BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES (BPL)

A Seminar Report

Submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electrical and Electronics Engineering

by

YOOSUF AMEEN (B050077EE)

Department of Electrical Engineering

NATIONAL INISTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CALICUT

NIT Campus P.O., Calicut - 673601, India May, 2009

ABSTRACT
Broadband over Power Line (BPL) is a technology that allows Internet data to be transmitted over utility power lines. BPL is also sometimes called Power-line Communications or PLC. A BPL subscriber installs a modem that plugs into an ordinary wall outlet and pays a subscription fee similar to those paid for other types of Internet service. No phone, cable or satellite connection is required. BPL operates at speeds similar to those of digital subscriber line (DSL). Since BPL signals cannot readily pass through transformers, their high inductance makes them act as low-pass filters, blocking high-frequency signals. To avoid this, a repeater/router near a residence or business extracts the signal off the medium voltage just before the transformer and injects it onto the low-voltage wiring on the other side of the transformer. Access to the Internet is becoming as indispensable as access to electrical power. BPL offers obvious benefits relative to regular cable connections. The extensive infrastructure already available would appear to allow more people in more locations to have access to the Internet. The ability to send high-speed digital data over the power lines between substations and homes and offices is attracting increasing attention because it can make every wall outlet a portal to the Internet.