Channel measurement of rural medium voltage power lines in china for power line communication

Abstract

Power Line Communication over the medium voltage (MV) power distribution networks has a broad application and prospect in the vast rural areas of China. We measure the channel characteristics of typical rural medium voltage power lines in North China, chiefly on the impedance, noise and transmission attenuation in the frequency of 60 k~540 kHz while its channel capacity estimated. And we also devise a prototype of a communication system based on a specific all-digital DQPSK demodulation, and evaluate its performances in the field trials over the MV power lines. All the work brings us a comprehensive understanding to the channel conditions, and lays a solid foundation for both further research on power line channels and development of practical systems. (6 pages)