Statistical analysis and modeling of a novel parameter for resource allocation in multicarrier PLC systems

This work outlines a novel parameter that is capable of characterizing the flatness of the normalized signal-to-noise ratio for resource allocation purposes in power line communication (PLC) systems, which are based on multicarrier modulation schemes. This parameter, named normalized signal-to-noise ratio coherence bandwidth, can be used for grouping adjacent subchannels therefore reducing the computational complexity of resource allocation techniques. Additionally, we discuss a comparative analysis between the proposed parameter and the coherence bandwidth for resource allocation purposes, which leads us to conclude that the former is more appropriate than the latter for PLC systems. Moreover, we show a statistical analysis of the proposed parameter and model it with different distributions based on noise measurements and channel estimates of broadband in-home, outdoor, and hybrid PLC-wireless environments. On the basis of data sets obtained from measurement campaigns covering the frequency bands of 1.7 to 30, 1.7 to 50, and 1.7 to 100 MHz, we show that the best distributions for modeling the proposed parameter are inverse Gaussian, Nakagami, gamma, and Gaussian mixture, depending on the type of the channel (in home, outdoor, and hybrid PLC wireless) and the frequency band.