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A compact economical PLC band-pass coupler

with impedance matching

Conference Paper · March 2013

DOI: 10.1109/ISPLC.2013.6525874

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 2013 IEEE 17th International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications
A Compact Economical PLC Band-Pass Coupler
with Impedance Matching
Mloyiswa P. Sibanda†, Petrus A. Janse van Rensburg†, and Hendrik C. Ferreira‡
† ‡
Department of Electrical Engineering
Walter Sisulu University
P.O. Box 1421, East London, 5200, South Africa
Phone: +27-43-702-9262, Fax +27-43-702-9226
e-mail: msibanda@wsu.ac.za; pvanren@wsu.ac.za
Abstract — Most coupling circuits for PLC make use of the
impedance transformation properties of a coupling transformer.
Previous attempts to eliminate this costly component, while
maintaining impedance adaptation, have not been successful in
reducing component cost nor physical size. In this paper, a novel
approach is followed: (1) a suitable band-pass matching circuit as
for ordinary electronics is designed, and (2) the specifications of
the components are upgraded to function safely in the power-
grid environment. Therefore a matching circuit is transformed
into a PLC coupler, resulting in a compact coupler which further
exhibits band-pass filtering and excellent impedance-adapting
performance. The design of such a coupler, and its evaluation in
the laboratory as well as an office block, is described in this
paper.
Keywords — Coupling circuits, passive components, filters,
impedance matching.
I. INTRODUCTION
I N previous work [1], [2], PLC coupling and impedance
adaptation without a transformer were discussed, and the
complete, cascaded circuit is shown in Fig. 1 [2]. Typical R-L
power-line network impedance values of 12.5 Ω and 17.5 μH
were assumed for frequencies below 500 kHz, since these
parameters often vary between 5 Ω and 20Ω (resistive) as well
as 7μH to 27μH (inductive) – see [3].
C1 C3 C4
L1 L3
220µH 220µH
10nF 10nF 15nF
R1 C2 L2
50Ω 220nF 10µH C5
IFR 2397 39nF
Fig. 1. The coupling circuit from [1] cascaded with an impedance matching
circuit [2], assuming a typical R-value of 12.5 ohm and a typical L-value of
17.5 μH for the power grid.
It is clear from Fig. 1 that component count and cost, as
well as physical size of the cascaded coupler-adapter circuit
does not compete with a traditional transformer-capacitor
coupler. Fig. 1 shows a total count of 9 components between
modem and power-line. In the following sections, it is shown
that this number can be reduced drastically to as little as 3 or 4
components, while maintaining the functional requirements of
a coupler-adapter circuit.
978-1-4673-6016-6/13/$31.00©2013 IEEE
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
University of Johannesburg
P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa
Phone +27-11-489-2463, Fax +27-11-489-2357
e-mail: hcferreira@uj.ac.za
In this case the novel design [4] is started by choosing a
fourth-order impedance matching circuit, with a built-in band-
pass characteristic, suitable for narrow-band PLC
transmission. Next, this impedance adapter circuit is upgraded
to become a coupling circuit by means of carefully selecting
capacitors and inductors to function at high power-line
voltages. Thus a coupler-adapter circuit is obtained with less
than half the resources of its predecessor shown in Fig. 1.
The design of such a band-pass matching circuit is
discussed in Section II, while Section III explains how to
upgrade component specifications for the low-voltage power
grid. The accuracy of the design is confirmed by simulation
and laboratory measurements shown in Section IV. Finally,
the novel coupler is deployed in an office block, and
promising results are shown in Section V
II. LOW-Q IMPEDANCE MATCHING NETWORKS
By using two series-connected L-sections for impedance
matching, (see configuration in Fig. 2) a higher-order
configuration is achieved, which improves the shape factor (or
roll-off) of the matching network. In this configuration, the
chosen ‘virtual’ impedance (Rvirtual) is in the series leg of
one L-section and in the shunt leg of the other L-section.
Rvirtual is chosen larger than the smallest terminal
impedance, but smaller than the largest terminal impedance
L4
[5], [6].
56µH
IC=0A
17.5µH
L_PL
12.5Ω
R_PL
Fig.2. Two L-matching networks combined to form a band-pass matching
circuit.
This resulting fourth-order band-pass configuration allows
for a low Q-factor value in the design. The lowest Q-factor
value that can be chosen is when Rvirtual is equal to the
geometric mean of the two terminal impedances [5] i.e.
Rvirtual = RsRp , (1)
339
 RS being the series transmitter output impedance, and RP
representing the parallel receiver input impedance. Therefore,
assuming a 50-Ω to 12.5-Ω impedance mismatch between the
communication system and the power-line network:
Rvirtual = RsRp = 50 ∗12.5 = 25 Ω ,
Once Rvirtual has been defined the rest of the calculations
follow similar steps to those outlined in previous designs [2]. (a) Equivalent back-to-back L-matching network with virtual Z.
For the L-section with a smaller termination impedance (in Rs L1 C2

this case a typical 12.5-Ω power-line network impedance), the 50Ω 36.2µH 115.2nF
Q-factor is defined by:
C1 L2 12.5Ω
AC Signal
Qp = (Rvirtual R _ pl ) − 1 = (25 12.5) − 1 = 1 , (2) 28.9nF 36.2µH
R_PL

For the L-section with the larger termination impedance

(assume a 50-Ω impedance, typical for most communication
systems), the Q-factor is defined by:
(b) One resulting 4-element band-pass matching network that may be
Qs = (Rs Rvirtual ) − 1 = (50 25 ) − 1 = 1 , implemented.
Rs

Using the definition of Q-factor as given in (3) and (4) (see 50Ω 57.9nF 18.1µH

also [2]):
AC Signal 12.5Ω
72.3µH 57.9nF R_PL
Qs = Xs Rs , (3)

Qp = Rp Xp , (4)
the following design steps may be followed: (c) Alternative 4-element band-pass matching network that may also be used.

For the first L-section, calculate the reactance of the series Fig. 3. The required reactance for the band-pass impedance matching network
branch using: between 50 Ω and 12.5 Ω terminal impedances in (a), and the two possible
realizations with L and C components in (b) and (c).
Xs1 = Q ∗ Rvirtual = 1∗ 25 = 25Ω .
Both these configurations where simulated between 10 kHz
For the first L-section, also calculate the reactance of the
and 1.010 MHz and the response was identical, confirming the
parallel branch using:
accuracy of the design. See Fig. 4.
Xp1 = Rs Q = 50 1 = 50Ω .
50 Ω: 12.5 Ω
For the second L-section, calculate the reactance of the
series branch using:
Xs 2 = Q ∗ Rs = 1∗12.5 = 12.5Ω .
Lastly, for the second L-section, calculate the reactance of
the parallel branch using:
Xp 2 = Rvirtual Q = 25 1 = 25Ω .
The above calculations yield the required reactance values
for a 50-ohm-to-12.5-ohm band-pass matching network; Fig. 4. The simulated band-pass filter response for the band-pass impedance-
adaptor circuit. See theoretical gains possible compared to the 50 Ω to 12.5 Ω
shown in Fig. 3(a). Two realizations are possible, depending mismatch level. Both realizations of Fig. 3 yield the same response.
on the topology of capacitors and inductors. See Fig. 3(b) and
(c). Capacitor values are obtained using equation: III. CHOOSING PRACTICAL COMPONENTS & SPECIFICATIONS
C = 1 (2π * fc * X ) , (5) The voltage and current specification for each element in
this synthesized impedance-adapter circuit is crucial, if to be
while the inductor values may be calculated using:
used as a PLC coupling device. The elements of such a
L = X (2π * fc ) , (6) coupler-adapter have to withstand the strain of large voltages
and currents from the 220-Vrms power-line grid. For the
capacitors we can use the voltage divider rule to determine the
maximum voltage rating for each capacitor. For the inductors

340
we can divide the voltage calculated across each inductor by
the impedance of the respective inductor at 50 Hz.
Fig. 5 shows the calculated impedance value at 50 Hz for
each element, showing only the required impedance
magnitude for the element. The phase angle will depend on
the chosen element in that branch. In the second configuration
(see Fig. 3(c)) the first element is inductive, the actual
impedance is calculated from: ZL = jXP = (2πf L) ∟900. For
capacitive elements the impedance is calculated from: ZC = -
jXP = 1/ (2πf C) ∟-900.
For the effective voltage across each element we need to
consider only the magnitude of the impedance of each
element. Hence the impedance of each reactive element is
denoted with the modulus sign i.e. | Z | in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. The calculated reactance value at 50 Hz for each element of the
coupler-adapter circuit.
The calculated reactance values in Fig. 5 show that the
capacitive elements C1 and C2 implement the bulk of the 220-
Vrms filtering as L1 and L2 are effectively short circuits at 50
Hz. Since these capacitors are effectively in parallel to each
other, the voltage rating of each capacitor must be large
enough to withstand the 220-Vrms from the power-line. The
recommended voltage rating for each capacitor is at least
twice the R.M.S. value of the power-line waveform
(approximately 60% higher than the peak value).
IV. SIMULATION VS. LABORATORY MEASURED RESULTS
In order to investigate the operation and performance of a
band-pass coupler-adapter, the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-
adaptor of Fig. 3(c) was chosen. The decision to construct and
test the second and not the first configuration was influenced
by various factors. Most importantly, the second configuration
allows the incorporation of the typical power-line inductance
into the matching circuit. Take note that the matching
procedure used in the design of Fig. 3(c) assumed resistive
terminal impedances. As such, the typical power-line
resistance was taken into account; however, the power-line
inductance was not. Thus the power-line inductance can now
form part of the matching circuit if Fig. 3(c) is used.
Also, the cost and availability of certain inductor elements
played a role. From the suppliers, purchasing the 18µH
inductors in bulk, already available in store, turned out much
cheaper than ordering for a specific 72µH inductor. Therefore,
combining four 18µH inductors was a quick and cheaper
solution for the 72.3µH inductor L1. See the final schematic
of the constructed 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adaptor in Fig.
6(a) using available component values. Also see Fig. 10.
341
Rs C1
L2
50Ω 56nF
18µH
AC Signal
L1 C2 R_PL
72µH 56nF
12.5Ω
(a) The constructed 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adapter
0
Attenuation (dB)
10
20
30
40
(b) The measured response shows ~ 2 dB of gain realized by the adapter-
coupler compared to the highlighted measured base-line performance without
the coupler-adapter circuit (similar to simulated response – Fig. 2).
Fig. 6. The prototype 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω band-pass adapter-coupler and the
response. Take note of the band-pass filter effect (linear scale) caused by the
adapter-coupler.
As shown from the laboratory measured response in Fig.
6(c) the constructed coupler-adapter performs comparably to
the expected simulation response in Fig. 6(b). The
performance of the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adapter is quite
favorable at this stage compared to the 50-Ω-to-50-Ω coupler
cascaded with an impedance matching circuit shown in Fig. 1.
Various simulations and laboratory tests were performed to
check the performance of the proposed coupler-adapter under
fluctuating power-line impedance conditions. Thus the
constructed 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adapter circuit was
simulated and tested in the laboratory, to compare its
performance when loaded with power-line loads of 50 ohms,
12.5 ohms, 6.25 ohms and 3.125 ohms. These load values
were chosen to signify the different possible power-line
impedance values for a lightly-loaded, a normally-loaded, a
heavily-loaded and a severely-loaded power-line respectively
so that results may be benchmarked against [7]. Fig. 7 shows
the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adapter simulation results in
response to the four different chosen loads of 50 ohms, 12.5
ohms, 6.25 ohms and 3.125 ohms.
 50 Ω: 6.25 Ω 0

Attenuation (dB)
10

20

30

40

(a) The top curve shows the adapter-coupler response for the correct
(matched) 12.5-Ω load. When used to couple an incorrect 6.25-Ω load, the
effects ~ 4 dB of losses compared to the ideal, matched 12.5-Ω load
performance. Yet, 4 dB is still gained over a non-matched coupler. (a) Similarly to the simulations, these laboratory measurements for the
adapter-coupler showed ~ 4 dB of losses when used with incorrect 6.25-Ω
emulated power-line impedance.
50 Ω: 3.125
0

Attenuation (dB)
10

20

30

(b) The adapter-coupler effects ~ 8 dB of losses caused by an incorrect 3.125- 40

Ω power-line load (bottom curve) compared to the 12.5-Ω load performance
(top curve), but still provides gain improvement compared to the response
without the coupler-adapter.

(b) The prototype adapter-coupler experienced ~ 9 dB of losses when used

50 Ω: 50 Ω with an incorrect 3.125-Ω emulated power-line impedance.

0
Attenuation (dB)

10

20

30
(c) For a lightly-loaded 50-Ω power-line, transmitter and receiver are already
matched, and thus the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω adapter-coupler yields 2 dB of losses 40
(top curve). Yet performance is better than for a 12.5-Ω load (bottom curve).

