Weighted OFDM and MDFB for Embedded PLC over Time-Varying Block Transmission

Thanks to the existing infrastructure of power line cables, power line communication (PLC) is being considered an excellent candidate for indoor/outdoor applications. The power line channel is time-varying due to the appliances that are connected to outlets since appliances often exhibit input impedance that is a function of the instantaneous amplitude of the mains voltage which, in turn, causes a periodically time varying channel response. Hence, constructing a discrete time varying block channel model in the time domain that captures the cyclostationary nature of the channel response, we propose here the overall input output relationship for power line network simulator for multiple appliances cascaded. Thereafter, we apply two types of multirate filter bank precoder schemes, weighted orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and wavelet-based maximally decimated filter bank (MDFB), to our test channel model for error probability performance, where the model naturally allows for more realistic evaluation of modulation and coding strategies, resilient to the peculiar type of distortion encountered in this harsh medium.