Patent ID: 7437140

Claim:
A power line communication (PLC) bridge circuit, comprising: a first coupler that couples data signals to and from the first power line circuit; a second coupler that couples data signals to and from the second power line circuit; wherein the first and second power line circuits are fed AC power from separate legs of a distribution transformer through a circuit breaker panel, and share a single neutral connection; a blocking filter that blocks signals in a frequency range of the data signals to prevent such data signals from reaching the circuit breaker panel and the distribution transformer; a first communication transceiver connected to the first coupler for transferring data signals to and from the first coupler; a second communication transceiver connected to the second coupler for transferring data signals to and from the second coupler; a controller that examines data signals from the first transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the second transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the second transceiver is considered local data; the controller further examines data signals from the second transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the first transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the first transceiver is also considered local data; and bridging means for passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second transceiver when the controller determines that the data is not local, and for not passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second communication transceiver when the controller determines that the data is local.