[(1 n) + n()] = 0, dn
1 2 .

9 8 Average data rate (Mb/s) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 Packet length (Mb) 5 6 House 1 1st approximation nd 2 rd approximation 3 th approximation 4 approximation

(9)

which leads to n = Considering small n, i.e., n 1, an alternative solution is obtained taking into account the following approximation e
n

1 n.

(10)

By replacing the previous approximation in Equation 8, one can achieve R(n) = Knen. (11) As previously described, the packet size which leads to the maximum transmission rate for PLC channel is obtained from dR(n) = K[en + n(en)] = 0, (12) dn After some manipulations and solving the resulting equation, one can obtain n = 1 , which is linear function of the inverse of the bit error probability. A third assumption from Equation 11 can be done by considering that for small x, sin(x) x. Thus, R(n) = K(sin n)en , whose derivative is dR(n) = K[cos(n)en sin(n)en )] = 0. dn (14) (13)

Fig. 2. PLC transmission rate as a function of the le length and the corresponding approximations described by Equations 8 (1st approximantion), 11 (2nd approximantion), 13 (3rd approximantion) and 18 (4th approximantion). All expressions were adjusted to ts the results of House 1.

9 8 Average data rate (Mb/s) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 Packet length (Mb) 4 5 6 House 2 1st approximation nd 2 rd approximation 3 approximation 4th approximation

sin(n) Therefore, that leads to cos(n) sin(n) = 0, i.e., cos(n) = 1 1 . And the optimum value is n = arctan . The constant term KG can be obtained directly from the plot (slope of the tangent line of R(n)) for small n which is within the range from 4 to 9.3. Thus the value of constant K can be determine to adjust the formula to the case in study. An detailed analysis of the problem can offer additional information to reach a ne formulation. The plots presented in Figures 2, 3 and 4 show a rst approximation for Equations 8, 11 and 13 considering Houses 1, 2 and 3, respectively. On the other hand, Figure 5 is related to the measurements in an industry. It is important to mention that extras adjustments can leads to a better approximation for the experimental curves. From Equation 13, it can be assumed that the channel response is described in terms of transmission rate as a differential equation subject to certain constraints. Thus,

Fig. 3. PLC transmission rate as a function of the le length and the corresponding approximations described by Equations 8 (1st approximantion), 11 (2nd approximantion), 13 (3rd approximantion) and 18 (4th approximantion). All expressions were adjusted to ts the results of House 2.

that is,

R (0) = K. is R(n) = + K 2 4 K 2 4 e e

(17)

The solution of Equation 15 by using the initial conditions

2 4 2

R (n) + R (n) + R(n) = ,

(15)

where R (0) = K is the initial increasing rate and R(0) = 0. The maximum transmission rate, or channel capacity, is given byR (n ) = C where n is the le size which achieves the capacity [10]. Substituting the initial conditions in Equation 15, one can nd R (0) + K = , (16)

2 4 n 2

(18) .

A difference equation [11] can also be formulated to reect the discrete behavior of the process R(n + 2) + R(n + 1) + R(n) = , considering a discrete packet size. (19)

9 8 Average data rate (Mb/s) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 Packet length (Mb) 5 6 House 3 1st approximation nd 2 rd approximation 3 approximation 4th approximation

R EFERENCES
[1] Fabrcio B. S. Carvalho. Application of data transmission via the electrical network for digital television. Masters thesis, Campina Grande, 2006. [2] A. Majumder and J. Caffrey. Power Line Communications: An Overview. IEEE Potentials, 23:413, October/November 2004. [3] N. Pavlidou, A. J. Han Vinck, J. Yazdani, and B. Honary. Power Line Communications: State of the Art and Future Trends. IEEE Communications Magazine, 23:3440, April 2003. [4] G. Markarian and X. Huo. Distribution of Digital TV Signals over Home Power Line Networks. International Symposium on Power Line Communications and its Applications - ISPLC, pages 409413, April 2005. [5] H. C. Ferreira, H. M. Grov , O. Hooijen, and A. J. Han Vinck. Power e Line Communications: An Overview. IEEE AFRICON 4th, 2:558563, September 1996. [6] G. Drury, G. Markarian, and K. Pickavance. Channel Coding and Modulation in Digital TV Broadcasting. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, USA, 2001. [7] H. Meng, Y. L. Guan, and S. Chen. Modeling and Analysis of Noise Effects on Broadband Power-Line Communications. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 20(2), April 2005. [8] O. G. Hooijen. On the channel capacity of the residential power circuit used as a digital communications medium. IEEE Communications Letters, 2(10):969974, October 1998. [9] M. G tz, M. Rapp, and K. Dostert. Power line channel characteristics o and their effect on communication system design. IEEE Communications Magazine, 42(4):7884, April, 2004. [10] Indra Widjaja Alberto Leon-Garcia. Communication Networks. Mc Graw-Hill, Boston, USA, 2000. [11] Richard A. Roberts Robert A. Gabel. Signals and Linear Systems. John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA, 1973.

Fig. 4. PLC transmission rate as a function of the le length and the corresponding approximations described by Equations 8 (1st approximantion), 11 (2nd approximantion), 13 (3rd approximantion) and 18 (4th approximantion). All expressions were adjusted to ts the results of House 3.

9 8 Average data rate (Mb/s) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 Packet length (Mb) 4 5 6 Industry 1st approximation nd 2 rd approximation 3 approximation 4th approximation

Fig. 5. PLC transmission rate as a function of the le length and the corresponding approximations described by Equations 8 (1st approximantion), 11 (2nd approximantion), 13 (3rd approximantion) and 18 (4th approximantion). All expressions were adjusted to ts the results of Industry.

V. C ONCLUSIONS This paper presented an analysis of the transmission rate for a power line communication equipment as a function of the le length. The proposed model is based on measurements performed in different environments as well as some considerations concerning the general behavior of the PLC channel. VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to express their thanks to Brazilian Council for Scientic and Technological Development (CNPq), the Institute of Integrated Information Systems (I3S), and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Communications (IECOM) for the nancial support to this research.