Development of power line communication systems with low electromagnetic radiation

Abstract

The thesis investigates the feasibility of implementing an optical coupler in the analog front-end module of a Power Line Communication (PLC) modem to reduce the overall electromagnetic radiation of the PLC system by limiting the common mode (CM) current coupling onto the power lines. Based on a two-current-probes measurement approach, equivalent circuit models are developed to predict the level of the expected CM current generated by the PLC modem when it is plugged onto the power line network. The models provide insight into the CM noise coupling mechanism from any PLC modem onto the power line network so that the effectiveness of using optical coupling technique in reducing CM currents from the power lines can be quantified.