Nature of power line medium and design aspects for broadband PLC system

Data communications with a data rate of several megabits per second over the most popular low-voltage electrical distribution network have been receiving tremendous interest for the last 2 or 3 years. This paper discusses the characteristics of the power line medium, which are relevant for broadband power line communications (PLC) systems. As an example, the concept of the Ascom PLC system, which was tested in a German power-line network for 6 months (March-September, 1999), and measurement results are presented.