Analysis of Load Impedance and Line Length Influencing Transfer Function, Channel Capacity and Performance of Busbar PLC Systems

Abstract

Busbar distribution system is widely preferred in low-voltage grid to carry electrical energy. In case of the busbar distribution system working as a power line communication system to transfer data besides energy, the influence of different network topologies on the system performance should be analyzed. This paper investigates the effects of load impedance and line length on not only transfer function but also channel capacity and BER performance of busbar PLC system. It is clearly seen from the obtained results that the depth of notches and attenuation in the transfer function increase with increasing line lengths as their positions do not vary. In addition to line length and frequency, load impedances also affect the depth of notches. As the load impedances increase to characteristic impedance of busbar, the depth of notches tends to increase, and attenuation tends to reduce. Both the channel capacity and BER performances decrease with an increase in line length and are minimum when the load impedances are equal to characteristic impedance. The minimum channel capacity, worst BER performance and maximum attenuation were realized for L2-N signal path in each case.