Simulation of an Indoor Power Cable Network for PLC Applications

A simulation model is proposed to evaluate the performances of power line communication (PLC) in indoor environment. The power cable used as PLC transmission vector is modeled by the multiconductor transmission line (MTL) theory. The MTL electrical parameters are obtained by the finite element method (FEM) analysis of the cable cross-section. The MTL network is modeled by two different approaches based on connection of the MTL chain matrices in frequency domain and on a series cascade of lumped pi sections in time domain. The comparisons of the calculated results with measurements are presented in the frequency range 1-30 MHz for two different configurations of the power cable network. Finally, the channel characterization for several load conditions and realistic network configurations are also performed.