Performance evaluation of MAC-PHY cross-layer design for power line communication networks

In this paper we present an analytical approach to evaluating the performance of integrated voice and data services based on cross-layer design between the PHY layer and MAC layer of power line communication (PLC) networks. The key features for the integrated system are three-fold. First, our proposed design is that in PHY layer the OFDM subcarriers use different modulation schemes according to the time-varying PLC channel. Second, a centralized MAC protocol at the local loop distribution center (LLDC) can limit the number of slots being used by the voice access units as less as possible under the constraint of packet dropping probability no more than 0.01 so as to leave more resources for data access units. Finally, two integrated voice/data strategies are proposed and analyzed. Results demonstrate that the PLC networks with adaptation of cross-layer design and movable boundary scheme is superior to that without cross-layer design.