Modelling power line communication using network simulator-3

Power line communications (PLC) plays an important role in the blend of communication technologies considered for enabling the smart grid vision. However, different from, e.g., wireless communications, for which ready-to-use modules are included in several simulation packages, there are no freely available software tools to simulate PLC networks. In particular, software modules which emulate the PLC channel are needed to capture the specifics of PLC in a communication network simulation. In this paper, we aim at closing this gap and present a PLC channel simulator written using the network simulator-3 (ns-3) library and made available for free use.

[1]  A. J. Han Vinck,et al.  On cooperative coding for narrow band PLC networks , 2011 .

[2]  Frank R. Kschischang,et al.  In-building power lines as high-speed communication channels: channel characterization and a test channel ensemble , 2003, Int. J. Commun. Syst..

[3]  A M Tonello,et al.  Bottom-Up Statistical PLC Channel Modeling—Part I: Random Topology Model and Efficient Transfer Function Computation , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery.

[4]  Klaus Dostert,et al.  A multipath model for the powerline channel , 2002, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[5]  John Newbury,et al.  Power line communications : theory and applications for narrowband and broadband communications over power lines , 2010 .

[6]  Anna Scaglione,et al.  For the Grid and Through the Grid: The Role of Power Line Communications in the Smart Grid , 2010, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[7]  Jyotsna Bapat,et al.  Data communication over the smart grid , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications.

[8]  G. Marrocco,et al.  A PLC broadband channel simulator for indoor communications , 2013, 2013 IEEE 17th International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications.

[9]  Lutz H.-J. Lampe,et al.  Power line communications for automation networks and smart grid [Guest Editorial] , 2011, IEEE Commun. Mag..

[10]  Andrea M. Tonello,et al.  Wideband Impulse Modulation and Receiver Algorithms for Multiuser Power Line Communications , 2007, EURASIP J. Adv. Signal Process..

[11]  A. J. Han Vinck,et al.  On Cooperative Coding for Narrowband PLC Networks , 2011 .

[12]  Lutz H.-J. Lampe,et al.  Distributed space-time coding for multihop transmission in power line communication networks , 2006, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[13]  Luís Díez del Río,et al.  A channel model proposal for indoor power line communications , 2011, IEEE Communications Magazine.