Interesting article on broadband over power lines in US

ElNino

Test Runs Show Promise of High-Speed Internet Service through Power Lines

By Marsha Austin, The Denver Post Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News


Feb. 23 - Rural Colorado and small towns in the mountain West may become prime proving ground for emerging technology that would deliver high-speed Internet over electric power lines.

The technology to allow customers to plug their modems into a wall socket -- just like they do a lamp or a blender -- would add a competitor to the marketplace and could provide Internet access for millions of consumers still living on the dark side of the digital divide.

Successful test runs across the country are building buzz for the technology that would provide an affordable alternative to DSL, cable modem and satellite Internet access. And the concept has been endorsed by the Federal Communications Commission, which will soon issue rules allowing electric utilities to offer power-line-based Internet access to millions of customers.

"I welcome the day when every electrical outlet will have the potential to offer high-speed broadband and a plethora of high-tech applications to all Americans," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said this month.

But ranchers in remote reaches of the state are likely to enjoy "plug-and-play" technology years before Denver urbanites get the choice, if they get it at all.

"We have high-end homes and lone eagles," said Shelly Farrell, manager of engineering operations for Pueblo-based San Isabel Electric Association, which serves a seven-county area west of Pueblo. "A lot of our customers have a phone line, and they have a dial-up and that's the best they have."

Farrell said the co-op is looking for an affordable way to deliver high-speed access in areas unlikely to get DSL access. He said he found out about regional trials of running broadband over power lines at a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association meeting last fall.

"The technology is so new, we're keeping an eye on it," he said. "If it happens, we'd like to be able to offer it to our customers."

United Power, a Brighton-based energy cooperative that serves customers just northeast of Denver and in mountain communities in Jefferson and Gilpin counties, is also taking a look. However, United's director of external affairs, Troy Whitmore, said the co-op is more cautious about getting into the telecom business because many of its customers already have access to DSL, cable-modem and wireless-Internet services.

"But we do have our fair share of customers that want faster Internet service," he said. "I'm one of them. Dial-up just doesn't cut it anymore."

Whitmore attended a conference last week in New Orleans, where breakout sessions on sending broadband services over power lines were packed beyond capacity.

The biggest question for United is whether running broadband on its power lines would be financially viable, and whether the technology that keeps the signals from interfering with customers' radios and telephones really works, Whitmore said.

In Denver and in other areas served by Xcel Energy's Public Service Company of Colorado unit, customers are unlikely to get power-outlet broadband, spokeswoman Margarita Alarcon said.

While the giant utility has done early-stage research into broadband power-line technology, company officials have decided that, for now, Xcel won't branch out into the telecommunications business, she said.

"We are not going to be focusing on developing this kind of business," Alarcon said. "We're not going down that road at all." Until recently, the technology hadn't caught up with the concept.

A handful of pilot programs running on revamped technology are producing results and grabbing attention. In Manassas, Va., the city and the local power company partnered to offer residents and businesses broadband over power lines at faster-than-DSL speeds for $26.95 a month.

Last week, about 500 residents of Wake County, N.C., were offered high-speed Internet access over power lines through a joint venture of Raleigh, N.C.-based Progress Energy, Internet service provider EarthLink and gear maker Amperion. The project uses wireless fidelity, or WiFi, technology to make the connection between house and power line.

In rural Georgia and Alabama, Southern Power's telecommunications division ran broadband over power lines as part of an experiment in high-speed "last mile" connectivity.

The cost to consumers can be more than 30 percent cheaper than DSL or cable-modem service, said Lance Rosen, co- founder and partner in Electric Broadband, a New York-based consulting firm that's behind most of the U.S. pilot projects.

The technology has its share of skeptics, particularly those who see the future of electronic information sharing in wireless Internet access.

"It's a great promise, but so far it hasn't been delivered on as well as the WiFi promise has," TeleChoice analyst Patrick Hurley said. "That's an issue for a power company that wants to get into this."

Plugging into electrical outlets sounds convenient, but for people who have already experienced wireless communication, it sounds like a step backward, he said.

"It isn't as convenient as unplugging my laptop from the wall and sitting on the sofa with it or out on the patio with it," Hurley said.

SURFING THE FRONTIER

Reliable, viable technology has been the roadblock to offering Internet access over power lines. But progress is being made:

--Power Line Communications Worldwide, an Israeli equipment supplier, has figured out how to maintain the integrity of broadband signals as they pass through transformers on power poles.

Its Reston, Va., subsidiary, Main.Net, routes the signal with no interference by slicing the data into tiny pieces. If some packets are lost in the process, computers can still read the message. Signals get a boost from amplifiers placed along the line. Main.Net partners with Electric Broadband to supply gear to American utility companies.

--Amperion, based in Andover, Mass., has combined optical fiber and power line technology with wireless fidelity (WiFi) gear to avoid the interference altogether.

PLUGGED INTO THE FUTURE

Communities with broadband- over-power-line pilot programs:

--Manassas, Va.

--Atlanta

--Allentown, Pa.

--Ossining, N.Y.

--St. Louis

--Boise, Idaho

--Wake County, N.C.

--Cottonwood, Ariz. (proposed)

At least a dozen power companies are testing the technology, including:

--City of Manassas, Va.

--Southern Power Co. of Atlanta

--American Electric Power of Columbus, Ohio

--New York-based Con Edison Pennsylvania Power & Light

--Ameren of St. Louis

SOURCE: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8021344.htm

Cuauhtemoc

Anyone know whats become of the esb trial of this?

bminish

Originally posted by Cuauhtemoc
Anyone know whats become of the esb trial of this?