Fig. 7. These graphs show simulated response of the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω adapter-

coupler for different loads: (a) 6.25 ohms, (b) 3.125 ohms and (c) 50 ohms.
Notice the increasing attenuation dB-losses as the power-
line load impedance drops. Although designed for the
normally-loaded (12.5-Ω) power-line, the above simulations
show that the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adaptor circuit still
provides significant gains when used with incorrect
terminating power-line impedances, except when used in the
lightly-loaded (50-Ω) power-line. Next, these simulations
were confirmed using the prototype coupler-adapter. Fig. 8
shows the corresponding laboratory measurements, and
should be compared with the simulation results of Fig. 7.
(c) ~2dB of losses if the coupler-adaptor is used for a 50-Ω emulated power-
line load.
Fig. 8. Measured performance (under fluctuating power-line impedance
levels) of the prototype 50-Ω-to-12.5Ω band-pass adapter-coupler, compared
to base-line performance without adaptation circuitry.
In the above results, it can be seen that the proposed
prototype performance surprisingly well under fluctuating
power-line conditions, which raised the question of how it
would compare to a correct coupler-adapter for the proper
power-line impedance. Therefore the lowest (most severely-
loaded) power-line condition of 3.125 Ω was investigated by
means of simulation. Fig. 9 shows the expected response if
using the correct 50-Ω-to-3.125-Ω coupler-adapter circuit
compared to the prototype 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adapter

