Validating Broadband PLC for Smart Grid Applications with Field Trials

The paper presents the field trial measurement results of two Broadband Powerline Communication (BB-PLC) technologies. A field trial is essential for the rollout planning of the BB-PLC technology. The communication quality with BB-PLC can be impaired by a variety of noise sources and impedances, e. g. passive equipment of the electrical grid or active elements like inverters. We analyzed the performance of the IEEE 1901 and Universal Powerline Association (UPA) technologies in low voltage (LV) power grids. Artificial data traffic is injected and measured by a Traffic Measurement and Analysis Tool (tmaTool). This software allows both the measurement of the maximum performance and the definition of the user traffic types. By creating heterogeneous traffic it was possible to measure not just the point-to-point data rates, but also the point-to-multipoint performance. This is the proposed approach to evaluate the performance of the Multiple Access Control (MAC) scheduler. We provide the definition of typical traffic scenarios assumed by ENSO NETZ. We conclude that IEEE 1901 can fulfill the traffic demand requirements even in the worst case, whereas UPA cannot. Additionally, we show the possible performance that goes beyond these requirements and guarantees the function in the future.