ELEC 4840B
Student ID : C3067053
Supervisor :
ELEC 4840B
The aim of the project is to design a Power Line Communication Modem Circuit to
control the home appliances between a Host PC and a Slave Application Device.
This report will discuss on the required technology and knowledge involved in the
power line modem design. Hence, information on how the concept of modulation
schemes are introduced, how signal will transmit through the power line and eventually
work plan for the practical design of power line modem will be discussed in this paper.
Also, academic research and study on the performance of the transmission system
was elaborated in detail, such as, by using the Multisim software to validate the design
and component used in the circuitry prior to the building of actual circuitry.
Lastly, a labview software will be used to demonstrate the two power line modem
interact with each other on this communication system, by controlling a lamp from a
PC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
5.2 Implementing the Power Line Modem Control Message Frame on RS232 COM Port ..... 45
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1: PLC Enable Electrical Appliance ..................................................................................... 2
Figure 9: Signal & Power Connections for Power Line Modem .................................................. 21
Figure 19: : Power Supply circuit (Equivalent Circuit Design Using Multisim ............................. 35
Figure 25: Coupling Circuit Test (Equivalent Circuit Design Using Multisim) ............................. 41
Figure 30: Bit Pattern at COM Port for character A (1 stop bit, no parity).............................. 45
Figure 42: Modem & Coupling Circuit Test (With 230VAC) ........................................................ 53
Figure 47: Full Complete Power Line Communication Modem (Internal) .................................. 58
Figure 48: Full Complete Power Line Communication Modem (External) ................................. 58
LIST OF ACRONYMS
Acronyms
PLC Power Line Communication
FHSS Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
MAC Medium Access Control
ASK Amplitude Shift Keying
FSK Frequency Shift Keying
PSK Phase Shift Keying
QAM Quadrature Modulation
CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
MOV Metal Oxide Varistor
TTL Transistor-transistor level
Project No JK04 ELEC4840B
1.0 Introduction
Power Line Carrier Communication has recently become a popular technology for
home automation and networking. It is because power line is a relatively cheaper and
more robust communication channel used throughout the world except wireless
channel. It is used more commonly used than any other communication channel.
Power line modems can be used in various applications; however, the study on the
use of Power Line Modems for this report will mainly be focused on home automation
applications.
The figure 1 below illustrates a typical conceptual view on the use of power line
modem for home automation network.
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A general purpose PC serves as the PLC (Power Line Communication) enabled main
control center or a master Node for home automation network. PLC enabled Lamp, air
conditioner, television, and other electrical devices are slave nodes in the network.
From the point of view of a home user, a PLC enabled TV will look exactly the same as
a normal TV as the communication and control unit is embedded within and no
additional wire is required for communication.
The AC power line acts as the communication medium for all the electrical devices and
master control centre a data acquisition, monitoring, and control software will run on
the PC.
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Switching on/off the electrical lamps, checking room temperature and controlling the
air conditioner and other various automatic applications can be configured through
proper use of developed software running on PC.
The figure below shows the conceptual block diagram of a PLC enabled electrical
device. It will have a power line modem, a control unit and a normal function unit
internally.
Address/Command/
Data
Each node of PLC enabled electrical device will have its own network address. The
Power Line Modem enables the address, command, and data message frames to be
sent over the AC Power Line.
Due to cost constraints, such kind of PLC enabled products could seldom be found in
the consumer market at this moment in time, however, it is likely to see such kind of
systems in the near future.
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1.1 Objectives
The objective of this project is to design and develop a low cost narrowband power
line communication module applies in home automation system to control home
appliances. By using the existing power point socket outlet through power line, to
control and regulate the lamp.
The scope of this project consists of three main structure works as shown in figure 3,
which includes project planning, system design and system verification.
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To prevent false triggering, addresses are given for the PLC enabled devices in home
control network. The figure below shows an example of a message frame which
consists of four fields, preamble, identifying address, data field, and stop bit. When the
host PC communicates with a PLC enabled device, it will put the address of the PLC
enabled device in the address field. The data field in this case will be the ON or OFF
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command coded in binary form. The message frame will always start with preamble to
signify the devices that a message is coming and always end with a stop bit.
