Time frequency analysis of noise generated by electrical loads in PLC

Unpredictable characteristics of power line communication (PLC) channels seriously affect the performance of the communication systems. Among these unpredictable characteristics, noise is considered to be the main source of errors in data transmission in PLC systems. Unlike conventional communication systems in which noise is usually modeled as additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), its definition in PLC channels has a more complicated form. In order to design reliable PLC systems, it is essential to understand the features of noise in power line networks. Since the impulsive noise generated by electrical house appliances is one of the most significant noise types in PLC channel, it is very important to analyze these electrical devices with respect to their noise characteristics. In this paper, impulsive noise characteristics of various house appliances are analyzed over the frequency range of 30 kHz - 50 MHz.