The present invention relates generally to the field of digital communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to transmission of digital information via power lines.
Referring to
The half loop 10 uses cable that is either underground, which feeds pad-mounted transformers, or aerial cable, which feeds pole-mounted transformers. The transformers 20 step the MV down to LV. These transformers 20 are designed to work at very low frequencies (50-60 Hz typical) and do not allow high frequencies (greater than 100 KHz) to pass through. Each transformer 20 supplies several homes to the home electric utility meter 32, which is typically mounted on the outside of the home. Within the home, concentrated at the breaker panel 34, a web of electrical wires delivers the power to the outlets 36.
What is needed is a way to use this topology to deliver high-speed communications to residential homes in a cost effective way. Applications for such communication systems include high speed Internet, telephony, video conferencing and video delivery.
It is an object of the present invention to provide high-speed communications via an electrical distribution MV to LV topology.
It is another object of the present invention to provide high-speed Internet service via an electrical distribution MV to LV topology.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide telephone and fax service via an electrical distribution MV to LV topology.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide video conferencing service via an electrical distribution MV to LV topology.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide video delivery via an electrical distribution MV to LV topology.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide residential and business security services via an electrical distribution MV to LV topology.
The present invention is a means of using the last portion of the electrical distribution system for high-speed communications to residential homes. An aggregation point interfaces a medium voltage power line with a point-of-presence, and a power line bridge enables flow of communications signals between the medium voltage power line and a low voltage power line across a distribution transformer.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.
According to the present invention, the power delivery system is divided up into three communications channels when configured for high-speed communications:
Referring to
The first channel (the MV cable) 10 has the least amount of noise and least amount of reflections. This channel has the highest potential bandwidth for communications. This is important because it is the channel that concentrates all of the bandwidth from the other channels. The type of signal used on this channel can be almost any signal used in communications (CDMA, TDMA, FDM, OFDM to name a few). A wideband signal such as CDMA that is relatively flat in the spectral domain is preferred to minimize radiated interference to other systems while delivering high data rates. The first channel is fed by the AP (Aggregation Point) 110.
Referring to
The second channel (the LV connection from the transformer to the home) and the third channel (the wiring within the home) have noise present from electrical appliances and reflections due to the “web” of wires. These channels can support a lower bandwidth than the MV (first) channel and they need a more intelligent (i.e., with more overhead) modulation schemes. There are several companies with chip sets to achieve good communications for LANs (local Area Network) such as: Adaptive Networks (Newton, Mass.), Inari (Draper, Utah), Intellion (Ocala, Fla.), DS2 (Valencia, Spain) and Itran (Beer-Sheva, Israel). These devices would work well for the LV channels.
Referring to
The data from/to the MV modem 430 is passed to the Data Router 440. The function of the Data Router 440 is to prioritize and gather packets from all of the LV side devices and pass them on to the MV side. The LV modem 450 modulates/demodulates the data so that it can be transmitted over the LV lines, this function utilizes powerline LAN chip set technology, as mentioned above. The LV isolator 460 and the LV coupler 470 serve the same function as the MV isolator 420 and the MV coupler 410, but on the LV side.
On the LV side of the transformer, the PLB 120 communicates with the Powerline Interface Devices (PLIDs) 136 at the customer location 130. A PLID 136 can have a variety of interfaces to the subscriber's equipment 138, 139. Some examples are RJ-11. Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), RS-232, USB, and 10. Base-T. A subscriber can have multiple PLIDs 136 on the same internal wiring.
A system as disclosed herein is useful to provide data services to the residential market place at 10 Mbps. This makes an entire new range of applications practically available. Each device that is connected to the power would (if desired) have an address and would be accessible remotely. Some examples include remote utility meter reading, Internet Protocol (IP)-based stereo systems, IP-based video delivery systems, and IP telephony.
The present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, however, it will be appreciated that various modifications and improvements may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. application No. 09/835,532 filed Apr. 16, 2001 (2171-013), now U.S. Pat. No. 6,958,680 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/197,615 filed Apr. 14, 2000, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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Child | 11134377 | US |