For higher data transmission rates, narrower bandwidths, Lower error rates at lower
Signal to Noise ratios, and lower power consumption of modem devices, the following
advanced digital modulation schemes as considered:
1. M-ary Modulation
a. M-ASK
b. M-PSK
c. M-ASK
2. Quadrature Modulation (M-QAM)
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4. Multiplexing Techniques
a. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
b. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
For low cost, low data rate applications, such as power line protection and tele-
metering, FSK is seen as a good solution. For data rates up to 1Mbps, the CDMA
technique may provide an effective solution. However, for high data applications
beyond that, OFDM is the technology of choice for PLC.
Token These schemes, e.g. token ring, token bus, are efficient under
3 passing heavy symmetric loads. However, they can be expensive to
schemes. implement and can cause serious problems with lost
tokens on noisy unreliable channels such as PLs
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The modulation and coding for narrowband (low speed) transmission in the frequency
bands maximum limit will up to 500 kHz. Regulations stated in west Europe
concerning the PLC are described in the EN 50065 standard, an entitled Signaling on
low-voltage electrical installations in the frequency range of 3 kHz to 148.5 kHz. In
this standard guild, it specifies the allowable frequency band and output voltage over
the power lines are used. In accordance to EN50065.1, is also known as CENELEC,
the maximum allowable peak voltage for narrowband signals (i.e. bandwidth of 20dB
less than 5 kHz in width) at 9 kHz will equals to 5V, exponentially decreasing to 1V at
the frequency of 95 kHz . As for the broadband transmitter (i.e. bandwidth of 20dB
more than 5 kHz in width) will be 5 V = 134dB (V).
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Re ceivedPower
SNR =
NoisePower
There are two method of connecting the power line communication module into the
network [13]:
Capacitive Coupling: A capacitor is responsible for the actual coupling and the
signal is modulated onto the networks voltage waveform.
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Inductive Coupling: An inductor is used to couple the signal onto the networks
current waveform. Inductive coupling some time is rather noisy, however, the
advantage is, no physical connection to the network has to be made. Thus
make it safer to install as compare to capacitive coupling.
When designing the coupling circuit, two major types of components as described in
the table 10 below should be considered. Another important feature to take notes is
the protective coupler circuitry. Inclusive of varistors, zener diodes and also coupling
transformers need to consider in the circuit, which involving current and voltage
transients might also damage the chipset.
Component Description
These are extensively used in power line communications, most
commonly to couple the PLC signal to the power line, but also as a
part of more sophisticated, higher-order filters. The requirements
and essential characteristics of coupling capacitors have been
standardized in ANSI C93.1-1972. Coupling capacitors carry the
Coupling communication current and thus have to be high-frequency
capacitors capacitors (self resonant frequency has to be higher than the
modulation frequency). Conversely, they have to filter the power
voltage (dropped across the component), as well as voltage surges
and therefore need to be high-voltage capacitors. The filtering
characteristics of the coupling capacitors are quite dependent on the
load onto which the waveform terminates.
The main function of the coupling transformers is to provide galvanic
isolation and impedance adaptation, but the coupling transformer
has also to pass the high-frequency communication signal and it has
to be designed as such. The power waveform has a much lower
Coupling
frequency and much higher voltage level, and the power waveform
transformers
has a saturating influence in the order of at least 100000 compared
to the communication waveform. Therefore, the power waveform is
typically first low-pass filtered before entering the coupling
transformer.
Table 2: Coupling Components [21]
The Homeplug Power Line Alliance is an alliance with members such as silicon
vendors, networking companies, service providers, utilities and OEM/ODM retailers.
Development of Home Plug Standards has its focus mainly on increasing data rate as
required by emerging technologies like VoIP, HDTV, etc
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Homeplug standards [17] are basically to fulfill the requirement of networking and data
communication in the homes and offices to obsolete the need of extra wiring and
networking. Usually in every home there is power line to run different appliances so
homeplug follow this scenario to control communication between different rooms. The
technology developed in homeplug is able to send data, voice and video within
different rooms.
The challenges faced by the Alliance were the way to combat other electrical noise
[15] that exists due to the use of a power outlet to transfer information. Whenever any
appliance is turned on or off, it creates noise that could possibly disrupt data transfer
through the wiring. Another problem that has also been resolved was the lack of
standardization in the market for the digital networking products and technologies.
With the implementation of the IEEEs 1901 broadband power line standard (due for
approval on September, 2010), Homeplug technology has been validated by both
IEEE and the market and was selected as a baseline technology for the standard
since it is the most widely deployed technology. The three major specification
published by Homeplug (Homeplug AV, Homeplug Green PHY and the developing
Homeplug AV2) are all compliant to IEEE 1901 and the Homeplug Power Line
Alliance will be the certifying body for IEEE 1901 products [17].
Spread spectrum signal modulation is different [18]. Since the useful bandwidth in the
power line channel is under 25 MHz, the effect of spread spectrum modulation is
considered limited. Using single carrier modulation on the power line is possible, but
equalizers could be needed to reduce the delay spread effect, but the cost will be
relatively high.
In order to cope with the wide variation in channel conditions, the physical layer
protocol (PHY) for PLC must be adaptive, intelligently using more robust modulation
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and coding schemes, with lower data rates as needed. In addition, critical protocol
management information requires high fidelity forward error correction (FEC) coding to
ensure that the protocol functions correctly in the worst case situations [18].
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The X10 protocol code formats are compatible in Home Automation Systems and it is
De Facto standard for PLC transmission. X10 is one of the oldest power line
communications and it is a powerful, flexible and fairly inexpensive technology and
similar to the network protocols such as TCP/IP. X10 protocol works across home
power lines and is extremely low-bandwidth. A form of amplitude shift keying (ASK)
technique is used for transmission of information. The basic limitations of X10 protocol
are speed, collisions and signal strength.
(ii) CEBus
Peer-to-Peer communication is used in the CEBus protocol. The power line physical
layer of the CEBus communication protocol is based on spread spectrum technology.
(iii) LONWorks
LONWorks is a networking platform that is built for networking devices over media.
The protocol provides a set of communication services. Unless the topology of the
network is known, the sending and receiving messages over the network are allowed.
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Frequencies restricted the limitations imposed by the regulatory agencies over the
power line communicating devices. The frequency restrictions imposed by FCC and
CENELEC are shown in figure 4 and 5.
Power line communication frequency band used in North America from 0 to 500 KHz.
Regulatory rules in Europe are more stringent. The CENELEC standard only allows
frequencies between 3 kHz and 148.5 kHz. This puts a hard restriction on power line
communications and might not be enough to support high bit rate applications, such
as real-time video, depending on the performance needed.
According to this standard the spectrum is divided into five bands based on the
regulations.
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Along the transmission path, the source digital data input or output from the
Transmit/Receive Buffer of an Embedded Control Unit or a Host PC Communication
Port is first modulated onto a kHz frequency carrier, and then it is again conditioned
(filtered or amplified) and coupled upon 50Hz 230V AC mains line. The reception part
of the modem demodulates the received digital data back from the modulated carrier.
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The use of power line modem ICs simplifies the power line modem circuitry. The
modulator, demodulator circuits and interfaces to the Host are now all embedded in
single IC chip set. The host controller or PC may write data bytes to the
communication port of the modem IC chip set with the use of level converter.
With the use of power line modem IC, only level converter ICs such as MAX232, a
power supply circuit, analog front end, coupling circuit and sometimes external
oscillator circuits are required to design in a power line modem device. Some
intelligent modem ICs even have inherent error correction, coding/decoding and the
MAC Layer and Physical Layer Management built in a single chip.
