In this paper, some indoor PLC channel models are compared from an OFDM communication system perspective. Firstly, three representative models have been selected to generate channels in a statistical way, which are later included in an OFDM system simulator designed according to Homeplug-AV parameters. Secondly, the system performance is analyzed for the three cases of channel models and is compared to the one obtained for a set of almost 200 measured channels. An additional study about the Gaussian nature of the linear distortion in the OFDM system caused by the channels (modeled and measured) is presented.

In this paper, an FPGA-based channel emulator for indoor power line communications (PLC) is described. It has been designed for a band up to 30 MHz and is able to emulate time-varying channels and to generate a great variety of disturbances.

This paper analyses the performance of Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems on indoor power line. The studied frequency band extends up to 210MHz, as specified in the upcoming International Telecommunication Union (ITU) G.hn standard for wired home networks. Four frequency bands have been considered, from 1MHz up to 30MHz, from 30MHz up to 86MHz, from 1MHz up to 86MHz and from 110MHz up to 210MHz. Conventional OFDM modulation with rectangular pulses and OFDM with pulse-shaping at the transmitter and non-rectangular window at the receiver are assessed. Bit-rates attained with both schemes are evaluated as a function of the number of carriers and the cyclic prefix length. Presented results can be used to select the most appropriate system parameters for each frequency band.

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receivers designed to optimize the minimum mean square error (MMSE) are a common choice in coherent optical communication systems based on spatial division multiplexing (SDM). This kind of receivers naturally integrate both MIMO equalization and matched filtering functions. However, when the optical channel exhibits significant mode-dependent loss (MDL) and/or mode-dependent gain (MDG), the impact of inter-symbol interference (ISI) and crosstalk that arise, even using an ideal MIMO MMSE linear receiver, is barely analyzed. Moreover, due to the random nature of the MDL/MDG model, the resulting ISI, crosstalk, and bit error rate (BER) also become random variables and, hence the system performance is more unpredictable. In this paper, we first evaluate the residual distortion (ISI and crosstalk) after the MIMO receiver and then we study the validity of assuming it as an additional Gaussian noise term independent of the channel noise. Next, the probability density distribution (PDF) of the BER is analyzed, from both an analytical perspective and numerical simulations. For the latter, we use a single-carrier 2-PAM (pulse amplitude modulation) system, with pulse shaping, and the MIMO MMSE receiver implementation by means of a MIMO fractionally-spaced equalizer (FSE). We carry out simulations of the system under different conditions of MDL/MDG level and signal to noise ratio (SNR), measured at the receiver input. Additionally, we address possible fits of the BER PDF to known closed-form distributions, among which the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) family of distributions is selected, and polynomial functions are proposed that relate the system parameters with the GEV PDF parameters. Finally, we present contour maps of BER according to a giving target of system outage probability (OP) that depend on the MDL/MDG and SNR conditions.

Multi carrier modulation (MCM) is an attractive approach for high-speed power line communication networks. In a real communication system, the choice of the modulation is one of the most important design steps. In this paper, we analyze and compare the performance obtained in power line networks when using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete wavelet multi tone (DWMT) modulations. We show that, due to the multi-path, OFDM performance is better than DWMT performance in power line communications.

This tutorial is conceived to present prime line R&D advances in Multi-Gigabit Optoelectronics Communications. In order to allow all these communication systems to be compatible between them and interoperable, it is mandatory that they are developed following a common standard. Ethernet is one of the most well-known and flexible standards for complex systems. To this end, IEEE has developed many different standards for optical data communications. In case of the automotive industry, specific standards are developed in order to accomplish the stringent requirements of the working environment. This tutorial gives a review of the actual standardization processes of the optical communication systems, with special emphasis on the automotive industry. As a complement, it groups some of the most significant circuit design contributions to the State-of-the-Art in the recent years that allow implementing the optical transceivers compatible with the latest standards.