Power line communication between an inverter and a motor: Noise characterization in the time domain and in the frequency domain

Power Line Communication may be used to transmit information from the sensors distributed on a motor to the electronic command of the converter feeding this motor. The interest of using the three phase cable as a physical support for the transmission is that the additional line dedicated for data can be avoided. However, impulsive noise generated by the converter is of large amplitude and covers a wide frequency band. The main objective of this paper is to characterize and analyze this noise both in the time domain and in the frequency domain. Three different configurations of Inverter/Motor with different power supplies and switching frequencies are studied, and a comparison is carried out in terms of noise characteristic parameters as amplitude, frequency content, duration, and time interval between pulses. Lastly, the impact of such pulses on a high bit rate communication is outlined.