BPL

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BPL

• A POWER ENGINEER/HAM'S VIEW

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BPL Sample

• Progress Energy Site
• Cary, NC

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From Sun Tzu on the Art of War

• To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our
  own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the
  enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

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• HAMS are experts at amateur radio operation
• UTILITIES are experts at power distribution
• NO ONE is an expert at BPL

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SOURCES

• ARRL
• BPL vendors
• Component vendors
• Field test info
• Reverse engineering

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THE BPL NETWORK
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FREQUENCY REUSE

• 2 to 3mhz bands
• Need geographical gap
•  

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VARIATIONS

• Ambient BPL to user
• Amperion 802.11 to user
• Corridor 2ghz or higher/ g-line based
• (Not a concern)

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BPL MODEM
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UNIQUE BPL COMPONENTS

• Couplers Function as wideband current
  transformers
• Repeaters
• Bridges Jump from MV to LV lines

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MODULATION

• Spread spectrum
• DSSS
• FHSS
• OFDM

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(No Transcript)
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DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM
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FREQUENCY HOP SPREAD SPECTRUM
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(No Transcript)
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SINGLE OFDM CARRIER SPECTRUM
Sin(x)/x
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(No Transcript)
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OFDM in HAM RADIO

• Digital voice
• Data

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COMMERCIAL OFDM

• Cellular phone
• Wi-fi
• DRM (Digital SW Broadcast)

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BPL ENVIORNMENT

• Linear (transmission line) characteristics
• Noise
• Non linear characteristics
• galvanic rectification
• arcing
• non-linear devices

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INGRESS

• Carrier above AGC threshold
• Carrier at AGC saturation
• No drop in bit rate till this happens
• High level carrier will clamp the receiver and
  may damage it
• Only way around it is electrical filter on BPL
  input

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THE NPRM

• Part 15 radiated limits remain intact
• Interference provisions remain intact
• Requires BPL database containing
• Location
• Frequency
• Modulation
• NPRM does not require database to be public and
  online
• Database does not have to submitted to FCC

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The NPRM

• Interference mitigation
• Frequency avoidance
• Shutdown

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The NPRM

• ln situ measurement of RF field
• Process described is time consuming
• Not clear whether it applies to installation of
  all BPL devices
• NPRM leaves little or no recourse for SW other
  listeners

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BUSINESS PROBLEMS FOR BPL

• BPL may be interim technology
• BPL is 40 mb shared
• Cant do full video to several users
• ROI unknown

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BUSINESS PROBLEMS FOR BPLCOMPETITION

• CABLE
• Cable internet available NOW to 82 of America
  (end 2002)
• Capacity is 3Gbs shared
• Retail speed now 3 to5 Mbs per user
•  FTTH can deliver 40mb to each user

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BUSINESS PROBLEMS FOR BPLCOMPETITION

• WiMax (802.16)
• 2-11Ghz and 10-66 GHz
• 70mb/s shared links
• Hundreds of links in same geography
• over 30 mile linear reach
• Fixed point to multi-fixed point
• Rollout Q4 04

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BPL MAY ONLY VALIDATE MARKET

• Projected costs (not including profit)
• From Carnegie Mellon study

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BUSINESS PROBLEMS FOR BPLTECHNICAL

• Training
• Aggregate RF noise
• Long distance effects
• Installation and maintenance
• Scaling issues

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CONCLUSIONS

• BPL will not be everywhere at once.
• BPL will be deployed based on economics, not
  regulation
• Actually part 15 always did allow for deploying
• BPL will not destroy HAM radio.
• All HF users will be in the role of monitor. This
  is not a new role. We may all have to get better
  at it.

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CONCLUSIONS

• Confrontations will be local
• In MN, Winona will test in July
• In some areas BPL will be temporary
• Replaced with WiMax, DSL, cable and fiber
• The BPL provider in these cases may be the worse
  to deal as income dries up and they die

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CONCLUSIONS

• HAM radio needs to maintain the high ground
• HAMS are usually acknowledged for RF expertise,
  particularly locally
• Utilities will have to cooperate with hams to
  avoid complaints
• The only RFI incentive they have is regulatory

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Get involved

• Share expertise with community at large
• Make the community aware of the options
• Lompoc example

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Point out things BPL vendors utilities can do
better

• Design
• Avoid ham bands
• Installation
• characterize environment first
• Use BPL device as test instrument

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Point out things BPL vendors utilities can do
better

• Operation
• Use lowest power necessary
• Avoid ham bands
• Employ rapid interference elimination
• Provide beacon to aid in id
• 5wpm CW ID superimposed on entire bit stream
• Dont hide

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Get involved

• Share expertise within HAM community
• Know your local RF environment
• Know the sound of BPL

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BPL OFDM AUDIO

• Raw data from Penn Yan, NY
• Recorded March 27, 2004
• 17 days ago
• This is the installation the Wall Street Journal
  said had
• No interference

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From Sun Tzu on the Art of War

• If you know the enemy and know yourself, you
  need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
• If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every
  victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
• If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you
  will succumb in every battle.