A systematic evaluation method for the operation and communication reliabilities of the PLC networked home appliances

This paper presents a systematic method of probing channel characteristics and communication reliabilities of home power line communication (PLC) network applied to Internet accessed control of home appliances. The evaluations are performed for the constructed test-bed of 100 apartment houses supplied with four types of PLC installed home appliances, i.e., refrigerator, air-conditioner, washing machine, and microwave oven. The experimental results, showing well above 90% reliability, support the feasibility of commercially deploying PLC modem installed home appliances and their services for Internet accessed home automation in densely populated residential apartment complexes.