Radiation Mitigation for Power Line Communications Using Time Reversal

Power Line Communication (PLC) is the response for nowadays high demand of multimedia services in domestic environment, not only for its fast and reliable transfer characteristics but also for its flexible low cost implementation, since the PLC technology uses the existing electrical network infrastructure and the omnipresent outlets throughout the home. The transfer of such a high bit rate through the mains network generates acceptable radiated emission regulated by international standards, but the increment in speed for new generation PLC may cause higher levels of emissions. This paper explains the use of the Time Reversal (TR) technique to mitigate radiated emissions from PLC systems. This method was probed experimentally in real electrical networks with excellent results: in 40% of the observations, the Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) generated by PLC transmission could be reduced by more than 3 dB, and this EMI mitigation factor could increase to more than 10 dB in particular configurations.