342
response, in a severely-loaded (3.125 ohm) power-line.
Fig. 9. The measured 50-Ω-to-3.125Ω band-pass adapter-coupler response
compared to 50-Ω-to-12.5 band-pass adapter-coupler response.
The simulation response shows that a correct coupler-
adapter will provide more gain, and also a fairly flat response
at pass-band compared to the 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω prototype
coupler-adaptor. A narrower pass-band and somewhat
improved filtering is also shown.
V. LIVE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In order to test the live performance of the proposed band-
pass coupler-adapter, two prototype 50-ohm-to-12.5-ohm
coupler-adapter circuits where built with specifications to
withstand the strain of the 220-Vrms power-line grid. The two
couplers were used as a transmitter-receiver coupler-pair, with
the live power-line channel in-between. The two coupler-
adapters were constructed using available components, with
values as close as possible to the circuit design values. See
Fig. 6(a). However, Fig. 10 shows the final prototyped
coupler, where the typical power-line inductance is utilized to
help fulfill filtering and matching functions.
Fig. 10. Prototyped 50-Ω-to-12.5-Ω coupler-adapter for live deployment (no
earth leakage protection).
The live setup shown in Fig. 11, assumes a typical power-
line impedance value of 12.5 Ω and 17.5 µH as discussed
earlier in Section I. This power-line inductance would subtract
from L2 in Fig. 6(a), however because they are almost equal,
L2 may be left out – its function being fulfilled by the power-
line inductance. Thus a three-element coupler-adapter results.
Precise or real-time measurements of the power-line
impedance are beyond the scope of this research. For this
343
study we will assume these documented typical impedance
values.
Fig. 11 below illustrates the measurement setup that was
used to test the live performance of these coupler-adapters.
Fig. 11. Schematic representation of the live measurement setup used to test
the performance of the coupler-adapters in an office block.
The live test results below were carried out in an office
block, and show the performance of the prototype coupler-
adapters compared to transformer-couplers: a pair of 1:1
transformer-couplers and another pair of 2:1 transformer-
couplers – see [7]. A 1:1:1 coupling-transformer pair will
provide optimum performance if the power-line impedance is
as high as 50 ohms, since a 1:1 transformer used as a coupler
will provide no impedance transformation between a modem
and the power-line. A 2:1:2 coupling-transformer pair will
provide optimum performance if the power-line impedance is
12.5 ohms. A 2:1 coupling-transformer pair used at the
transmitter-end means 400% (4 times) of the power-line
impedance is reflected back to the instrument; and the use of a
1:2 transformer-coupler at the receiver-end means 25% (0.25
times) of the 50-ohm instrument impedance is reflected back
to the power-line network. In terms of impedance matching
the prototype coupler-adapter was designed to compete with a
2:1 transformer-coupler.
Fig. 12 shows the first set of measurements carried out
between two offices connected to the red phase in a three-
phase power-line distribution network. A socket in-between
the two offices deemed central was used as a loading point.
The dominating load (additional loads) must be midway
between two modems for the two modems to require identical
winding ratios [7]. A 4600-W load, equivalent to: RLOAD =
Vrms2 / P = (220)2 / 4600 ≈ 10.5 ohms, was used as an
additional load to the office power-line network.
The choice of winding ratios for transformer-couplers that
will provide optimum performance is based on the estimated
distances between transmitter/receiver power outlets as well as
the power-line impedance levels [7]. The distance between the
two offices were deemed average (meters), and the outsourced
2:1 transformer-coupler and the prototype coupler-adapter
were expected to perform well under these conditions. See
Fig. 12 which shows gains of up to ~6dB over a 1:1
transformer-coupler.
 0 0
Attenuation (dB)
Attenuation (dB)
20
40
60 @110 kHz
80
Fig. 12. Live measurements between two offices connected to the red phase in
a three-phase power-line network, with additional loads of ~10.5 Ω connected
to the network. At 110 kHz, both the coupler-adapter and 2:1:2 transformer-
coupler pairs yielded ~26 dB while the 1:1:1 transformer-coupler performed
worse (~32 dB), as the distances were too short for a 1:1:1 pair [7].
Fig. 13 shows another set of results for a network deemed
Attenuation (dB)
long-distance, typical extension cords were used to extend the
distance between the transmitter and the receiver. The results
in Fig. 13 show long-distance network measurements,
between two offices connected to the white phase of the three
phase power-line distribution network. A socket in the same
phase, in-between the two offices, was used as a loading
point. Because loading was still relatively light, the prototype
(and the 2:1 coupler) were still expected to perform optimally
[7].
Fig. 13(a) shows the prototype adapter-coupler pair
outperforming a 2:1:2 transformer-coupler pair by ~2 dB, and
a 1:1:1 transformer-coupler pair by a large ~7 dB, at 110 kHz.
The Fig. 13(b) results show the prototype coupler-adapter pair
performing far better at pass-band, than the transformer-
couplers, when additional loads connected to the power-line
network.
VI. CONCLUSION
Most impedance adaptation circuits for PLC make use of
the impedance transformation properties of some transformer,
typically the coupling transformer itself. In this paper, it was
shown that an economic passive impedance matching circuit
(without a transformer) can be designed and be modified for
safe coupling by means of carefully selecting capacitors and
inductors to operate at high power-line voltages. Take note
that galvanic isolation is not achieved, and therefore the
proposed coupler can only be deployed in double-insulated
packaging without earth leakage protection.
The prototype coupling-adapter presented in this paper
exhibits a band-pass filter effect almost similar to the 50-Ω-to-
50-Ω coupling filters designed in [1], however it exceeds the
performance of the transformer-couplers designed in [7]. For
this reason, the proposed coupler-adapter is a cheaper and/or
better performing alternative to cascaded 50-Ω-to-50-Ω
coupling filters with matching circuits [2] as well as
traditional transformer-couplers.
344
20
40
@110 kHz
60
80
(a) Measurements without additional loads. At 110 kHz the coupler-adapter
yielded only ~9 dB of attenuation compared to the 2:1:2 transformer-coupler’s
~11 dB and the 1:1:1 transformer-coupler’s ~16 dB.
0
20
40
@110 kHz
60
80
(b) Measurements with additional loads (~10.5 Ω @ 50 Hz) connected to the
power-line network. At 110 kHz, the coupler-adapter outperforms the 2:1:2
and 1:1:1 transformer-coupler pairs by ~6 dB and ~12 dB respectively.
Fig. 13. Live measurements between two offices connected to the white phase
in a three phase power-line distribution network.
REFERENCES
[1] M. P. Sibanda, P. A. Janse van Rensburg, H. C. Ferreira, “Passive,
Transformerless Coupling Circuitry for Narrow-Band Power-Line
Communications,” Proc. 13th IEEE Int. Symp. Power-Line Comm.,
2009, pp. 125-130.
[2] M. P. Sibanda, P. A. Janse van Rensburg, H. C. Ferreira,
“Impedance Matching with Low-Cost, Passive Components for
Narrowband PLC,” Proc. 15th IEEE Int. Symp. Power-Line Comm.,
2011, pp. 335-340.
[3] C. Y. Park, K. H. Jung, W. H. Choi, “Coupling circuitary for
impedance adaptation in power line communications using
VCGIC,” Proc. 12th IEEE Int. Symp. Power-Line Comm., 2008, pp.
293 - 298.
[4] P. A. Janse van Rensburg, M. P. Sibanda, H. C. Ferreira, “Compact
and economical impedance-matching band-pass data coupler for
smart-grid and other power-line communications applications,”
Australian Patent, No. 2012101719, filed 26 November 2012.
[5] Chris Bowick, RF Circuit Design, Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc.,
Indiana, 1982, pp. 67-97.
[6] Jon B. Hagen, Radio-Frequency Electronics: Circuits and
Applications, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 9-17.
[7] P. A. Janse van Rensburg, H. C. Ferreira, “Coupler winding ratio
selection for effective narrow-band power-line communications,”
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 23, no. 1, January 2008,
pp. 140-149.