A management system for PLC networks using SNMP Protocol

Access technologies for data transmission, such as xDSL, Wi-Fi and cable modem are widely used once they support high data transmission rates at low cost. Among these technologies, Power Line Communications (PLC) is an alternative promising solution. In order to get control over a telecommunication network operation, including PLC, it is necessary to use management techniques. Besides network control, these management techniques are intended to provide maximum knowledge of the system behavior and of involved devices. In this paper, we present a management solution model applied to PLC networks. In order to develop the proposed management system for PLC networks, we made use of a free software called Nagios. Practical evaluation tests showed that the proposed management model is scalable, reliable and can provide effective control of PLC networks in order to guarantee the required services to the users.