The IC solutions available in the market can be one of the two categories:
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The table 5 below shows a summary on analysis of available broad band IC chipsets
in the market,
Supported
Homeplug Associated key Price
Vendor Part Number Version/spec Components
The broad band chipsets have complex interfaces to host like MII (Media Independent
Interface) to support higher data rates. The costs of ICs and evaluation boards are
relatively higher than narrow band chipsets. The technical and sale support provided
by these suppliers are relatively poor. This could be that they are not keen to support
student project and they have minimum order quantity of these chip sets. Also, the
most important factor is that the technical datasheet is difficult to obtain.
Narrow Band chipset have simpler interfaces to the host. The cost of ICs and
evaluation boards are lower. Most importantly, the technical datasheet is available and
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easy to obtain which simplifies our design work. Table 5 below shows a few narrow
band ICs
Supported
Vendor Model HomePlug Cost
Version/spec
FSK modulation
*Echelon PL3120 with data rate of
5.4kps
Note: ** No response from supplier
Table 6: Narrowband IC Chipsets
TDA5051A is selected for this power line modem design project as it is a low cost but
efficient IC with convenient UART interfaces. The others advantage is the availability
of technical datasheet and lead time for purchasing the parts which can source locally
easily.
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3. Coupling Circuit
The figure 9 below shows the signal and power connections between three sub-
units:
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TDA5051A is a modem Integration circuit chipset, operates from a 5VDC supply. This
dedicated to transmit data over a power line network by means of any two wire
networks in exchanging information. The modulation scheme is used Amplitude Shift
Keying (ASK) carrier technique with a data baud rate of 600 or maximum of 1200. In
this amplitude modulation technique, the modulation signals for binary 1 is equal to the
amplitude of the carrier frequency and is 0 for binary 0 as shown in figure 10.
Amplitude shift keying (ASK) is also called as on & off keying because of this unique
property.
With the help of few components connect externally which used for decouple
purposes. Also as a form of protection on the chipset against overvoltage surge and
negative transient signals. A standard quartz crystal will used to connect on-chip
reference oscillator which required set the operating frequency known as carrier
frequency in transmission mode and receiving mode which known as detection
frequency. The chip is based on the automatically tuned filters for transmit and
receive.
All inputs and outputs signal are compatible with TTL/CMOS feature, which provide
easy connection to the interface hardware inputs & outputs port. For more detail on
TDA5051A modem IC specification refer to appendix A1
In this TDA5051A chipset, it can divide them into 3 major sections which make up a
complete modem IC. All these 3 major sections will be discussed in the next following
topic on their functionality and operation.
1. Transmission Section
2. Reception Section
3. Clock Section
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f OSC
f CR =
64
7.3728 10 6
= = 115 KHz
64
Transmission Section of the chip is designed in such a way that whenever the data
signal at DataIN pin (pin 1) is LOW, a burst of carrier frequency 115KHz is generated at
TXOUT pin (pin 10) as shown in the figure 11 the relationship between DataIN and
TXOUT. TXOUT pin is in a high-impedance state as long as the device is not transmitting.
1
(2) q tW ( DI )(min) = t SU +
f CR
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Table 8 below shows the parameters of transmission section essential for modem
design:
Parameter Value Remark
V IH (HIGH-level
input voltage @ 1.9V~5.5V These parameters are calculated at Vcc =
DATA IN pin 1) 5V. This characteristics should be
considered in the interface circuit design to
V IL (LOW-level
TDA5051A DATA_IN pin
input voltage @ 0.5V ~0.9V
DATA IN pin 1)
Vo(rms) output
carrier signal @ pin DATA_IN = LOW;
120 - 122 dBV
10 ZL = CISPR16
(RMS value)
Io(max) power
amplifier maximum DATA_IN = LOW;
160 mA
output current @ ZL = 1
pin 10 (peak value)
ZO output
impedance of the 5 NIL
power amplifier
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The output of receiving section is the DATAOUT pin (pin 2) which will remain LOW as
long as a burst is received at RX pin (pin 14). The signal pin (RXIN) is a high
impedance input which has to be protected and DC decoupled for the same reasons
as with pin TXOUT. The high sensitivity of (82 dBV) as mention in the datasheet of this
input requires an efficient 50 Hz rejection filter
Table 9 below shows the parameters of receiving section essential for modem design:
Z I input impedance@ RX
50k
pin, pin 14
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Parameter Value
f OSC oscillator frequency 115KHz
f OSC /f CR ratio between
oscillator and 64
carrier frequency
f OSC /fCLKOUT ratio between
oscillator and 2
clock output frequency
As per recommendation from TDA5051A datasheet [2], a 2.2 mega ohms resistor are
connected parallel with 7.3728 MHz standard crystal with two 22pF capacitors in
series to the ground to form a clock circuit.
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4.2.1Serial Communication
Data transmission from computer using graphical user interface (GUI) to power line
communication modem via the serial communication, and this connection is based on
Electronic Industries Association (EIA232). DTE and DCE should be very familiar from
this EIA232 standard, which represent by Data communication Equipment (DCE) and
Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) respectively. These terms are used to indicate the
pin-out for the connectors on a device and the direction of the signals on the pins. The
computer is a DTE device, while most of other devices are usually DCE devices that
go with the current project, where the power line communication modem is a DCE
device.
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Serial port on the computer generate serial signal voltage level in form of RS232 from
-3V to -25V with respect to signal ground (pin5) will assign as logic 1 (Mark).
Whereas voltages level from +3V to +25V will assign as logic 0 (Space). The
voltages range between -/+3V is considered a transition region for which a signal state
is not assigned.
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Basically these Max232 provides 2-channel that covert +5V to +/-10V for RS232
operation. Capacitor (C1) will used in the first converter to double the +5V input to
+10V on capacitor (C3) at the V+ output. The second converter uses capacitor (C2) to
invert +10V to -10V on capacitor (C4) at the V- output [23]. For more detail of this
max232 IC chipset, kindly refer to the Appendix B
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However, after considering all this pro & con, having a reliable source is still an
essential for this device to prevent this constraints. After all, the consumption for this
entire device will not exceed 76mA [2], thus the energy usage is very low. AC power
supply would be the most ideal choice instead of battery source.
This AC power supply circuit will be fed in with 230VAC and eventually step down and
covert to 5VDC with the help of voltage regulator and few components act as half
wave rectifier. In this power supply, it consists of primary and secondary protection.
Secondary protection consists of the metal oxide varistor (MOV), rated at 230VAC for
the power line operation. This MOV will be able to limit the overvoltage spikes which
might damage Capacitor (C1). Whereas a primary protection includes an extra fast
fuse connected before the MOV, this is to overcome the long and severe overvoltage,
so that the fuse will be destroyed before the MOV.
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IIN
IIN can be calculated from the equivalent circuit in figure 14, the given formula as
shown in Eq. (5.2.1)
V = IR + IX L + IX C (5.2.1)
I IN
j
6
(
+ j 1 10 3 ) + j
6
+ 68 = 2300 + 0.7
4 . 7 10 470 10
Where = 2 50 = 314.159
I IN
j
6
(
+ j 314.159 1 10 3 + ) j
6
+ 68 = 2300 + 0.7
314.159 4.7 10 314.159 470 10
230.70
I IN =
687.1 84.32
I IN = 0.33584.32
I IN = 335mA
The equivalent circuit is used to calculate the IOUT, the formula is given in Eq. (5.2.2)
5V Zth
V
I OUT = (5.2.2)
Zth
j
C 3 = 100 F , XC 3 =
2 50 100 10 6
= j 31.83
j
C 4 = 47F , XC 4 =
2 50 47 10 9
= j 67725.5
XC 3 XC 4
Zth =
XC 3 + XC 4
Zth =
( j31.83) ( j 67725.5)
( j31.83) + ( j 67725.5)
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Zth =
(31.83 90) (67725.5 90)
j 67757.33
2155702.67 180
Zth =
67757.33 90
Zth = 31.81 90
5
I OUT =
31.81
I OUT = 157 mA
From the data sheet of TDA5051A the maximum draw current is 76mA [2]. However,
the MAX232 interface circuit will draw extra 10mA [23], this will add up to 76mA giving
the total current consumption of Power Line Modem circuit to be approximately 86mA.
