MIMO communications for inhome PLC networks: Measurements and results up to 100 MHz

Abstract

Power Line Communications (PLC) is used for information exchange over the lines installed for delivering the electrical power. Inhome PLC is a technology which delivers telecom services to every corner of a household through already existing electrical wiring. In recent years, PLC has emerged as a potential candidate for domestic high bit rate services. The current inhome PLC technology, based on Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) configuration, under achieves the capacity offered by the physical PLC channel. The inhome PLC channel offers multiple signal feed ports as, usually, it comprises of three wires: Phase, Neutral and Protective Earth. The measurements and results presented in this paper demonstrate that up to 90% enhancement in inhome PLC channel capacity is possible by using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique.