Broadband Power Line Communication in Railway Traction Lines: A Survey

Abstract

Power line communication (PLC) is a technology that exploits existing electrical transmission and distribution networks as guiding structures for electromagnetic signal propagation. This facilitates low-rate data transmission for signaling and control operations. As the demand in terms of data rate has greatly increased in the last years, the attention paid to broadband PLC (BPLC) has also greatly increased. This concept also extended to railways as broadband traction power line communication (BTPLC), aiming to offer railway operators an alternative data network in areas where other technologies are lacking. However, BTPLC implementation faces challenges due to varying operating scenarios like urban, rural, and galleries. Hence, ensuring coverage and service continuity demands the suitable characterization of the communication channel. In this regard, the scientific literature, which is an indicator of the body of knowledge related to BTPLC systems, is definitely poor if compared to that addressed to BPLC systems installed on the electrical transmission and distribution network. The relative papers dealing with BTPLC systems and focusing on the characterization of the communication channel show some theoretical approaches and, rarely, measurements guidelines and experimental results. In addition, to the best of the author’s knowledge, there are no surveys that comprehensively address these aspects. To compensate for this lack of information, a survey of the state of the art concerning BTPLC systems and the measurement methods that assist their installation, assessment, and maintenance is presented. The primary goal is to provide the interested readers with a thorough understanding of the matter and identify the current research gaps, in order to drive future research towards the most significant issues.

Integration of LiFi, BPL, and Fiber Optic Technologies in Smart Grid Backbone Networks: A Proposal for Exploiting the LiFi LED Street Lighting Networks of Power Utilities and Smart Cities

“…The smart grid is the modernized version of the vintage electric power grid that exploits fiber optics and other communications technologies to enable the real-time monitoring and control of power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Through the adoption of the smart grid, the reliability, efficiency, security and sustainability of the electric power system can significantly improve by integrating renewable energy sources, demand response programs, distributed generation and energy storage systems [9][10][11].…”

“…LiFi is a wireless VLC technology that exploits visible light, ultraviolet and infrared spectra for high-speed data communications. LiFi technology is a paradigm-shifting 5G technology that extends the VLC concept so that high speed, secure, bi-directional and fully networked wireless communications may be achieved while it has already been integrated with other broadband communications technologies existing in the smart grid, such as WiFi and BPL [7,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. In fact, LiFi can be treated either as a complementary technology to WiFi or as a force multiplier since LiFi internet speeds could be significantly higher than the conventional WiFi ones [22].…”