Despite the total consumption of the power line communication modem is about
86mA. For a safe use of power supply, the total draw current can go up to 157mA.
From the simulation test as shown in figure 19, a 230VRMS was fed into the circuit;
the input current is obtained as 336mA which is very close to the calculated value
(335mA) as shown in the Eq. (5.2.1).
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Figure 19: : Power Supply circuit (Equivalent Circuit Design Using Multisim
Multimeter (XSC1) is used for testing the output of the circuit. Looking at the output of
the circuit showing in figure 15, the output of the equivalent circuit shown 5.008VDC
which determines that the designed circuit met the power supply specification. This
simulation work also test the maximum input voltage source which this circuit can
withstand or before the result starts to saturate. This was being done by varying the
input up to some extend of +/- 50V, or in the fluctuation in the input, the output source
of the circuit remains stable and not affected.
An oscilloscope is also used in this simulation test to confirm the DC source level. As
shown from the oscilloscope, a 5VDC source is obtained.
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This will be the last simulation test, multimeter is used to test the total output current of
the entire circuit. From figure 21 shown below, the total measure output current of the
circuit is 151.7mA. As compare to the calculated value (157mA) in Eq. 5.2.2 which is
slightly different by 6 mA. This could be due to the tolerant of the components used in
multisim.
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In conclusion, base on calculated value, it was proven by the simulation test that the
circuit it safe and meet all expectation from the design.
A typical 230V AC mains power line can be seen as a 50Hz sine wave signal source,
delivering 167 dBVrms to the modem communication system at about 30 ohms line
impedance of load as specify from the datasheet [2].
Vout
(20 log10 )
1V
230V
(20 log10 ) = 167 dBVrms
1V
Since the modem sensitivity of TDA5051A is about 82dBuV as specify from the
datasheet [2], it is mandatory to provide an attenuation of 167-82=85dB of the 50Hz
sine wave component.
However, the coupling network is not only a high-pass filter, the digital filter of the RX
section in TDA5051A needs an anti- aliasing filter in order to function properly.
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With all these aspect, the coupling network behavior is in fact a band pass filter,
featuring a center frequency equal to the chosen carrier frequency for TDA5051A.
Table 12 below summarizes typical requirements which the coupling circuit design for
TDA5051A has to be considered at center frequency (carrier frequency FCR) 115 KHz:
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RECEPTION MODE
Typical input impedance at Fc 35 Ohms
-3dB Bandwidth 100 KHz
50Hz attenuation > 90 dB
Anti-aliasing around Fosc/2 > 50 dB
Input sensitivity 82 dBuVrms
TRANSMISSION MODE
Typical output impedance 7 Ohms
Output voltage on a CISPR16 load 122 dBuVrms
VA
Z1
Z2
Vin
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Z2
VOC = VIN
Z1 + Z 2
Where Z 1 = X C1 + X L1
Z 2 = X C 3 // X L 2
= 2 f = 2 3.1416 50 = 314.159
X C1 = ( )=
1 1
= 67725.51
C1 314.159 47 10 9
X C1 = X C 3 = 67725.51
X L1 = L1 = 2 3.1416 50 47 10 6 = 0.014765
X L1 = X L 2 = 0.014765
Z2 =
j 67725.51 j 0.014765
=
( 67725.51 90 )(0.01476590 )
j 67725.51 + j 0.014765 j 67725.495
999.9670 999.9670
= = = 0.01476590
j 67725.495 67725.495 90
= j 0.014765
0.01476590
VOC = 23090( )
j 67725.49 + j 0.014765
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0.01476590
= 23090 ( )
j 67725.47
0.01476590
= 230 90 ( )
67725.47 90
= 50 10 6 270
This ratio will effectively eliminate the 230VRMS signal to 50 uV with attenuation of
133.25dB, effectively exceeding the requirement of 87dB by RX input of
TDA5051A.
