Benchmarking and QoS of In-House Powerline Equipment for AV Streaming Applications

This paper brings into focus the need for a systematic approach to qualify in-house powerline equipment and networks for Audio and Video (AV) streaming applications. We present a simple isolated powerline network, suitable as a basic reference network for AV application tests, and elaborate on the possibility to extend this into a more complex AV reference network. The basic Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for high quality digital audio and video streaming are discussed and benchmarking tests of parameters like bandwidth, delay, frame loss, packet jitter and synchronization are proposed. The tests suggested in this paper are in accordance with recommendations in technical papers from European standardization organizations. Channel characterization and modeling parameters for the proposed reference network are discussed and test results from benchmarking commercially available powerline equipment are presented and discussed in relation to the requirements for AV streaming applications.