Analysis of QoS parameters for video traffic in homeplug AV standard using NS-3

Abstract

Broadband signal transmission through communication channels in home environments is one of the interesting topics in the field of intelligent buildings. Building designers are interested in transferring multimedia content with minimum cost, energy consumption, and acceptable quality. Limitations and drawbacks of existing transmission systems such as coaxial cable, wireless transmission, etc., have made the use of Power-Line Communication (PLC) unavoidable. PLC technology provides transmission of high-speed data using the highfrequency band in power line. The technology improvements to increase the bitrates have led to the rise of HomePlug AV standard in 2005. HomePlug AV standard employs the PLC technology for transmission of broadband signals such as digital video in power line channels. The inherent characteristics of this communication channel and the factors affecting the quality of broadband signal have resulted in many challenges, in this area. In this paper, a simulation study of PLC network using the NS-3 simulator, which meets all the specifications of the HomePlug AV standard, is proposed. In contrast to the previous simulation studies in this area, in this paper both Physical and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer have been designed exactly in order to be based on HPAV standard. Then, the important parameters of quality of service (QoS) such as delay, jitter, throughput, and packet delivery ratio for video traffic, which is an example of the broadband signal, are measured.