Abstract

This review paper reveals the broadband potential of overhead and underground low-voltage (LV) and medium-voltage (MV) broadband over power lines (BPL) networks associated with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The contribution of this review paper is fourfold. First, the unified value decomposition (UVD) modal analysis is introduced. UVD modal analysis is a new technique that unifies eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) and singular value decomposition (SVD) modal analyses achieving the common handling of traditional SISO/BPL and upcoming MIMO/BPL systems. The validity of UVD modal analysis is examined by comparing its simulation results with those of other exact analytical models. Second, based on the proposed UVD modal analysis, the MIMO channels of overhead and underground LV and MV BPL networks (distribution BPL networks) are investigated with regard to their inherent characteristics. Towards that direction, an extended collection of well-validated metrics from the communications literature, such as channel attenuation, average channel gain (ACG), root-mean-square delay spread (RMS-DS), coherence bandwidth (CB), cumulative capacity, capacity complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF), and capacity gain (GC), is first applied in overhead and underground MIMO/LV and MIMO/MV BPL channels and systems. It is found that the results of the aforementioned metrics portfolio depend drastically on the frequency, the power grid type (either overhead or underground, either LV or MV), the MIMO scheme configuration properties, the MTL configuration, the physical properties of the cables used, the end-to-end distance, and the number, the electrical length, and the terminations of the branches encountered along the end-to-end BPL signal propagation. Third, three interesting findings concerning the statistical properties of MIMO channels of distribution BPL networks are demonstrated, namely, (i) the ACG, RMS-DS, and cumulative capacity lognormal distributions; (ii) the correlation between RMS-DS and ACG; and (iii) the correlation between RMS-DS and CB. By fitting the numerical results, unified regression distributions appropriate for MIMO/BPL channels and systems are proposed. These three fundamental properties can play significant role in the evaluation of recently proposed statistical channel models for various BPL systems. Fourth, the potential of transformation of overhead and underground LV/BPL and MV/BPL distribution grids to an alternative solution to fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) technology is first revealed. By examining the capacity characteristics of various MIMO scheme configurations and by comparing these capacity results against SISO ones, a new promising urban backbone network seems to be born in a smart grid (SG) environment.

Highlights

  • The distribution power grids—that is, overhead and underground low-voltage (LV) and medium-voltage (MV)networks—can become the key to delivering broadband lastmile access in remote and/or underdeveloped areas and simultaneously to the development of an advanced IP-based power system [1,2,3,4,5,6]

  • The simulations of various types of overhead and underground multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)/LV/broadband over power lines (BPL) and MIMO/MV/BPL transmission channels and systems aim at investigating (a) their broadband MIMO transmission characteristics; (b) how their spectral behavior is affected by several factors; (c) statistical remarks obtained on the basis of simulated overhead and underground LV/BPL and MV/BPL multiconductor transmission line (MTL) configurations; and (d) how the capacity measures are influenced by the implementation of various MIMO/BPL scheme configurations

  • This review paper has focused on the broadband transmission characteristics, the statistical performance metrics, and the capacity measures of overhead and underground MIMO/ LV/BPL and MIMO/MV/BPL distribution power grids

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Summary

Introduction

The distribution power grids—that is, overhead and underground low-voltage (LV) and medium-voltage (MV). To facilitate MIMO analysis, the hybrid model that is usually employed to examine the behavior of BPL transmission channels installed on multiconductor transmission line (MTL) structures is used in this review paper [2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12,13,14] This hybrid method, based on a combination of bottom-up [57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65] and top-down [8, 15, 18, 24, 58, 62, 64, 66,67,68,69] approaches, receives as inputs accurately determined parameters, such as the MIMO scheme implementation, the power grid type (either overhead or underground, either LV or MV), the MTL configuration, the physical properties of cables, and the grid topology, and delivers as outputs accurate results in terms of channel attenuation.

The Physical BPL Layer
Numerical Results and Discussion
B Receiving end
Conclusions
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