New Paradigms for Power Line Communications for and through the Grid

面向电网并通过电网的电力线通信新范式

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05765
• 负责人: Lampe, Lutz
• 金额: $ 3.06万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=588603
• 关键词: New; Paradigms; Power; Line; Communications

Reusing existing power lines for data communications is a natural choice given that the power wires and cables are already deployed and the pervasiveness of the electric power grid. It is therefore not surprising that this through-the-grid communications, a.k.a. power line communications (PLC), has long been used by electric power utilities for voice communication and grid monitoring and control. On the other hand, the development of modern PLC technology has long stagnated and received relatively less attention, in particular when compared to wireless communication. This has changed in recent years, when the need for an overhaul of the way electricity is generated, transported, and consumed has become apparent. The vision of a "Smart Grid" of the future is tightly coupled with the deployment of a ubiquitous communications infrastructure that enables pervasive sensing and control. Considering the successful track record of PLC as a working communications solution for power utilities, it has been identified as a forerunner technology for smart grid communications, especially for the distribution domain. This renaissance of PLC coincides with significant technological innovations in PLC over the past 10 years, mostly driven by the adoption of signal processing methods originally developed for broadband wireless systems. The trend is further supported by the consolidation of modern PLC technologies in several important PLC standards by the IEEE and ITU-T in 2010 and 2012. Against this background, the gist of this research proposal is to take the innovation of PLC one step further, with its application to support smart grids in mind. We are inspired by recent advances in wireless communications, in particular the introduction of network coding and physical layer security to wireless systems. Because of the similarities of wireless and power line communication channels, due to both media being reused for communication purposes, there are sound arguments that the underlying methods and resulting advantages of network coding and physical layer security carry over from wireless to PLC. Since network coding enables intermediate nodes of a communication network to combine data packets, rather than only forwarding them, we expect that its application helps solving the congestion problem experienced in large-scale PLC deployments. Physical layer security can provide a non-encryption means for secrecy of messages, and thus helps to prevent them against eavesdropping and possible attacks on power grids. We propose to investigate these new communications paradigms for PLC, with a detailed research agenda outlined in the proposal. A third aspect of our research is to exploit the specifics of PLC for signal modulation. Since every element connected to the grid has an effect on the characteristics of signal propagation through the grid, this can be used to condition the channel and/or modulate the signal. Interestingly, a similar paradigm has recently been considered for wireless communications and coined media-based modulation. Thus, again we can draw from similarities between wireless communications and PLC. The research directions proposed in this application are original, timely, and well aligned with developments in industry embracing PLC as important component for smart grid communication with chips sets and systems developed by giants such as Texas Instruments, Freescale, or Maxim Integrated, or the Canadian vendor Corinex. Students will be trained on the latest communication concepts applicable to PLC, wireless, and other communication media. Through the application to smart grid communication, they will be provided with an interdisciplinary context and trained to work with the specific requirements of for-the-grid communications.

考虑到电力线和电缆已经部署，以及电网的普及性，重新使用现有的电力线进行数据通信是一个自然的选择。因此，这种通过电网的通信也就不足为奇了。电力线通信(PLC)长期以来一直被电力公司用于语音通信和电网监控。另一方面，现代PLC技术的发展长期停滞不前，受到的关注相对较少，特别是与无线通信相比。近年来，这种情况发生了变化，电力生产、运输和消费方式显然需要进行彻底改革。未来“智能电网”的愿景与无处不在的通信基础设施的部署紧密结合在一起，这种基础设施能够实现无处不在的感知和控制。考虑到PLC作为电力公用事业工作通信解决方案的成功记录，它已被确定为智能电网通信的先导技术，特别是在配电领域。PLC的复兴与过去10年PLC的重大技术创新不谋而合，主要是由于采用了最初为宽带无线系统开发的信号处理方法。IEEE和ITU-T在2010年和2012年将现代PLC技术整合到几个重要的PLC标准中，进一步支持了这一趋势。 在此背景下，本研究方案的主旨是进一步推进PLC的创新，着眼于其在智能电网中的应用。我们受到无线通信最新进展的启发，特别是在无线系统中引入了网络编码和物理层安全。由于无线和电力线通信信道的相似之处，由于两种媒体都被重复用于通信目的，因此有充分的理由认为网络编码和物理层安全的基本方法和由此产生的优势从无线延续到PLC。由于网络编码使通信网络的中间节点能够合并数据分组，而不仅仅是转发数据分组，因此我们期望它的应用有助于解决大规模PLC部署中遇到的拥塞问题。物理层安全可以为消息的保密提供一种非加密手段，从而有助于防止消息被窃听和可能对电网进行攻击。我们建议为PLC研究这些新的通信范例，并在提案中概述详细的研究议程。我们研究的第三个方面是利用PLC的特性来进行信号调制。由于连接到电网的每个元件都对通过电网的信号传播特性有影响，这可用于调节信道和/或调制信号。有趣的是，类似的范例最近也被考虑用于无线通信，并创造了基于媒体的调制。因此，我们同样可以借鉴无线通信和PLC之间的相似之处。 本申请中提出的研究方向是原创的、及时的，并与行业发展保持良好一致，将PLC作为智能电网与诸如德州仪器、飞思卡尔或Maxim集成公司或加拿大供应商Corinex等巨头开发的芯片组和系统进行智能电网通信的重要组件。学生将接受有关适用于PLC、无线和其他通信媒体的最新通信概念的培训。通过智能电网通信的应用，他们将被提供跨学科的背景，并接受培训，以满足电网通信的具体要求。