Domestic electrical standard system for power line communication tests

In recent years, the Power Line Communication (PLC) has a considerable growth for the distribution of network communication in the different points of a building where the wireless connection cannot be taken into account for security or logistic problems. Unfortunately, we are faced with many different types of electrical installations because the customer's requirements vary widely depending on the evolution of technology and because of the development of IEC standards with regard to safety on domestic systems. Naturally, an electrical system had to adapt to the requirements of the customers and, for these reasons, the length of the various lines, the cable section, the power that can be absorbed, the loads connected to that power network, the safety system used are different for every installation. So, the execution of PLC measurements presents many limitations due to the logistical obstacles or to the inconvenience of measurements taken between different points located in different rooms. It is preferred to model a simple domestic installation on which to perform the necessary tests and measurements reproducing the real network characteristic using a standard electrical system. The aim of this paper is to realize a standard electrical system based on lumped parameters to ensure repeatability of tests. The system is thought to be practical, affordable and quite easy to carry or change, adapting it to the most varied needs and different type of networks. Some tests have been performed in order to show the frequency response of the power network and the PLC SNR under different loads.