Figure 25: Coupling Circuit Test (Equivalent Circuit Design Using Multisim)
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As shown on the figure 26, input voltage was successfully suppressed to about 50 V. The
obtained result is equal to the calculated values.
The output current for the entired coupling circuit as shown in the figure 27. As
specify in the datasheet a typical 50k ohm input impedance which represent the RXIN
on the TDA5051A IC chipset.
It is planned to run all the software related processes including some media access
control schemes on personnel computers. COM port from host PC will be connected
to power line modem which will be directly connected to AC Mains. On the receiving
side, there will be another power line modem with identical circuit configuration
connected to another PC COM Port act as slave. A demonstration will be carry out by
controlling a lamp from one PC to another PC.
Commands will send out by activating the LAMP ON, LAMP OFF, LAMP DIMMR
from the master control (host PC) as shown in figure 28, to the slave display (Slave
PC) as shown in figure 29. To control the lamp from one PC to another PC via the
power line communication modem.
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Lower Higher
Nibble Nibble
LSB MSB
Figure 30: Bit Pattern at COM Port for character A (1 stop bit, no parity)
5.2.2 Preamble
It is planned to use a 16 bit preamble of 8 falling and 8 rising edges. Implementing this
on standard COM Port, the interface software has to send character UU via PC COM
port as a preamble.
Address Address
Unit (Hex) (binary)
Master 00 0000 0000
Slave 1 01 0000 0001
Slave 2 02 0000 0010
Slave 255 FF 1111 1111
Table 13: Address Field
Higher
COMMAND Nibble Lower Nibble Hex Remark
LIGHT 'xx' ON 0000 bbbb 0X Lamp Number X =
LIGHT 'xx' OFF 0111 bbbb 7X 1~A
DIM "xx" 1001 bbbb 9X Dim Level X = 1~A
Acknowledge 0100 1011 4B Acknowledge char:
Table 14: Data Field
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because of the application of this project, as is just only controlling of appliances and
sending string of data. Also, it will minimize the error occur if the speed is too fast.
Testing for the power line communication modem is divided into 4 mains hardware
and each hardware is tested individually before interface and combining them
together. These 4 hardwares includes, power supply, modem IC circuit, coupling
circuit and level converter. And because this test involves with 230VAC, before
commencement of the test, safety device and safety awareness need to be
considered and put in place.
Safety device includes, MCB, Variable Transformer (Varic), Fuse and isolating
transformer will be used during the test when the present of 230VAC.
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Oscilloscope
2 X Multimeter
Signal generator
Power Supply
2 X Computer with Labview software
Incoming
230VAC Output
Voltage 5 VDC
Choosing quart crystal of 7.3728 MHz, a carrier frequency of 115 KHz will be
generated as shown from the oscilloscope in the figure 29. The test was carry out
when data input feed in with a high input signal (5VDC), about 500mV will generate at
the TX_OUT pin. And when data input feed in with a low input signal (0VDC), a 2.5 VDC
will generated at TX_OUT pin. All measurements obtained were accordance to
TDA5051A datasheet [2].
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Figure 37 below shown a floating signal exist when data input signal is at open circuit.
A pull up resistor (as shown in figure 31) will be introduced by connecting across the
data input and 5VDC supply, to ensure that the signal will always stay high when not
transmitting.
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When Inject a 300Hz signal (Blue waveform) into the first modem circuit, second
modem circuit will receive about 300Hz signal (Yellow waveform). This test is to verify
the baud rate of two modem circuit.
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230VAC source
feed into the
coupling circuit
Carried
Showing AC frequency travel
mains present along the AC line
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Coupling
Circuit
Figure 41 shown that the data was entered from a labview software, and this data will
transmit from one modem to another modem through level converter, and the result
shown that same data was obtained at the receiving end modem.
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Controlling the lamp (Master) from one USE Light up the Lamp (slave) from
port thru the power line communication another USB port thru power line
modem communication modem
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Level
converter
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Figure 49 shown below the complete setup of the power line communication modem
controller the lamp via the power line.
The following cost will tabulate base on 2 numbers of power line communication modem
components.
Unit Total
Circuitry Component Description Quantity
price Cost
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Part B Plan
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In this report, a basic understanding of the use of Power Line Modem ICs in Power
Line Modem Devices has been achieved, a conceptual approach to detailed circuit
construction using selected IC TDA5051A has been initiated, however, there are more
to be learned on the communication scheme of the interface from PC to IC, and a
detailed design of interface circuit is also another challenge. Practical Experiments
are required to understand the characteristics of IC, noise, impedance, and
attenuation behavior of the power line for the improvement of basic design. After all
the hardware requirements have been achieved, the software development in PC to
facilitate communication between two modem devices. All these requirements will be
considered in the future plan of the project.
References:
[1] http://hih.au.dk/Chipsets-8402.aspx
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[5] http://america2.renesas.com/applications/wired_connectivity/powerline_comm.html
[6] http://www.homeplug.org/home/
[7]http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=CENELEC%20Frequency%20Band%20Allocation
&imgurl=http://plc.qcslink.com/IntroPLC/Image1.gif&imgrefurl=http://plc.qcslink.com/IntroPLC/L
owBWDD.htm&usg=__c8zs58mw4F-
51_CBZ2mBPsFdwnw=&h=353&w=691&sz=6&hl=en&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=fXgXCGyJv8O4O
M:&tbnh=71&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCENELEC%2BFrequency%2BBand%2BAllo
cation%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&sa=G&tbs=isch:1&st
art=0#tbnid=fXgXCGyJv8O4OM&start=0
[8]http://www.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=FCC%20frequency%20band&imgurl=http://www.fu
raxa.com/images/UWB-Spectrum-
FCC.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.furaxa.com/Press%2520release%2520aug%252015%2520200
3.htm&usg=__RG3nkVNMuQ5kQtAlYZro8sQjvag=&h=277&w=540&sz=35&hl=en&um=1&itbs
=1&tbnid=YmSWUFij6wBGlM:&tbnh=68&tbnw=132&prev=/images%3Fq%3DFCC%2Bfrequen
cy%2Bband%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&sa=X&tbs=isch
:1&start=0#tbnid=_xyTNt-BCYK7KM&start=6
[10] Olaf Hooijien, Aspects of Residential Power Line Communication , Ph D. Thesis, Shaker
Verlag GmbH, ISBN 3-8265-3429-8,1998
[11] R.M Vines et al, Noise on the residential power distribution circuits , IEEE Transactions
on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. 26. No. 4, pp.161-168, November 1984
[12] L.M Millanta et al., A Classification of the Power-Line Voltage Disturbances for an
Exhaustive Description and Measurement, Proceedings of the IEEE National Symposium on
Electromagnetic Compatibility, Denver, CO, USA, pp.332-226, May 1989
[13] Fredrik Roos, Powerline Communication in Train Control Systems, Master Thesis, KTH,
Stockholm, 2000
[15] HomePlug 1.0 powerline communication LANs protocol description and performance
results. International Journal Of Communication Systems. Int. J. Commun. Syst. 2003;16: (in
press) (DOI:10.1002/dac.601)
[17] http://www.homeplug.org/tech/ieee_1901
[18] M. Karl and K. Dostert, Selection of An Optimal Modulation Scheme for Digital
Communications over Low Voltage Power Lines, IEEE 4th Intl. Symp. Spread Spectrum
Tech. and Apps., vol. 3, 1996, pp. 108791
[19] Gardner S, Markwalter B, Yonge L. HomePlug standard brings networking to the home.
Communication Systems Design Magazine,
http://www.commsdesign.com/main/2000/12/0012feat5.htm,[Dec 2000].
[23] http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/texasinstruments/max232.pdf
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