# Broadband Power Line Communication for Integration of Energy Sensors within a Smart City Ecosystem
## 9 Conclusions  
The performed analysis in four parts of PLC simulations (mentioned in Section 2.3) and measurements provides an overview of significant works and creates the main background for this paper. These areas were selected by the content focus on simulation software of PLC technology, especially the BPLC and NPLC simulations with a minority share. Simulation scenarios in the related works are mostly related to smart grid or smart metering infrastructures. One of the main conclusions of the analysis was the current need for simulations of PLC technologies for specific infrastructures, for example in electricity distribution networks via LV or MV. The aim of the analysis was to examine the used simulation environments and types of simulations (type of medium, frequency range). One of the main conclusions of the analysis was that in the last 10 or more years there is only one popular and sufficiently comprehensive tool for simulating PLC technologies--NS-3. Works that dealt with simulations marginally and in more depth were presented. The individual outputs of the papers were found to be of high potential use as a tool for effective simulation of PLC technologies. However, the problem of PLC in practice involves other variables that the simulator does not consider. Because this is a specific communication technology, which is significantly affected by, among other things, the environment and the condition of wires, it is necessary to define a number of variables for accurate simulations, which the default solution of the NS-3 tool does not allow, for example age of cables, ambient humidity, and advanced implementation of the possible attenuation in the long-term communication in the power networks of electricity distributors. The main need for simulations is based on the fact that it is a specific technology, whose behavior is given by a specific location and conditions. Equipping the infrastructure with only a minimum number of the necessary devices to verify functionality and reliability is still expensive. The NS-3 simulator with the G.hn standard extension was used for the mentioned simulations. New models, topology settings and cable types were defined. Based on the analysis of two methods of approach to channel capacity, a more appropriate method of dynamic bit allocation by bit-error rate has been implemented for the mentioned simulations. This work defined two experimental scenarios for the NS-3 simulations--LV power line and MV power line. The goal was to determine the channel capacity/communication throughput based on the influence of various parameters such as cable type, frequency band, modulation, and PSD. This throughput was the transmit rate at the application layer considering the UDP/IP protocol. In the first series of the BPLC simulations of LV power lines, the correctness of the transmission speed trend with respect to the distance was verified. The second series of simulations considers MV lines with experimental simulation setup using G.hn implementation, where the input parameters are comparable with the IEEE P1901 compliant BPL modems. The designed topology corresponds with the real smart grid topology of the substations. Results comparing simulation and measurement of this topology are demonstrated. Detected differences may be caused mainly by the variability of the environment and the specific parameters of all elements in the communication path, such as the specified ambient humidity and the age of cables and junctions. The weakness of the simulation is the inaccurate definition of the physical layer, whose parameters could not be determinedfrom the used modems. There are also differences in the setup of the OFDM technique that could not be determined. Future work will be focused on improving the simulator for advanced topologies in accordance with PLC under real conditions, especially in smart-grid areas for power distribution and management. Different calculation and definition methods were created for the G.hn PLC module in NS-3.