A high performance line filter for narrowband power line communication testbed applications

This paper is presenting a two-stage line filter design, optimized for power line communication (PLC) testbed applications in the frequency range from 9 kHz to 500 kHz. The filter shows a very high differential mode attenuation together with a high input impedance on load-side. It enables to cope with the harsh noise characteristics of the PLC channel, as well as varying line access impedances in order to build up testbeds without any additional equipment. After exploring the filter´s architecture, SPICE simulations and measurement results are carried out, while the latter are discussed with respect to two commercial off-the-shelf filters.