Characterization of a Street Lighting Power Line when Used as a Communications Channel in the 115 kHz Band

Power line communications have been applied to the control of home appliances for the last decades, but it has been only recently when they have been used for the control of street lighting. As a consequence, the behaviour of the street lighting wiring as a channel for transmission of electrical signals has not been sufficiently studied. This paper shows the results of a set of tests carried out on a street lighting line, in the 115 kHz band, intended to measure some electrical parameters such as line impedance and signal attenuation. The results show a big dependency between the receiver impedance and attenuation, for a given line impedance. Using this information, a simulator has been developed to determine the attenuation curve and therefore the maximum range obtainable for a specific wiring. This simulator also helps to determine the optimal value for the impedance of the receivers.