Towards the powerline alternative in automotive applications

The power line technology has received an increasing attention in the last decades due to its inherent benefits, mainly related to the reduction of cabling and associated costs. Power line communication (PLC) was first employed in power utilities and since the 80s in home automation, too. However, its use in the automotive field received relatively little attention. This paper revisits the related work in using PLC technology for communication within the automotive domain and outlines its possible benefits. Then, it focuses on the issues that need to be addressed when introducing the PLC in the automotive domain. The final goal of this work is to carry out a practical assessment of the PLC technology in the referred domain that may open the way for future use in industrial scale.