Channel characterization for power line communication in a hybrid electric vehicle

In today's electric and conventional combustion engine vehicles, data communication between electronic control units is accomplished by sending communication signals over dedicated wires. The space requirement, weight, and installation costs for these wires can become significant, especially in electric vehicles (EVs) of the future, which are highly sophisticated electronic systems. The concept of reusing existing electricity wires, which are needed to power electronic components, for data communication, i.e., vehicular power line communications (V-PLC), is thus a promising means to reduce the amount of dedicated wiring and/or establish redundant communication buses especially for EVs. Previous work on V-PLC has mostly focused on combustion engine vehicles. In this paper, we present the methodology and results from a measurement campaign with the goal of characterizing the transmission conditions for V-PLC in a hybrid EV (HEV). Emphasis is given to the choice of measurement points (potential nodes of a V-PLC network) and the proper design of adapters for measurement equipment. The results presented here focus on channel transfer function and access impedance.