Current situations and future developments of PLC technology in China

This paper describes the current developments and deployments of PLC technology in China. A perspective introduction of the technology and industry situation is given, and an analysis on the main problems is made, focusing the technology and standardization. To solve the technical problems in certain circumstances, two solutions are discussed. One is the Quasi-Broadband PLC, which combines the advantages of both Broadband and Narrowband PLCs; the other one is the dual mode communication technology, which integrates PLC and wireless together. These two new-born technologies are expected to be an effective solution for most of smart grid applications, especially for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure.