Characterization of the power line carrier communications environment of the American home

The growing interest in user installable home automation has prompted a considerable interest in the use of the AC power line for intrahome communications. The author describes an approach to characterize the ability of all types of American homes to support this power line carrier (PLC) communication. The effort described involves a considerable amount of field data acquisition, data reduction and extensive characterization of commonly found power line operated devices. The general approach chosen, the type of measurements made, and the type of information being distilled from the field data is discussed.<>