Performance Analysis of the Avionics Power Line Communication by Stochastic Network Calculus

Abstract

Applying Power Line Communication (PLC) technology in avionics provides an excellent solution for providing low aircraft weight, high transmission speed, high stability and good shielding performance. Avionics system designers had promoted some pioneering projects such as the EC FP7 TAUPE project to apply PLC based interconnections. Although many PLC electronic parts could be available due to technology success in in-home Local Area Network applications, requirements for safety and complicated avionics environment has been asking for more mature and advanced PLC solutions. We propose Stochastic Network Calculus (SNC) as a theoretical tool to analyze the performance of airborne PLC networks. First, we modeled an airborne PLC system with OFDM modulation in the physical layer and mixed CSMA and TDMA modulation in the Medium Access Control layer. Secondly, considering the randomness of traffic arrival process in the airborne PLC networks, the stochastic envelop curve is used to describe this process. Finally, we get the queue delay and backlog performance of traffic with different priorities in the network by using the theory of minimum plus convolution algebra in Stochastic Network Calculus to provide statistical Quality of Service (QoS) for actual airborne PLC networks. The evaluation method of Stochastic Network Calculus takes into account both the reliability and randomness of the communication network, which provides some references for the future design of avionics communication systems.