A reliable power line carrier and wireless data concentrator for broadband energy information network

Designing reliable and flexible home energy controllers (HECs) is the pivotal part for energy information network system (ENIS). This paper presents a hybrid channel data concentrator for reliable Internet access control. The concentrator is composed of power line carrier (PLC) and wireless front-end modules, and an embedded system. The selection of either PLC or RF channel is based on a channel reliability level estimation method. To verify the reliability and robustness of the proposed system, line-spread and radial-spread test sites have been installed for link performance tests. The experimental results show the feasibility of deploying reliable PLC and wireless data concentrator for ENIS in areas of high or low population density residential apartments.