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Carrier Current & Power Line Communication Systems, a PhD Proposal

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12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 1 of 25

A BIRD WATCHER’S GUIDE TO CARRIER CURRENT AND POWER LINE CARRIER

SYSTEMS with emphasis - such as it is - on a system I happened to see mentioned in
the Employment Section of the Washington Post.

by

Thomas M. Cuff

submitted to

Dr. Dennis Silage, PhD

Temple University
Department of Electrical Engineering

on

12/20/95

and composed on a
Macintosh Plus with
MacWrite® II release 1.1v1 in
Geneva 12 point font.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 2 of 25

INTRODUCTION

In the employment section of a recent edition of the Washington Post, the

following detailed help wanted advertisement appeared,

…1

Briefly, this advertisement described a PLCC (Power Line Carrier Current)

transceiver used for intraship communication, casualty and damage control for use on
warships and other vessels in harm’s way. This PLCC transceiver employed a OQPSK
(Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation scheme at the transmitter and
utilized synchronous OQPSK detection at the the receiver. The manufacturer,
Electronic Innovators, Inc., Fairfax, VA, FAX (703)359-8247, was apparently having
trouble getting its prototype receiver unit to function properly during the acquisition
period, the performance of the receiver during the data period was apparently
satisfactory.

Before continuing, I need to distinguish between CC (Carrier Current) and PLCC

(Power Line Carrier Current) systems. According to the FCC (Federal Communications
Commission), a CC system is,

A system, or part of a system, that transmits radio frequency energy by

conduction over the electric power lines. A carrier current system can be
designed such that the signals are received by conduction directly from
connection to the electric power lines (unintentional radiator) or the

1 Anon.; Engineer-Electronic Analog & Digital Communication; Washington Post; Sunday, September
24, 1995; p. K28.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 3 of 25

signals are received over-the-air due to radiation of the radio frequency

signals from the electric power lines (intentional radiator). (Part 15.3{f},
Definitions) 2

while, on the other hand, a PLCC [a.k.a. PLC (Power Line Carrier) by the FCC] system
is,

An unintentional radiator employed as a carrier current system used by

an electric power utility entity on transmission lines for protective
relaying, telemetry, etc. for general supervision of the power system.
The system operates by the transmission of radio frequency energy by
conduction over the electric power transmission lines of the system. The
system does not include those electric lines which connect the
distribution substation to the customer or house wiring. (Part 15.3{t},
Definitions) 3

Because the proposed conduction communication system to be used on

warships goes over the main power lines, the distribution lines and the customer (user)
lines, Massey et al. have decided to designate this as a PLCC system.

The initial intent of this report was to deconstruct the PLCC invented system
devised by Massey et al. and then synthesize and analyze it using a simulation code
such as, for example, TESLA (Transient Electronic System Analysis). 4 However, I
soon discovered that my knowledge of the various embodiments of CC and PLCC
systems, in general, was so poor that I needed to devote a significant portion of this
report to getting up to speed on all these systems. Thus, the approach I will take goes
as follows. First I will present some background on the need for and the implementation
of such a shipboard system, second, I will then review CC and PLCC systems in
general, and, finally, I will attempt to initiate the analysis of the system invented by
Massey et al. Given the time constraints and my lack of familiarity with this topic, I am
sure that my efforts will not do justice to this subject, but I shall endeavor to do what I
can.

BACKGROUND

2 FCC; Part 15.3, Definitions.; in US Government; Codes of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 47,
Telecommunications, Part 15, Radio Frequency Devices; October 1994; p. 570. [Note, the most recent
versions of these regulations can be found in the Temple University’s Paley Library Reference Section,
Library of Congress call number: K11. A4. Earlier versions of the CFR can be found in the Temple
University (TU) Law Library. Note, you need special permission to use the TU Law Library.]
3 Ibid., p. 572.
4 TESOFT, Inc., 205 Crossing Creek Court, Roswell, GA 30076, (800)631-1113.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 4 of 25

According to the BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION section

of US Patent 5,349,644, 5 the major weakness in warship survivability after a
catastrophe, either deliberate or accidental, is the inability of different parts of the ship to
communicate with one another. The patent cited two well known modern day examples
of ships in dire distress: the HMS Sheffield (during the Falklands War, 1982) and the
USS Stark (during the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988).

On the afternoon of May 4, 1982, the British destroyer HMS Sheffield, which was
on picket duty off Port Stanley, Falklands Island, was hit by a French made Exocet
missile. In fact, two French built Super Etendard fighter planes belonging to the
Argentine Air Force, each carrying an Exocet missile, launched their respective missiles
at the radar signature corresponding to the HMS Sheffield from a range of twelve
(nautical?) miles. Only one of the missiles struck the HMS Sheffield, hitting the
starboard side squarely admidships (the center of mass of the ship’s radar signature) at
about six feet above the waterline. Although the impacting Exocet’s 370 lb warhead did
not explode, the kinetic energy released by the missile’s collision ignited the unspent
fuel of the rocket motor causing a conflagration. The missile impact and resulting fire
knocked out pressure to the firemain, severely hampering fire fighting activities. 6

On the night of May 17, 1987, the American frigate USS Stark, which was on
patrol in the Persian Gulf as part of a contingent of US ships sent to keep the oil tanker
traffic flowing down the Gulf, was struck in rapid succession by two French made
Exocet antiship missiles fired at a distance of approximately 22 (International or British)
nautical miles (25.3 statute miles) by a French built Mirage F1 fighter flown by an Iraqi
pilot. The first Exocet hit the ship about 6 feet above the waterline, slightly forward of
amidships, on the port side. This first missile passed all the way through the width of
the ship and punched a small hole in the starboard side. Miraculously, the warhead of
this missile did not explode. The second Exocet impacted the ship less than thirty
seconds later at approximately the same location as the first. This second affront to the
ship’s intergrity almost proved fatal to the USS Stark because this missile’s warhead did
explode producing a ragged hole some fifteen feet in diameter. “Routine means of
communication-phones and intercom-were soon cut off, and smoke filled the
labyrinthine compartments.” 7 The resulting fire, which might have destroyed the ship
had it not been for the help of a private firefighting tugboat and other nearby US
warships, took 20 hours to extinguish, produced heat great enough to melt the
aluminum superstructure of the ship, and resulted in the loss of “…37 of the 221
[persons] on board…” 8 . According to the US Patent of Massey et al., most of those
who died were trapped in smoke infested compartments where their predicament and
eventual death by smoke inhalation was unknown to their shipmates due to the

5 John Massey, Garland R. Granzow (Inventors), Electronic Innovators, Inc. (Assignee); Distributed
intelligence engineering casualty and damage control management system using an AC power line
carrier-current LAN; US Patent No. 5,349,644; September 20, 1994; > 51 p.
6 David Brown; The Royal Navy and the Falklands War; Leo Cooper; 1987; pp. 140-148.
7 John A. Adam; USS Stark: What really happened?; IEEE Spectrum; Vol. 24; No. 9; September
1987; pp. 26-29.
8 Ibid.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 5 of 25

aforementioned disruption in the internal communication systems. Iraq officially

apologized for this incident and by way of an explanation said that the pilot was on a
mission to interdict ships believed to be helping Iran in the Iran-Iraq War and had
accidentally targeted the USS Stark.

While the damage caused by the impact of the Exocet missile and subsequent
explosion of its warhead or simply the burning of the missile’s unspent fuel were
depicted by Massey et al. as being representative of the type of damage sustained by
modern war ships in harm’s way, an older but by far more damaging weapon made its
presence felt, thanks again to the Argentines and the Iraqis (with the help of the
Iranians). First, during the Falkland’s War (1982), the Argentines, who were painfully
aware of their exposed position in the port city of Stanley, mined the Port Stanley in a
bid to deny entrance by the British Navy. Even though the Argentines were using
antiquated World War I moored contact mines, 9 their rather modest mine laying efforts
did manage to somewhat impede the British Navy’s efforts. Had they utilized their
limited mine laying capabilities in a more timely and efficacious manner, the British
Armada would have found have itself significantly delayed in its beach landing
operations. Then, during the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991), the Iraqis, who were now
our enemy - as opposed to be our trigger happy friends during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-
1988) - seeded the northern part of the Persian Gulf with sea mines, an idea they
apparently pirated from the Iranians who used a similar ploy to good effect during the
Iran-Iraq. 10 Depending on who you believe, the Iraqis had either “…only four major
types…” 11 of sea mines or eleven varieties of mines. 12 What both sources agreed on
was that the Iraqi complement included both old pre-World War I contact mines of a
Russian design and more modern influence (acoustical and/or magnetic) mines such as
the Soviet KMD and UDM mines and the Italian Manta mines. These ‘weapons that
wait’ were either enormously (Friedman) or only somewhat (Summers) effective. Given
the damage they managed to inflict on the US Navy, I side with Friedman’s assessment:
1) the USS Tripoli, which ironically was the flagship of the US sea mine
countermeasures effort, struck a moored contact mine resulting in hole in her starboard
9 These mines are probably most familiar to anyone who has watched Hollywood, World War II,
submarine movies, circa 1945 and later. The moored contact mine resembles a large spiky ball tethered
by a stout chain to a weight resting on the sea floor. The spikes, called Hertz horns, are the triggers used
to detonate the mine when it comes in contact with the hull of a ship. Invented around 1868, the Hertz
horn is simply a glass vial of electrolyte (potassium bichromate) sheathed in a soft metal such as lead.
When crushed as the result of contact, the now free electrolyte completes an electric circuit setting off the
explosive charge. Given the date of its invention, it appears unlikely to have been the brainchild of
Heinrich Hertz. See,
Gregory K. Hartmann, Scott C. Truver; Weapons That Wait (Updated Edition); Naval Institute Press;
1991; pp. 37-38.
10 Ibid., p. 245, 254-262. The Iranian mine laying effort damaged at least 15 ships and sunk several
more. One of the ships damaged was the supertanker, Bridgeton, which struck a mine which was later
determined to be a “…1908-vintage Russian-design M-08/39, a bottom-moored contact mine with
chemical horns and a 115-kg high-explosive charge.” (p. 256) The resulting explosion ripped a hole 15 X
30 feet in her bottom. The only thing that saved the Brigdeton was her enormous size, a US Navy frigate
would probably have had its ‘back’ broken under the same circumstances.
11 Norman Friedman; Desert Victory, The War for Kuwait; Naval Institute Press; 1991; p. 211.
12 Harry G. Summers, Jr.; Persian Gulf War Almanac; Facts on File; 1995; p. 195.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 6 of 25

bow 16 X 20 feet; 2) the USS Princeton, a state-of-the-art Aegis missile cruiser moving
through the water at high speed, set off a bottom dwelling influence mine, which badly
damaged her aft end costing her half her power plant; and 3) the threat of mines
prevented US war ships from venturing further north in the Persian Gulf.

From the incidents listed above, it is clear that a robust means of intraship
communication is necessary. The ship’s power grid represents a transmission medium
which is not only robust, due to the size of its conductors and the use of conduits, but
also to some extent redundant. For these reasons, among others, Massey et al. have
decided on a PLCC system.

EXTANT CC & PLCC SYSTEMS

According to Massey et al., CC & PLCC systems can be traced all the way back
to the 1950s. These early systems served to transmit audio (voice and/or music)
signals and in this capacity functioned as intercoms, infant monitoring devices, etc. In
an attempt to confirm the longevity of these systems, I interrogated the Library of
Congress’ PREM and LOCI databases using GOPHER over the INTERNET. I
searched these two databases with the following expressions: ‘carrier’, ‘carrier current’
and ‘power line carrier’. Surprisingly, I was only able to locate one book - more than
thirty years old - on the subject by using this strategy. 13 This book is an English
language translation of an earlier German language book: Dreßler, Podszeck;
Hochfrequenz-Nachrichtentechnik für Elektrizitätswerke.

Podszeck’s book is a gold mine of information of the subject of CC and PLCC

systems not least of which because it shows, via its bibliography, that such systems can

13 Heinrich-Karl Podszeck [H. Herold (Translator)]; Carrier Communication Over Power Lines, 3rd
Ed.; Springer; 1963; 184 p. [Library of Congress call number: TK6175.P613.]
Heinrich-Karl Podszeck [H. Herold (Translator)]; Carrier Communication Over Power Lines, 4th Ed.;
Springer-Verlag; 1972; 183 p. [Library of Congress call number: TK6175.P613. 1972.]
WARNING: This book is difficult if not impossible to locate at the various local area university
libraries such as: Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Villanova
University. The Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) also turned up a blank. The people at Temple’s Inter-
Library Loan Department were, however, able to quickly locate a copy of this book in the Mansfield State
College Library, Mansfield, PA 16933.
Note, when perusing library card catalogs for books on CC or PLCs, be aware that AC carriers were
also used for other applications unrelated to the one that interests us here. For example, AM signals
were used in closed loop control systems of servomotors and synchronous motors,
Keith A. Ivey; A-C Carrier Control Systems; John Wiley; 1964; 349 p. [Library of Congress call
number: TJ218.I89 or Dewey Decimal call number: 621.8IV3A.]
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 7 of 25

be traced as far back as 1947 14 and even earlier if one includes foreign language
books and/or papers. 15

For example, the article by Barstow in the Bell Laboratories Record revealed that
the Bell Telephone Laboratories had begun preliminary investigations into the feasibility
of CC telephone systems as far back as 1936. This effort became a joint venture with
the Rural Electrification Administration in 1940. 16 According to Barstow, tests on the
power lines indicated that the limiting factor for voice transmission was the presence of
atmospheric noise. Exactly what he meant by the term ‘atmospheric noise’ was never
made clear in the article. Today when people refer to atmospheric noise, they are
usually more specific as to actual source of these natural disturbances. For instance,
Hioki’s book lists three contributors to this naturally occurring phenomena: 1) lightning,
2) solar noise and 3) cosmic noise. 17 While most people would guess that lightning is
a strong source of atmospheric noise, it turns out that solar noise can be as bad if not
worse than lightning in its effect on transmissions over wires. As noted in a recent
article, 18 solar noise has been known to disrupt and many times shutdown telegraph
lines as far back as 1849. In 18XX, William Henry Barlow … 19

A more successful keyword or expression search strategy was to utilize the

phrase ‘home automation’. This approach, coupled with some luck, yielded two titles at
the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP). 20 The book by Wacker contains an interesting
discussion on X-10, which we shall deal with later in this section. The book by Horn
contains about a dozen pages of built-it-yourself instructions for very primitive CC
systems. Typical of Horn’s approach is the CC transmitter circuit shown on p. 255 of his
book. In this circuit, a tone generator is feed into a VCO, composed of, for example, an

14 J.M. Barstow; Carrier telephones for farms.; Bell Laboratories Record; Vol. 25; No. 10; October
1947; pp. 363-366.
15 R. Moebes; EW-Fernmeldeanlagen als Ursache von Rundfundstörungen [EW-telephone exchange
equipment as the cause of radio communication distruptions].; Telegraphen-praxis [a.k.a. Fernmelde-
praxis]; Vol. 18; No. 10; 1938; pp. 153-154.
G. Dressler; Hochfrequenz-Nachrichtentechnik für Elektrizitätswerke [High frequency
telecommunications for power stations].; Springer; 1941.
R. Moebes; Gegenseitige Beeinflussung von drahtgebundenen und drahtlosen Funkdiensten
[Mutually dependent influence of wire bound and wire radiated radio communications].; Elektrotechnische
Zeitschrift (ETZ); Vol. 63 (Series A); No. 9/10; 1942; pp. 113-116.
A. Chevallier; Télétransmission par ondes porteuses dans les réseaux de transport d’énergie à haute
tension [Telecommunication by carrier waves on the high tension power grid]; Dunod; 1946.
16 M.M. Samuels, R.G. McCurdy; Rural Telephone Service Using Carrier on Power Lines; Bell
Laboratories Record; Vol. 21; No. 6; February 1943; pp. 145-148.
17 Warren Hioki; Telecommunications, 2nd Ed.; Prentice Hall; 1995; p. 405.
18 F. Cleveland; W. Malcolm, D. E. Nordell, J. Zirker; Solar Effects on Communications; IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery; Vol. 7; No. 2; April 1992; pp. 460-468.
19 W.H. Barlow; On the spontaneous electrical currents observed in the wires of the Electric
Telegraph; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London); Vol. ???; 1849; pp. 61-72.
20 David Alan Wacker; The Complete Guide To Home Automation; Betterway Book; 1993; 192 p.
Delton T. Horn; Home Remote-Control & Automation Projects, 2nd Ed.; TAB Books; 1991; pp. 250-
259.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 8 of 25

astable 555 oscillator producing a FM (Frequency Modulated) carrier, which is, in turn,
applied to a power amplifier before being coupled to the NEUTRAL and HOT wires of a
110 VACrms receptacle via a twin-T notch filter tuned to block the 60 Hz power line
frequency. At the receiving end, an unspecified matching network and blocking
capacitors conveys the FM signal to a two stage RC (Resistor-Capacitor) coupled
transistor amplifier which, in turn is coupled to a demodulator and from there to a tone
decoder.

Even today CC systems are still employed, for example, to allow people to add
telephone extensions to their house or apartment without the need to string telephone
wire. The following advertisement was found in a recent edition of TIME magazine. 21

21 Comtrad Industries; New device turns any electrical outlet into a phone jack; TIME; Vol. 146; No.
20; November 13, 1995; p. 110. [Note, calling Comtrad Industries, (800)992-2966, did not produce
anymore information about the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’ than was in the TIME magazine
advertisement.]
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 9 of 25

According to this advertisement, the voice signals are converted into FM signals
and are then sent over the power lines. At the receiving end, “…the advanced
companding noise reduction features guarantee crystal-clear reception throughout the
largest homes.” (p. 110) As a comparison, the advertisement states that the sound
quality of the PLCC system “…far exceeds that of cordless phones.” (p. 110) The
transmitter or receiver pictured in the advertisement has a GE (General Electric) logo on
it. In an attempt to find out more about this ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’, I tried
calling GE, (800)626-2000. The representative at GE told me that the model of the
device was GE-916 and that it was manufactured by RCA/Thomson Consumer
Electronics 22 and gave me the number of the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’ Technical
Support Hotline, (800)409-5111. When I called the Technical Support Hotline, I was
told that the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’ was sold with three different company
logos: GE, RCA and Radio Shack, and had been on the market for about six years.
When I asked them if Thomson Consumer Electronics manufactured it, I was told that
they only marketed the system, the actual manufacturer’s name could not be divulged.

Not one to be easily put off, I next tried calling Thomson Consumer Electronics,
(317)767-7000. I was told that any technical manuals relating to the ‘Wireless Phone
Jack System’ could be obtained through Technical Publications, (502)491-8110. When
I called Technical Publications, I was informed that no service manuals currently existed
for the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’ and, due to the small size of the units, no
manuals would probably be forthcoming, i.e. if it breaks, throw it out and get another.

Still not satisfied with the depth of the information that I had unearthed, I decided
to out flank the opposition: I went to the local Radio Shack store and bought a ‘Wireless
Phone Jack System’ as a Christmas present for my fiancée. The ‘Wireless Phone Jack
System’ consists of a base station into which are plugged the telephone line and one
telephone set, and an extension station, located almost anywhere in the house, and into
which one plugs one extension telephone set. Upon inspecting the packaging and the
printed material therein, I finally realized the answers to some of my questions regarding
this invention.

The first pieces of new information were the patent numbers associated with this
invention, all seven (!) of them were listed on the packaging: 3949172, 4058678,
4514594, 4475193, 4523307, 4479033 & 4495386. 23 The two things all seven patents

22 RCA/Thomson Consumer Electronics, 600 N. Sherman Drive, PO Box 1976, Indianapolis, IN

46206.
23 William M. Brown, John M. Ruddy (Inventors); Telephone extension system utilizing power line
carrier signals; US Patent No. 3,949,172; April 6, 1976; ?? p.
Robert T. Dunn, William M. Brown, John M. Ruddy (Inventors), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Remote
signalling to a telephone line utilizing power line carrier signals; US Patent No. 4,058,678; November 15,
1977; ?? p.
William M. Brown (Inventor), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Power line carrier multi telephone extension
system for full duplex conferencing between telephones; US Patent No. 4,475,193; October 2, 1984; ??
p.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 10 of 25

had in common was William M. Brown (Inventor or Co-Inventor) and the fact that they
all were concerned with CC telephone extension systems of one form or another. With
the exception of the first patent, 3949172, all the others listed as the Assignee a
company called Astech, Inc. located in either Bedford, MA, or Greenwich, CT. Attempts
at locating this company failed completely: their phone number was not in the current
telephone directories of either city and the respective Chambers of Commerce had no
information on them, either. 24

In an effort to understand the modulation technique used by the ‘Wireless Phone

Jack’, I read through US Patent 4,475,193. What I discovered was that the companding
(compression of the modulating signal in the transmitter followed by expansion in the
receiver) was not done for the traditional reason or in the usual manner, i.e. reducing
the dynamic range to obtain better SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of the signal by over
amplifying the low amplitude signals and under amplifying the high amplitude signals.
Rather, the compression in the transmitter was done on the voice bandwidth in an effort
to reduce the RF (Radio Frequency) bandwidth of the resulting FM (Frequency
Modulated) carrier signal. How exactly the voice frequency was compressed and later
expanded was not explained.

The pamphlets inside the packaging provided a wealth of other relevant

information regarding the use of the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’. For instance, this
system can also be used with a modem transmitting as fast as 14,400 bps (bits per
second). The base station is compatible with extension stations sold by other
companies: RC920 [RCA], D910 [RCA], GE916 (base station + extension) or GE910
(extension) [General Electric] and 43-161 [Radio Shack]. Note, there is a caveat to this
interchangeability, the units must be of the same revision number, specifically REV.
6.0, which can be found on a sticker on the back side of the units. This system, like
most other CC systems, has problems ‘jumping phases’: “Some electrical devices,
phone services, and wiring systems [emphasis added] may not be compatible or may
cause variance in performance.” My fiancée experienced one of these

William M. Brown, Robert T. Dunn (Inventors), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Telephone extension system
utilizing power line carrier signals; US Patent No. 4,479,033; October 23, 1984; ?? p.
William M. Brown, Robert T. Dunn (Inventors), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Telephone extension system
utilizing power line carrier signals; US Patent No. 4,495,386; January 22, 1985; ?? p.
William M. Brown, James R. Lindquist (Inventors), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Power line carrier
telephone extension system for full duplex conferencing between telephones and having telephone call
hold capability; US Patent No. 4,514,594; April 30, 1985; ?? p.
William M. Brown, James R. Lindquist (Inventors), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Power line carrier multi
telephone extension system for full duplex conferencing and intercom between telephones; US Patent
No. 4,523,307; June 11, 1985; ?? p.
24 The person I talked to at the Bedford, MA, Chamber of Commerce suggested that I try either the
Town Clerk, (617)275-0083, or the Library Reference Desk, (617)275-9440. The Town Clerk checked
their records, which go back as far as 1979, but found nothing. The Reference Librarian (Meredith)
managed to locate two addresses for Astech, Inc. by perusing back editions of the telephone book: 20
North Road (1983) and 7 Railroad Avenue (1987). I tried the same tactic in Greenwich, CT. I called the
Town Clerk, (203)622-7899, and the Library Information Desk, (203)622-7910, and I struck out at both
places. Note, the librarian at the Information Desk canvassed its collection of old telephone books (1980-
1990) without finding anything.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 11 of 25

incompatibilities firsthand when she tried to relocate the extension module from the rear
second floor bedroom to the study located at the front of the second story. While the
‘Wireless Phone Jack System’ functioned perfectly when the extension module was in
the rear or middle bedroom, it no longer worked properly in the second floor study.
While the phone plugged into the extension module rang in the presence of an incoming
call, there was insufficient volume to carry on a conversation. To confirm that the
offending receptacle was indeed on a different phase, I checked the breaker panel in
the basement and … I shall delve further into this problem in detail later on in this
paper.

The printed material also indicated that the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’ was a
Class B digital device and, as such, adhered to the rules set out by the FCC in Part 15
and Part 68.

Digital devices, which the FCC in Part 15 defines as,

(k) Digital device. (previously defined as a computing device). An

unintentional radiator (device or system) that generates and uses timing
signals or pulses at a rate in excess of 9,000 pulses (cycles) per second
and uses digital techniques; inclusive of telephone equipment that uses
digital techniques or any device or system that generates and uses radio
frequency energy for the purpose of performing data processing
functions, such as electronic computations, operations, transformations,
recording, filing, sorting storage, retrieval, or transfer. (p. 571)

and they are segregated into two classes,

(h) Class A digital device. A digital device that is marketed for use in a
commercial, industrial or business environment, exclusive of a device
which is marketed for use by the general public or is intended to be used
in the home.

(i) Class B digital device. A digital device that is marketed for use in a
residential environment notwithstanding use in commercial, business and
industrial environments. Examples of such devices include, but are not
limited to, personal computers, calculators, and similar electronic devices
that are marketed for use by the general public. (p. 570)

During the late 1980s and continuing into the present day, the EIA (Electronics
Industries Association) has been in the process of defining a standard for home
automation. 25 The intent of this standard is to produce a unified method for
communicating with all manner of consumer electronic and electrical devices. For
example, one hope is to do away with the plethora of different handheld IR (InfraRed)
remote controls used to control everything from your color TV to your stereo. This

25 K. Davidson; Putting the Wraps on CEBus; Circuit Cellar INK; Issue #31; February 1993; pp. 42-
46.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 12 of 25

home automation standard is known as the CEBus (Consumer Electronics Bus) or EIA
IS-60 26 is based on the ISO/OSI (International Standards Organization/Open Systems
Interconnection) seven layer network model. The first (lowest) layer of the ISO/OSI
model is called the physical layer and it is concerned with the electrical and mechanical
aspects of connecting one network node to another. In the CEBus standard, the
physical layer can be almost any transmission medium: “…power line, twisted pair,
coax, infrared, and RF, with fiber-optics to be added in the future.” (p. 42)

The Intellon Corporation 27 offers a power line transceiver conforming to the EIA
CEBus protocol. According to company provided data sheets, the CELinx PL (Power
Line) chip employs “…Intellon Corporation’s Patented Spread Spectrum Carrier™
Technology.” 28 Underneath all the marketing hype, the reality is that CELinx PL chip
simply uses what is commonly called pulsed FM (Frequency Modulation), a.k.a. chirp
modulation. 29 Perhaps the main selling point of this modulation scheme is the fact
that synchronization can be easily accomplished on a chirp by chirp basis. 30 This is a
distinct advantage compared to the amount of grief normally required to achieve
synchronization in DS (Direct Sequence), FH (Frequency Hopping) and hybrid spread
spectrum modulation modalities.

Note, normally a pulse FM chirp is made by linearly sweeping between a starting

and ending frequency by applying a ramping voltage to the input of a VCO (Voltage
Controlled Oscillator), in the case of the CELinx PL chip, a somewhat more
sophisticated chirp waveform and generator are used. According to the data sheet for
the CELinx PL chip, the chirp, which “…is swept from approximately 200kHz to 400kHz
and then from 100kHz to 200kHz…” and is some 100 msec wide, is produced by what
is sometimes referred to as DDM (Direct Digital Modulation) 31 or alternatively as DDS
(Diect Digital Synthesis). 32 In the case of the CELinx PL chip, the DDM/DDS is

26 CBUS Committee; EIA Home Automation System (CEBus); Standard No. ANSI/EIA IS-60;
October 1992. [Electronic Industries Association, 2001 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20006,
(202)457-4975. Note, EIA, JEDEC and TIA standards can be purchased from the following company:
Global Engineering Documents, 7730 Carondelet Avenue, Suite 407, Clayton, MO 63105, (800)854-
7179. The EIA IS-60 standard comes in two volumes and costs $216.00.]
27 Intellon Corporation, 5100 W. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, FL 34482, (904)237-7616. [WARNING:
This company does not have an entry in the 1995 edition of the Electronic Engineers Master Catalog
(EEM95). However, a list of companies - including Intellon Corp. - which manufacture home automation
equipment is available from the Home Automation Association (HAA), 808 17th St. NW, Suite 200,
Washington, DC 20006-3910, (202)223-9669, in the form of their membership list.]
28 James E. Vander Mey, Timothy J. Vander Mey (Inventors), Intellon Corporation (Assignee);
Spread spectrum communications system for networks; US Patent No. 5,090,024; February 18, 1992; 12
p.
29 Robert C. Dixon; Spread Spectrum Systems; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 1976; pp. 40-44.
30 Ibid., p. 177.
Anon.; CELinx PL, Ver. 1.1 [data sheet]; Intellon Corporation; Oct. 4, 1995; 16 p.
31 John Massey, Garland R. Granzow (Inventors), Electronic Innovators, Inc. (Assignee); Distributed
intelligence engineering casualty and damage control management system using an AC power line
carrier-current LAN; US Patent No. 5,349,644; September 20, 1994; p. 1 & cols. 40-45.
32 Anon.; AD7008, CMOS DDS Modulator, Rev. B [data sheet]; Analog Devices; 1995; 16 p.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 13 of 25

accomplished by via “…a [358X6-bit] ROM-based wavetable…” containing the “…binary

image…” of the chirp waveform, the “…address generator…” is clocked at 3.58 MHz by
an internal oscillator controlled by an external color burst crystal, and the output of the
ROM is feed into a 6 bit D/A converter (DAC). The output of the DAC is feed into an
external [to the chip] amplifier and then into an external BPF (Band Pass Filter) before it
is applied to the matching network connected to the power line. The job of the BPF is to
reduce the harmonic content of the chirp to conform to FCC regulations. Although this
point was not explicitly stated in the Intellon Corp., Short Form Catalog, 33 a call to the
company did confirm this point, but the company would not tell me which particular
regulation(s) were applicable. After examining the CFR myself, I believe I know which
are the germane regulations.

The FCC requires that Class B digital devices, which are connected to the power
lines, must adhere to conducted and emission limits. Basically this means with regards
to the conducted limits that if a Class B digital device is plugged into a 110Vrms
receptacle, the amount of RF conducted along the power line, as measured by the RF
voltage between “…each power line and ground…” (p. 585), must fall below certain
limits. With regards to the emission limits, the Class B digital device, when connected
to the AC power lines, must not induce voltages in an antenna placed at a specified
distance above certain limits. In particular, the CFR Section 47, Part 15.109{e},
Radiated emission limits, states that,

(e) Carrier current systems used as unintentional radiators or other

unintentional radiators that are designed to conduct their radio frequency
emissions via connecting wires or cables and that operate in the
frequency range of 9 kHz to 30 MHz, …, shall comply with the radiated
emission limits for intentional radiators provided in §15.209 for the
frequency range of 9 kHz to 30 MHz. … (pp. 586-587.)

Note, early cordless phones employed the 110 Vrms power lines as intentional
radiators. In this scheme, the duplex (simultaneous two way) communication took place
on two widely separated frequency bands: 1.6-1.8 MHz and 49.8-49.9 MHz. The signal
transmitted from the base station to the handset occupied the 1.6-1.8 MHz range -
modulation unspecified but probably AM (Amplitude Modulation) - with the base station
antenna being the AC power lines and the receiving antenna in the handset being a
ferrite core loop antenna similar to those used in AM radios. The FM (Frequency
Modulation) transmitter in the handset employed the 49.8-49.9 MHz band and used a
external whip antenna as did the FM receiver in the base station. 34 For such systems,
the current FCC regulations do not limit the conducted emission,

(1) For carrier current systems containing their fundamental emission

within the frequency band 535-1705 kHz and intended to be received

Anon.; HS…; ???; ????; Harris Semiconductor; 199?; ?? p.

33 Anon.; Intellon, Spread Spectrum Carrier™, Short Form Catalog, Ver. 1.3; Intellon Corp.; 1995; pp.
10-11.
34 Warren Hioki; Telecommunications, 2nd Ed.; Prentice Hall, Inc.; 1995; pp. 158-161.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 14 of 25

using a standard AM broadcast receiver: no limit on conducted

emissions. (p. 585)

However, the radiation emissions were still required to conform to Part 15.109{e}.

With regard to this last point, Intellon Corp. also markets a CEBus radio
frequency transceiver chip, CELinx RF (Radio Frequency), which uses air as the
transmission medium, i.e. it is a wireless system, and filters its chirps with an external
BPF before mixing it with the 915 MHz RF carrier in order to comply with FCC
Regulation Part 15.247 for unlicensed spread spectrum systems. 35 … [No time to
finish this part.]

The Intellon Corp.’s CELinx PL chip was also discussed in a recent journal
article. 36

Whether the CEBus protocol will catch on will depend on a number of factors
including industry interest and acceptance, consumer interest and acceptance, and its
dominance over competing protocols. With regard to the last point, competing protocols
do exist. For example, SGS-Thomson, Microelectronics, offers a Home Automation
Modem chip, the ST7537, 37 which complies with the European CENELEC EN 50065
standard for home automation and is also compatible with the relevant FCC restrictions.
The ST7537 Home Automation Modem is a half duplex, asynchronous, 2400 bps
modem employing FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) modulation. With regard to the

35 FCC; Part 15.247, Operation within the bands 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5722-5850
MHz.; in US Government; Codes of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 47, Telecommunications, Part
15, Radio Frequency Devices; October 1994; pp. 616-617. [WARNING: Part 15.247 deals explicitly only
with three types of spread spectrum modulations techniques: direct sequence, frequency hopping and
hybrid modulation. Nowhere is there any mention of pulsed FM (chirp) modulation. Thus, I was not sure
of the applicability of this particular Part to the Intellon Corporation’s CELinx RF chip.]
36 C. Yasko; Put a CEBus Power Line Interface in Your Next Design; Circuit Cellar INK; Issue #42;
January 1994; pp. 14-22.
37 J. Bachiochi; Carrier Current Modem, Part 1: Communicating at 1200 bps Around the House;
Circuit Cellar INK; Issue #64; November 1995; pp. 62-???. [CAUTION: On p. 63 of this article the
ST7537 is erroneously referred to in the text as “…SGS-Thomson’s ST7538…”.]
CAUTION: Getting information on the ST7537 from SGS-Thomson proved to be very difficult in spite
of the considerable effort they had obviously expended to make it simple and easy. Initially, I tried their
FaST FAX service, (214)466-7788, which requires a Touch-Tone® telephone and can deliver up to
twenty pages pages of the requested data sheet in a matter of minutes to your FAX machine. In order to
obtain the desired data sheet, one must first find the corresponding document number by having the
FaST FAX service send you the appropriate catalog, which cross references the part number with its
document number. The ST7537 is in the Dedicated Products Catalog and it has the following document
number, 20170. Unfortunately, when one punches in this document number, the data sheet you receive
is that of a ST75C50. A review of the Dedicated Products Catalog reveals that the ST7537 and the
ST75C50 have the same document number, 20170. In an attempt to obtain the correct data sheet, I
called Ian Cruzen, who is the Customer Service Representative for the FaST FAX service at SGS-
Thomson, (617)259-2558. After he confirmed it, Mr. Cruzen thanked me for pointing out the error, but he
indicated that it would take quite some time to fix. As a consolation prize, Mr. Cruzen sent me a CD-ROM
(Order Code: CDDATASH109) containing all the devices manufactured by SGS-Thomson,
Microelectronics. Note, there is also a ST7537 Starter Kit data sheet (document number 20859) and a
ST7537HS1 data sheet (document number 20860).]
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 15 of 25

transmitter, a logic 0 = 133.05 kHz and a logic 1 = 131.85 kHz. In order to comply with
FCC regulations, the raw FSK waveform is filtered by a switch capacitor, band pass
filter to remove the higher order harmonics. 38

There is also the older but still serviceable X-10 protocol, created, appropriately
enough, by X-10 (USA), Inc. 39 I would have liked to have discussed exactly what
signals are used by the X-10 protocol, but I have yet to receive the X-10 standard even
though I had requested it weeks earlier.

Sometime around Christmas day, I finally received the package of X-10

documentation. This package contained two monographs one on the actual X-10
standard and an applications manual. 40 According to the X-10 standard (the Technical
Note authored by Dave Rye), the X-10 protocol was introduced in 1978 for incorporation
into CC systems being marketed by both Sears and Radio Shack. The X-10 protocol is
itself patented, 41 but companies wishing to use it can receive permission to do so only
if they purchase PL513 and TW523 Power Line Interfaces from X-10 (USA), Inc to
incorporate into their own CC systems. The PL513 and TW523 Power Line Interface
are an X-10 transmitter and transceiver (transmitter and receiver), respectively. A
rather abbreviated description of X-10 signal is as follows: it is a constant amplitude 120
kHz sine wave lasting for 1 ms and synchronized with the positive going zero crossing
of the 60 Hz power line waveform. The basic data block consists of 11 power line
cycles with each cycle being one bit of information: the presence of the 120 kHz
corresponding to a Logic ‘1’ and its absence to a Logic ‘0’.

Each data block begins with a Start Code (2 power line cycles long), a House
Code (4 power line cycles long) and ends with either a Number Code or a Function
Code (5 power line cycles long). There are 16 possible House Codes (A-P), Key
Codes (1-16) and Function Codes (All Units Off, All Lights On, …, Status Request).
The way these various codes are used is as follows. Each house has at least one
Controller. A Controller transmits the X-10 signals out over the house wiring to an

38 Anon.; ST7537 Power Line Modem [data sheet]; SGS-Thomson; January 1994; 5 p.
Anon.; ST7537HS1 [data sheet]; SGS-Thomson; June 1995; 9 p.
39 X-10 (USA), Inc., 91 Ruckman Road, Box 420, Closter, NJ 07624-0420, (800)526-0027.
[WARNING: Do not be fooled as I was, the toll free number only gives you a recorded message
containing two toll call numbers: X-10 Corporate Headquarters, (201)784-9700 and X-10 Technical
Support, (201)784-1936, Extension 21. A copy of the X-10 standard can be obtained either from the
aforementioned Technical Support phone number or through the INTERNET at
http://www.hometeam.com/x10.shtml.
WARNING: This company does not have an entry in the 1995 edition of the Electronic Engineers
Master Catalog (EEM95). However, a list of companies - including X-10 (USA), Inc. - which manufacture
home automation equipment is available from the Home Automation Association (HAA), 808 17th St. NW,
Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006-3910, (202)223-9669, in the form of their membership list.]
40 Dave Rye; Technical Note: The X-10 POWERHOUSE Power line Interface Model # PL513 and
Two-Way Power Line Interface Model # TW523, Revision 2.4; X-10 (USA), Inc.; PL/TWTN/1291; 12 p.
Anon.; Applications Manual; X-10 (USA), Inc.; 12/21/94; 62 p.
41 …
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 16 of 25

essentially unlimited number of Modules into which are plugged appliances. The
Modules, which receive the X-10 signals from the controllers, gate the AC power into
their corresponding appliances whose ON-OFF switches have been left in the ON
position. Note, the communication between the Controller and Module is usually
unidirectional, 42 the Module does not send an acknowledgement, a not ready for data
or any other kind of signal back to the Controller. A Module will respond to a Function
Code if its House Code and Key (Unit) Code 43 match that sent out by the Controller.
Note, Modules can be operated as a group by assigning all of them the same House
and Key Code. This might be desirable, for example, if one wanted to be able to turn off
or on, simultaneously, all the lights in the house. While it is true that one can control up
to 256 different groups of Modules by assigning each group of Modules a unique pair of
House and Key Codes (16 possible House Codes X 16 possible Key Codes = 256
possible groups of Modules), this is not advisable for the following reason: your
neighbor might also have an X-10 system in his or her house.

The X-10 signals can travel quite a distance on the power lines and are really
only attenuated significantly by distance and distribution transformers. If you and a
neighbor, who both share the same distribution transformer, have X-10 systems in your
respective houses, then it is certain that your neighbor’s Controller will be able to affect
your Modules if you use all 256 possible permutations of House and Key Codes. The
House Code was designed specifically for the purpose of preventing this type of
problem, but it can only work if you and your neighbor employ different House Codes.

As was mentioned earlier, there can be more than one Controller per household.
The problem with more than one Controller is the very real possibility of buss collisions.
The AC power line wiring in your house serves as the signal buss for the X-10 signals.
If two Controllers in the same house try to transmit at about the same time a buss
collision will result. To detect this problem, a Controller must employ the TW523 Power
Line Interface. The TW523 transceiver allows the Controller to listen in on its own
transmission. If the data blocks sent do not match those received, then it knows that
another Controller transmitted sometime during its own transmission. Because the
TW523 can monitor the power line, the Controller can be programed to first listen to the
AC power line and then wait a random number of power line cycles before transmitting
in order to reduce the possibility of a collision.

The next thing I shall look at is the complete set of Function Codes: All Units Off,
All Lights On, On, Off, Dim, Bright, All Lights Off, Extended Code, Hail Request, Hail
Acknowledge, Pre-Set Dim, Extended Data (analog), Status = on, Status = off, Status

42 An exception to rule is the RR501 Two-Way Transceiver Appliance Module, which can respond to
the Controller sent Function Code: Status Request with either the Function Code: Status = on or Status =
off as appropriate. Note, there is a separate monograph put out by X-10 (USA), Inc. for the RR501,
…
43 WARNING: The X-10 standard speaks of Key Codes while the X-10 applications manual, when
discussing the same thing, uses the term Unit Code. It seems to me that they don’t read their own
documentation.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 17 of 25

Request. These 16 Function Codes can be arranged into 2 groups according to

whether they are meant for Modules or other Controllers.

Group 1 (Function Codes meant for Modules): All Units Off, All Lights On, On,
Off, Dim, Bright, All Lights Off, Extended Code, Pre-Set Dim, …

Group 2 (Function Codes meant for other Controllers): Hail Request, Hail
Acknowledge, …

The PL513 and TW523 Power Line Interfaces each provide an output signal
coincident or nearly so (within 100 µs) with both the positive and negative going zero
crossings of the 60 Hz power line waveform. Note, this synchronizing signal is simply a
60 Hz square wave, on during the positive AC half cycle and off during the negative half
cycle. These Power Line Interfaces both also require as input signals, the 1 ms wide
envelope which are used to gate the 120 kHz oscillators on the Power Line Interfaces.
Note, the transmitter, gated by the 1 ms envelope, is composed of an 120 kHz oscillator
feeding a two stage tuned power amplifier… In addition, the TW523 also provides an
output signal corresponding to the decoded X-10 data block. … 44 Note, all the input
and output signals associated with the PL513 and TW523 Power Line Interfaces are
optically isolated. According to X-10 (USA), Inc., since the input and outputs from the
PL513 and TW523 Power Line Interfaces are optically isolated, “…there is no
requirement for you [the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)] to submit your
product to UL (p. 61)” (Underwriters Laboratories). What they mean by this is the
following. Because their Power Line Interfaces are UL 45 approved… Optical
isolation is necessary because the internal circuitry of these interfaces has its common
referenced directly to the power line and the internal DC power supply is capacitively
coupled to the AC power line, no isolation transformer is employed.

According to a publication put out by the Home Automation Association (HAA),

the three main contenders for home automation standards in the USA are CEBus,
Echelon and SMART HOUSE. 46 Although it would be interesting to examine the
Echelon and SMART HOUSE standards, time and space restrictions prevent that at this
time.

All of these protocols suffer from a number of common problems: difficulty in

‘jumping’ phases, susceptibility to power line noise, and the ability of the different
protocols to false trigger each other.

44 The 78568 IC is manufactured by …

45 These Power Line Interfaces are also CSA (Consumer Safety Association)…
46 Gas Research Institute; Home Automation Systems in North America: An Analysis of the Three
Main Contenders; HAA; 19??; 161 p.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 18 of 25

Most residential electricity users are provided with the standard three wire feed
(one neutral and two hot lines). The three wire feed comes from what is called a single
phase distribution transformer. 47 This transformer is usually found attached near the
top of a telephone pole and serves to step down the main service (13.8 kVrms or there
abouts) to 110/220 Vrms. The secondary of the distribution is center tapped and in
accordance with the National Electrical Code is grounded as is the metal case of the
transformer. This grounded center tap connection becomes the NEUTRAL wire, while
the two ends of the secondary winding becomes the HOT1 (LINE1) and HOT2 (LINE2)
wires. The voltage between HOT1 and HOT2 wires is 240 Vrms, while 110 Vrms exists
between either HOT wire and the NEUTRAL wire. 48 Because the instantaneous
potential difference between the NEUTRAL & HOT1 and the NEUTRAL & HOT2 are
equal in magnitude but opposite in sign, this arrangement is often referred to as ‘split
phase’. In a house or apartment most of the wall receptacles are 110 Vrms. Depending
on whether a wall receptacle is composed of the NEUTRAL and HOT1 or the NEUTRAL
and HOT2, ones speaks of these receptacles as being connected to different circuits or
phases. Since most CC systems are connected via a coupling circuit between a HOT
wire and the NEUTRAL wire, it is possible for two CC transceivers to be connected to
two different 110 Vrms circuits or phases. For some CC systems this can lead to a
failure to communicate or, at least, unreliable communications. At least two authors I
have read say that this is the case with X-10. 49

Of the two authors, David Wacker provides the most detailed and cogent
description of this problem and its possible solutions. Wacker mentions that intermittent
operation of a X-10 receiver, which is on a different circuit from the transmitter, can be
due to ‘bridging’ of the two phases by turning on a major appliance powered by 220 V,
for example, an air conditioner, electric range, dryer, etc. Because appliances which
run on 220 V are connected to HOT1 and HOT2, they effectively provide a low
impedance connection between the two phases. For a permanent solution to the phase
problem, Wacker suggests connecting an Isolated Phase Coupler (a specially
constructed band pass filter designed to pass the 120 kHz X-10 signal, e.g. the Leviton
No. 6299 Signal Bridge) 50 or simply connecting a nonpolarized, 0.1 µF, 630 V
capacitor from NEUTRAL to HOT1 and a second one from NEUTRAL to HOT2.

47 Kenneth L. Gerbert, Kenneth R. Edwards; Transformers; American Technical Publishers, Inc.;

1974; pp. 120-122.
48 Kenneth L. Gerbert, Kenneth R. Edwards;Ibid., pp. 223-225.
49 J. Bachiochi; Carrier Current Modem, Part 1: Communicating at 1200 bps Around the House;
Circuit Cellar INK; Issue #64; November 1995; pp. 62-68, see, in particular, p. 62.
David Alan Wacker; The Complete Guide To Home Automation; Betterway Book; 1993; 192 p. [Note,
Wacker’s book also provides a number of references to other technical material on the subject of X-10,
…; Electronic House; …
…; Lab Notes;…
…; Technical Information; …
David Butler; At Home With Technology, …; …]
50 Anon.; Decora Home Control Technical Manual [G-5067/G5]; Leviton Manufacturing Company,
Inc.; October 1995; p. 27 & 37. [Note, although the Leviton CC systems all employ the X-10 protocol,
they do not acknowledge this in any of their sales literature. However, over the phone, one of their
technical representatives admitted that they use the X-10 protocol. …]
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 19 of 25

This trick of using the 0.1 µF, 630 V capacitors to facilitate “phase jumping” is
not, however, an original idea of Wacker’s. When I finally received the X-10 standard
and the applications manual from X-10 (USA), Inc., I discovered that a similar scheme
was called out in the applications manual. To wit, “Signals can be “coupled” to the other
phase by installing a 0.1 microfarad (0.1µF), 600 VDC capacitor across the two
phases in the panel, i.e. by connecting the capacitor across any 220V breaker, see
figure 2 (p. 48).” 51 Note, the configuration suggested by X-10 requires only one
capacitor and has it going from HOT1 to HOT2. This makes more sense than Wacker’s
arrangment because the whole point of the exercise, after all, is to establish a low
impedance connection between the two HOT conductors.

A slightly different view of this phase jumping problem is provided by the inventor
of the ‘Wireless Phone Jack System’. 52 According to William M. Brown, the watt-hour
meter associated with each residence, while it does tend to attenuate the CC signal, is
also an inadvertent bridging device making it possible for the CC signal to jump
between the phases. Note, the distribution transformer can also serve this function but
nowhere near as well the watt-hour meter.

Intermittent operation of X-10 receivers can also be traced, according to Wacker,

to power line noise generated by everything including fluorescent light fixtures, TVs, etc.
Other than replacing the offending device with a less noisy device, Wacker suggests
installing a line interference filter between the noisy device and the power receptacle.
While these measures may work for power line noise generated within your own home,
they are useless against power line noise produced by your neighbors.

The X-10 signal is digitally encoded so that, in theory, the receivers will only
respond to the appropriate transmitter. As Wacker noted the exceptions to this are false
triggers caused by thunderstormes and malfunctioning water solenoids (found in
washing machines and sprinkler systems). What he means by a malfunctioning water
solenoid, I am not sure, and what it is exactly about the signals generated by
malfunctioning water solenoids and thunderstorms that defeat the digital encoding of
the X-10 signal is also never made clear.

THE SHIPBOARD PLCC SYSTEM BY ELECTRONIC INNOVATORS, INC.

Before getting into the details of this particular PLCC system, I should like relate
some aspects of a phone conservation I had with the inventor of this system, John

51 Anon.; Applications Manual; X-10 (USA), Inc.; 12/21/94; 62 p.

52 William M. Brown (Inventor), Astech, Inc. (Assignee); Power line carrier multi telephone extension
system for full duplex conferencing between telephones; US Patent No. 4,475,193; October 2, 1984; ??
p.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 20 of 25

Massey. 53 Mr. Massey’s PLCC system is meant to operate over the 60 Hz power lines
of modern warships. With the transmission medium being the power lines, there are
two complicating influences: 1) the varying impedance of the line, and 2) the presence
of noise on these lines. Mr. Massey’s design addresses the first complication by way of
a matching network, as we shall see later on. As far as the presence of noise is
concerned, the first thing that must be determined is what type of noise exists on the
power lines? To this end, Mr. Massey has taken a spectrum analyzer on board Navy
ships in order to experimentally quantify the noise. Long term, the noise appears to be
white. That is, for example, he set up his spectrum analyzer such that bandwidth, _f =
13.75 kHz, and a center frequency, fc = 110 kHz, and then he sampled the noise for a
long time at these settings. Doing this for a number of different fcs provided him with a
long term frequency distribution of the power line noise. What he ultimately found was
that the power spectral density was flat to within ±1 dB, which implied white noise.

The main problem I see with this approach is that the data sent by the PLCC
transceiver is not long term in nature. Since the data bits occupy very small time slots,
they are strongly influenced by the time course of the noise present on the channel they
both share. It is not clear to me that a long term, flat power spectral density implies a
unique time domain character to the noise. In other words, the spikyness, if you will,
and its pulse width and average frequency of occurrence are not necessarily uniquely
fixed by characterizing the noise in the frequency domain as a long term, white noise.
And it is the spikyness, etc. of the noise which determines how well in will interfere the
data bits. This problem of the exact quantification of the impulse noise has been looked
at and some references to earlier work on this subject can be found in a book by Clark.
54

IMPULSE NOISE: THE SCOURGE OF HIGH SPEED DIGITAL COMMUNICATION.

A 1969 article by Fennick 55 pointed out that as long as telephone lines were
used to carry voice signals, the traditional method of noise measurement using the rms
value of the white or pink noise sufficed to determine the deleterious effects this
interference had on conversations. However, with the introduction of data transmission
over these same channels, a hitherto ignored type of noise made its presence felt. This
‘new’ noise, called impulse noise presented a much more serious threat to the integrity
of data transmission, especially for future higher speed operations. Impulse noise,
which is characterized by the presence of narrow pulses rising significantly above the
rms value noise floor, can obliterate groups of sequential data bits.

53 Electronic Innovators, Inc., Attn.: Mr. John Massey, 11902 Parkland Court, Fairfax, VA 22033,
(703)359-8241.
54 A.P. Clark; Principles of Digital Data Transmission, 2nd Ed.; Pentech Press; 1983; pp. 273-274.
55 J.H. Fennick; Amplitude Distributions of Telephone Channel Noise and a Model for Impulse Noise;
Bell System Technical Journal; Vol. 48; No. 10; December 1969; pp. 3243-3263.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 21 of 25

Today, with the digital revolution a fait accompli, the concern over impulse noise
is more widespread and not restricted to just the telephone channels. Besides the
telephone line, impulse noise has been measured, though not necessarily quantified,
over: potential indoor wireless LAN (Local Area Network) channels; 56 the 120 Vrms
power line systems, both commercial and residential, for use with CC (Carrier Current)
systems; 57 digital subscriber lines, such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network), … What causes this impulse noise? There two answers to this question: the
first answer simply catalogs those things (physical objects/artifacts) which give rise to
this noise and the second answer attempts to enumerate the underlying physical
processes responsible for it.

The objects which cause impulse noise are as varied as the channels plagued by
this noise. Telephone lines are subject impulse noise arising from the very switching
arrays that essentially define it. Indoor wireless LAN channels are polluted with the
impulse noise created by the ever increasing plethora of consumer hardware including:
microwave ovens, photocopy machine, AC motors in electric appliances, ignition
systems in small gasoline powered equipment, printers (both cash register and line),
elevator switches, etc. LANs using the 120 Vrms power lines are subject to impulse
noise coming from everything from SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) light dimmers to
photocopy machines. Digital subscriber lines such as ISDN …

The underlying process causing the impulse noise is as old as the subject of
electricity itself, electrical discharges. Any type of commutation (switching) is a potential
source of impulse noise. That commutation is an efficacious source of RF energy
requires no better an example for its proof than the fact that all early radio transmitters
employed spark gaps for the generation and, in some cases, the amplification of the
required RF energy. The resulting RF signal consisted, for the most part, of damped
sinusoids. The RF energy from these spark gap transmitters was so powerful that
receivers could easily pick up the signals without the use of any tuned circuits and/or
amplification. Presumably because of their great penetrating power, the FCC presently
forbids the operation of any airwave RF transmitters which intentionally produce such
waveforms,

(d) Intentional radiators that produce Class B emissions (damped wave)

are prohibited. (p. 573) 58

56 K.L. Blackard, T.S. Rappaport, C.W. Bostian; Measurements and Models of Radio Frequency
Impulsive Noise for Indoor Wireless Communications; IEEE Journal On Selected Areas In
Communications; Vol. 11; No. 7; September 1993; pp. 991-1001.
57 M.H.L. Chan, R.W. Donaldson; Amplitude, Width, and Interarrival Distributions for Noise Impulses
on Intrabuilding Power Line Communcation[sic] Networks; IEEE Transactions On Electromagnetic
Compatibility; Vol. 31; No. August 1989; pp. 320-323.
58 FCC; Part 15.5, General conditions of operation.; in US Government; Codes of Federal
Regulations (CFR), Section 47, Telecommunications, Part 15, Radio Frequency Devices; October 1994;
p. 572-573.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 22 of 25

Today we are awash in a sea of consumer electronics which make extensive use
of switches, relays, keyboards, motors and other commutating devices. And even the
high tech silicon microchips inside many consumer electronic devices are themselves
sources of unintentional impulse noise due to electrical breakdown of their oxide
dielectrics. 59

So we finally arrive at the question of how to deal with this seemingly ubiquitous
type of noise. The approaches span the spectrum of possible strategies from
preventive measures - getting rid of them at their source(s) - to remedial actions - living
with them. According to the preventative school of thought, since commutation is the
source of the impulse noise, the answer lies in replacing all noisy switches with quiet
switches.

THE MODULATION SCHEME OF THE SHIPBOARD PLCC SYSTEM.

The modulation technique used by Mr. Massey is OQPSK (Offset Quadrature

Phase Shift Keyed) modulation, which he said was better than QPSK (Quadrature
Phase Shift Keyed) modulation since it required less bandwidth and had very good
signal to noise characteristics. The fact that OQPSK has requires less bandwidth than
the corresponding QPSK signal is important, according to Mr. Massey, because the
requirement that the PLCC system be able to transmit as much data as possible.
However, higher data rates translate into more bandwidth and this becomes a problem
very soon due to limitations in the pass band of the transmission medium and
undesirable RF (Radio Frequency) emission which may lead to EMC (ElectroMagnetic
Compatibility) problems with other shipboard electronics. One could, of course,
ameliorate these problems by using a different transmission medium such as coax
cable or, better yet, fiber optic cable, but then one would have to give up the two main
advantages of the power line transmission medium: 1) its physical robustness and
redundancy, and 2) the lack of having to string coax or fiber optic cable throughout the
ship.

Each transceiver contains a transmitter employing OQPSK (Offset Quadrature

Phase Shift Keyed) modulation implemented by a DDM (Direct Digital Modulation)
technique.

PRELUDE TO ANALYSIS

59 J. Colvin; The identification of compromised oxide interfaces using noise signature techniques
from a constant current source; ISTFA ‘94. Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium for Testing
and Failure Analysis; ASM Int.; 1994; pp. 1-8.
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 23 of 25

The crux of problem of how to analyze the PLCC of Massey et al. appears to me
to be this. How is the received signal affected by the noise present on the transmission
medium? With this in mind, I next had to decide how to simulate this system. The
approach I chose was to do it with software.

The main software avenues open to me are TESLA, version 1.12 60 and
SYNOPSYS®, version ??. 61 Each route has its own advantages and disadvantages.
While TESLA can be run on an

• IBM PC/XT compatible with hard disk (286 or better, math chip and disk
cache utility with 512K suggested)
• 640K RAM
• VGA, EGA, CGA or Hercules graphics adapter
• DOS version 3.0 or later
• MODGEN requires Microsoft FORTRAN version 4.1 or later

and comes with a single well written manual and is very user friendly, it requires that the
netlist, which represents the interconnections of the various functional blocks, be
generated manually. A manually generated the netlist is, of course, prone to all sorts of
inadvertent errors including: miswiring the functional blocks, connecting more than one
output to the same net, etc. In addition, there is still the requirement that the block
diagram be drawn so that one can see at a glance what is connected to what. While
TESLA, itself, does not have a schematic capture ability, it can be interfaced with
schematic capture software such as OrCAD SDT 386+™ 62 and P-CAD PC-CAPS. 63
The procedure is to draw the schematic of the SUT (System Under Test) using the
schematic capture software plus a library of parts specific to TESLA. After the
schematic file is saved and then compiled, the schematic capture software can be
directed to generate a netlist file from the schematic file. This machine generated netlist
file is the input to TESLA. To my knowledge, the Engineering Department at Temple
University does not have either of these schematic capture software packages, but we
do own an excellent schematic capture program called TANGO Schematic, version
1.20. 64

60 TESOFT, Inc., 205 Crossing Creek Court, Roswell, GA 30076, (800)631-1113. [Note, TESLA
costs $695.00, the MODGEN user model generator costs $495.00, and the part library for OrCAD SDT
386+™ costs $195.00. They are currently shipping TESLA, version 1.12 release F.]
61 Synopsys, Inc., 700 East Middlefield Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415)962-5000. [Note,
there is also a regional sales office in New Jersey: Synopsys, Inc., 90 Washington Valley Road,
Bedminister, NJ 07921, (908)719-8935. Students may obtain software manuals and other printed
materials by contacting Synopsys’ University Liaison, Tina Allen, (415)694-1687. They are currently
shipping version ???]
62 OrCAD, S.W. Nimbus Avenue, Beaverton, OR 97008, (503)671-9500. [Note, OrCAD SDT 386+™
currently costs $995.00 and requires “…a 386-based PC-compatible or higher…”, 4 MB of memory and
DOS 3.3 or higher.]
63 Personal CAD Systems, Inc., 1290-T Parkmoor Avenue, San Jose, CA 95126, (408)971-1300.
[WARNING: Their phone number has been disconnected and there is no current listing for them in the
408 area code directory.]
64 ACCEL Technology, Inc., 6825 Flanders Drive, San Diego, CA 92121, (800)488-0680. [Note, they
are currently shipping version 1.5.]
12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 24 of 25

Because I learned how to use TANGO Scematic in Dr. DasGupta’s EE-502

course, Advanced Digital Hardware, I decided to adapt this software to TESLA. All that
is required is that one create and stock a TANGO Schematic parts (model) library with
TESLA models. To this end, I have created a parts library file called TESLA.LIB.
TESLA.LIB currently contains all those functional blocks (TESLA primitives or models)
65 and not just the ones which I actually utilized or thought of using in the simulations of
the OQPSK system of Massey et al. Note, I sold this TANGO library of TESLA
compatible parts to TESOFT, Inc. TESLA.LIB together with a README file containing
the design rules necessary to assure proper netlist generation by TANGO can be
download from TESOFT’s BBS (Bulletin Board Service), (770)664-4491.

Once the drawing of the block diagram with TANGO Schmatic is complete, one
runs POST CLEANUP, POST COMPILE, FORWARD ANNOTATE and POST NET
LIST (choosing the PSPICE format from the POST NET LIST window). There are
certain design rules which one must follow when incorporating the functional blocks into
a schematic so that the subsequently generated PSpice 66 netlist will be compatible
with TESLA. I shall not detail these design rule here. One of the circuits I constructed
was a DOQPSK (Differential Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) transmitter. One of
the problems with creating this circuit was being restricted to using the 2-input NAND
and NOR gates which are the standard digital primitives provided with TESLA. It would
have been much easier if I could have created new digital models such as 3-input
NAND gates, for example. There is an ancillary program called MODGEN provided by
TESOFT, Inc., just for this very purpose. 67 However, like all other software packages
owned by Temple University’s Engineering Department, it is almost impossible for a
student to determine whether this particular program is installed on the network or if it is
not installed, if we even own it.

The Temple University Engineering Department also owns a software package

called SYNOPSYS. SYNOPSYS, which can only be run on workstations such as the
HP 9000, is one of those 800 pound gorilla pieces of software - it does everything, but
you don’t necessarily want to mess with it. SYNOPSYS contains a schematic capture
portion, SGE (SYNOPSYS Graphical Environment), which can be used to draw the
functional block diagram schematic. After the schematic and symbol files have been
created, they can be converted into a machine generated VHDL (VHSIC Hardware
Descriptor Language) representation which then can be simulated within SYNOPSYS

65 The current TESLA model library is divided into five functional groups: Analog Linear Functions (13
parts), Digitals Functions (13 parts), Analog Nonlinear Functions (12 parts), Test and Measurement
Functions (15 parts) and Interface and Dual Functions (11 parts) for a total of 64 parts or models. See,
Anon.; TESOFT Application Note AN-01; TESOFT, Inc.; 1995; 8 p.
NOTE: TESLA.LIB contains 61 of the possible 64 models. The SUB1, SUB3 and SUB6 models,
which were originally created to allow the graphical inclusion of subcircuits, are basically useless since
most schematic capture software already includes hierarchical design modes.
66 MicroSim Corp., 20 Fairbanks, Suite 198, Irvine, CA 92718-9905, (800)245-3044. Note, by calling
this toll free number one can obtain a free Evaluation Copy of PSpice that runs on Microsoft Window.
67 CAUTION: MODGEN requires Microsoft FORTRAN version 4.1 for later.
 12/20/95 Rev. 0.0 25 of 25

using its ANALYZER portion. Thus, SYNOPSYS is a schematic capture program

coupled with a VHDL code generating program and has the ability to perform mixed
signal simulations. Impressive, no? The only problem I can see with using SYNOPSYS
is with regards to the models in its libraries. Specifically, do its libraries, which are well
stocked with digital gate models, also have functional block models similar to those
found in TESLA? If the answer is no, then functional block models will have to be
constructed from scratch, a rather daunting task since VHDL will have to employed.

ANALYSIS

The block diagram I used to construct the OQPSK transmitter came from a
communications textbook. 68 The TANGO Schematic generated block diagram and
PSPICE netlist of this OQPSK transmitter are shown in Figure 1 and Listing 1,
respectively. This textbook OQPSK transmitter encodes each of the four possible dibits
(00, 01, 10 & 11) with one absolute phase angle (225 (-135)_, 315 (-45)_, 135_ & 45_).
Such a scheme might also be monikered AOQPSK (Absolute Offset Quadrature Shift
Keying) to differentiate it from a more widely employed technique called DOQPSK
(Differential Offset Quadrature Shift Keying) in which each dibit is mapped to a relative
phase shift. 69 The advantage DOQPSK over AOQPSK is that it is far easier to simply
detect relative phase shifts of 0_, 90_, 180_ & 270 (-90)_ than it is to ascertain the
absolute phase shift. The schematic of the DOQPSK transmitter is depicted in Figures
2, its machine generated netlist is presented in Listing 2 and a time domain simulation is
shown in Figure 3.

68 Wayne Tomasi; Electronic Communications Systems, Fundamentals Through Advanced, 2nd Ed.;
Prentice-Hall; 1994; pp. 468-476. [Note, Chapter 12, pp. 454-506, is exclusively concerned with Digital
Communications and covers FSK, MSK, BPSKQPSK, OQPSK, 8-PSK, 16-PSK, 8-QAM AND 16-QAM.]
69 L. Brett Glass; Modern Modem Methods; BYTE; Vol. 14; No. 6; June 1989; pp. 321-324, 326.

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