# Characterization of Narrowband Noise and Channel Capacity for Powerline Communication in France
###### Abstract  
Narrowband powerline communication (NB-PLC) systems represent a key step for the real development of smart grids' applications in the medium voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV) networks. This article sums up the results of a complete experimental measurement campaign aimed at investigating the low voltage NB-PLC channel in the frequency range from 9 to 500 kHz in various sites (i.e., rural, urban etc.) located in France. The noise features in time-frequency representation are studied at five different sites between the transformer substation and the smart electricity meter. The main contribution of this study consists in estimating the theoretical channel capacity which constitutes a major interest for the users and actors of the electrical system. The channel capacity calculation shows reliable results in the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) band (a few Mbits/s). The quality of the communication in the FCC band enables to integrate new smart grids' applications and services based on the existing NB-PLC communication for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). NB-PLC; channel capacity; background noise; impulsive noise; cyclo-stationary noise; smart grids' applications; AMI +
Footnote †: journal: _articles  
Article Characterization of Narrowband Noise and Channel Capacity for Powerline Communication in France  
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[1]I. M.  
Smart home is also an attractive application, because it is based on the connectivity of many devices inside a home. The aim is to establish a continuous monitoring and control of the smart equipment connected to the indoor network [1; 6]. Numerous articles highlight that hybrid communication architectures are typically used to include the IoT in most of smart grids' applications. These kinds of architectures combine wired (e.g., serial bus, Ethernet, power line communication (PLC)) and wireless (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) infrastructures. For instance, [PERSON] et al. have evaluated a hybrid network architecture, which is composed of a wired infrastructure, a wireless sensor network, a PLC, and a controller area network, implemented in an underground electric substation power distribution [7]. This digital system has been particularly proposed for condition monitoring, diagnosis, and supervisory control applied to smart grids. [PERSON] et al. have proposed a statistical modeling of the hybrid PLC-wireless channels' characteristics in in-home facilities in the frequency range between 1.7 and 100 MHz [8]. [PERSON] et al. have recently modeled the hybrid communication architectures between several inverters, smart meters, a data concentrator, and a control center router used in distributed solar photovoltaic applications [9]. In that case, several types of communication technologies have been evaluated (i.e., LoWPAN, wireless LAN, NSP broadband wireless, PLC, and Ethernet). From a literature review, most of hybrid architectures use the PLC technology. Regarding the smart metering applications, narrowband (i.e., frequency range between 9 and 500 kHz) powerline communication (NB-PLC) technologies are deployed to optimize, monitor, and protect the MV and LV electrical networks. That is the reason why this study focuses on the characterization of the outdoor NB-PLC communication. The NB-PLC is currently framed by many standards that include the European Committee for Electro-technical Standardization (CENELEC) band (i.e., from 9 to 148.5 kHz), the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) band (i.e., from 10 to 490 kHz), and the Japanese Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB) band (i.e., from 10 to 450 kHz) [10; 11; 12; 13]. According to these standards, many communication protocols have been developed. The G1-PLC protocol deployed in France is based on a single carrier modulation technique [14]. Other protocols, such as IEEE 1901.2, ITU-T G.henm, powerline intelligent metering evolution (PRIME) and G3-PLC, are based on the multicarrier technologies with data rate less than 1 Mbps [15; 16; 17].