Measurement Campaign of Rural Overhead MV Power Distribution Networks for PLC Systems

This paper investigates the suitability of the inductive coupling-based narrowband power line communication systems in overhead medium-voltage power distribution networks. Relying on raw data obtained from a measurement campaign, which was carried out in rural circuits in the South of Brazil, it is shown that power line channel impulse responses associated with these distribution networks can be modeled as time-invariant systems while the additive noise can be modeled as a white Gaussian random process. Also, reasonable achievable data rates are noted.