I am given to understand that they haven't begun yet..., however ESB Tuam have recently started to get real cadgey so it's probably any day now


Rather than go over (again) why Powerline is not a realistic Internet access solution with some serious side effects to radio users and poor performance for Internet users, can I suggest that you have a look over some previous boards threads where this was discussed

Since this was last discussed here, the Austrian trials have run into a spot of bother after causing serious interference to the red Cross communications system.
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/08/2/?nc=1

previous boards threads

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=110800

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=110048



.Brendan

dahamsta

Is broadband set to make power lines sing?
Last modified: February 24, 2004, 4:00 AM PST
By Jim Hu

Technical limitations have long frustrated attempts to deliver broadband Internet access over power lines, but the idea is once again sparking interest as its backers tout improvements.

Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission proposed rules for utility companies that seek to offer Internet access through their electricity grids. The FCC hopes its rules for broadband over power line (BPL) will help jump-start the use of the grid network to deliver high-speed Net access to U.S. households, especially in hard-to-reach rural areas.

"One major objective of Chairman (Michael) Powell is to find ways to encourage broadband for the entire United States," said Ed Thomas, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology at the FCC. "The more options that are available, and the more capabilities provided, and the more diverse the entry vehicles, the better off we are."

[...]

bminish

Interestingly the FCC proposed rules under which BPL will be allowed are much more restrictive than the current part 15 rules that it was allowed trial under.

Not all bad news for radio users and certainly not what the BPL lobby were looking for.
(BPL is what the Americans call Powerline Internet )

from someone who observed the meeting

The FCC meeting was an interesting study in politics. All of the
media picked up on the soundbites from the commisioners and little or
none of the technical summary. I dont think the FCC has released the
text of their proposed NPRM and, according to the summary from their
engineering staff at the meeting, they will actually imposed more
restrictions on BPL that it had the day before.

1. All of the BPL vendors had asked for increased emission standards;
the emission standards were not changed.

2. All BPL vendors claimed no interference. The NPRM would require
all BPL vendors to provide active interference mitagation, thus
admitting that interference would otherwise occur. In fact, the
condition that BPL must shut down if notching and power reduction is
not enough remains intact, as for all part 15 devices.

3. All BPL vendors have been secretive as to the locations of their
tests, and when confronted, claimed recorded interference did not
come from them. The NPRM requires a national database recording the
location, modulation and frequency of every BPL device. This
effectively turns every BPL device into an easily tracked beacon.

At the start of business on 2-12, BPL could be deployed within the
restrictions of all other Part 15 devices. When the NPRM is passed,
BPL will be the most constrained of all Part 15 devices, more
restricted than a baby monitor or cordless phone. This also makes BPL
the least robust of all broadband approaches.

the Notice of proposed rule making has now been published


CARRIER CURRENT SYSTEMS, INCLUDING BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE SYSTEMS; AMENDMENT OF PART 15 REGARDING NEW REQUIREMENTS AND MEASUREMENT

GUIDELINES FOR ACCESS BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE SYSTEMS. Proposed

amending Part 15 of the Commissions rules to adopt new requirements and measurement guidelines for a new type of carrier current system that provides access to broadband services using power lines. (Dkt No.

03-104, 04-37). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 02/12/2004 by NPRM. (FCC No. 04-29). OET

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A1.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A2.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A3.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A4.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A5.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A6.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A1.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A2.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A3.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A4.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A5.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A6.pdf
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A1.txt
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A2.txt
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A3.txt
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A4.txt
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A5.txt
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A6.txt

.Brendan

iwb

I can't say I know much about the technology really but my guess is they will find a way to make it work. It makes too much sense not to.
It may take a few more generations of it to do so though.

bminish

Originally posted by iwb
I can't say I know much about the technology really but my guess is they will find a way to make it work. It makes too much sense not to.
It may take a few more generations of it to do so though.

I do understand the technology and I'm Sorry to quash your hopes but it's fundamentally a problem with physics. Powerlines being unbalanced and widely spaced simply cannot carry data very far without it leaking out (& causing problems to radio users)
The reverse is also true making powerlines very noisy environments for data transmission and making the data very susceptible to outside interference from electrical nose and licensed radio services

To change this would require a fundamental redesign of both the powerline wiring and all domestic wiring. No more neutral, no more separate routing of phase and neutral in lighting circuits for example.


Even if we could ignore completely all of the above we still have the problem that unlike phone lines lots of houses have to share the same supply meaning contention and bandwidth is an issue that cannot be ignored. Best real world results with the current trials is less than 2 Mbs shared between all users.
Yes Cable TV Internet has the same problem (multiple houses on one feed) but unlike powerline CATV has oodles of clean interference free bandwidth available to use for data.

powerlines make very good routes into the community (even one hopes small ones) for fibre since power co's already have rights of way etc.
PLT is only actually used for the last few hundred meters since it doesn't have much line reach so it will never become a true rural solution.

No amount of marketing and hype can change the laws of physics, Nyquist and Shannon cannot be ignored, spending further money and time on PLT is akin to trying to polish a turd


.Brendan

Fallschirmjager

No amount of marketing and hype can change the laws of physics


add Jim (and say with a scottish accent )on the end of that and we have a new star trek episode....


it will probably be the 24 century before it appears anyway....