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Communications over aircraft power lines: a practical implementation

TL;DR: This paper presents a practical implementation of a hardware design for transmission of data over aircraft power lines using Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), the most appropriate technology for high-speed data transmission on aircraft power Lines.
Abstract: This paper presents a practical implementation of a hardware design for transmission of data over aircraft power lines. The intent of such hardware is to significantly reduce the wiring in the aircraft instrumentation system. The potential usages of this technology include pulse code modulation (PCM), Ethernet and other forms data communications. Details of the fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) and printed circuit board (PCB) designs of the digital and analog front end will be discussed. The power line is not designed for data transmission. It contains considerable noise, multipath effects, and time varying impedance. Spectral analysis data of an aircraft is presented to indicate the difficulty of the problem at hand. A robust modulation is required to overcome the harsh environment and to provide reliable transmission. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been used in power line communication industry with a great deal of success. OFDM has been deemed the most appropriate technology for high-speed data transmission on aircraft power lines. Additionally, forward error correction (FEC) techniques are discussed.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A software tool simulating PLC communication has been developed and the predicted channel transfer functions of different links into this software, the throughputs that can be reached, taking into account the electromagnetic constraints related to aeronautic standards, are discussed.
Abstract: In the domain of aeronautics, the future more electric aircraft will have to face a difficult issue related to the increasing number of wires and connectors, impacting on the weight and system reliability. A possible solution for solving at least part of this problem is to introduce power-line communication for specific applications. In this paper, the cabin lighting and communication system has been chosen as an initial scenario. Indeed, the tree-shaped architecture of the cabling is complicated enough to be representative of many other aircraft harness configurations. Channel characteristics are first determined from a propagation model based on the multiwire transmission-line theory. A software tool simulating PLC communication has been developed. By introducing the predicted channel transfer functions of different links into this software, the throughputs that can be reached, taking into account the electromagnetic constraints related to aeronautic standards, are discussed.

34 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Sep 2008
TL;DR: In this article, a broadband power line communication (BPLC) technology is proposed aboard an aircraft for the use of mobile communication and Internet access systems during the flight, which is performed considering the real installation configuration of the carrier channel on a power line of the C-27J transport aircraft of Alenia Aeronautica.
Abstract: The broadband power line communication (BPLC) technology is proposed aboard an aircraft for the use of mobile communication and Internet access systems during the flight. The possibility of re-using the power distribution network to transmit digital signals in the frequency range between 1 MHz and 30 MHz is investigated. The analysis is performed considering the real installation configuration of the carrier channel on a power line of the C-27J transport aircraft of Alenia Aeronautica. The accurate simulation of the wire-to-wire communication channel, which includes apparatus and bulkhead connectors, allows computing the transfer function between the sending and receiving devices. The crosstalk coupling with a victim power line is also predicted. The multicarrier modulation technique is applied for the computation of the optimal bit loading of the power line carrier channel by modelling the power spectral density of the channel noise and considering the constraint represented by the maximum power available of the sending device. The preliminary results of the study prove the feasibility of the BPLC technology aboard the C-27J transport aircraft.

7 citations


Cites background from "Communications over aircraft power ..."

  • ...A study of the feasibility and initial hardware design for transmitting data over power lines of a military aircraft was carried out with the intent to significantly reduce the wiring in the aircraft instrumentation system [2]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Experimental results proved that the proposed power recovery scheme could serve as a power recovery unit to supply embedded sensors to build lighter, more reliable and fuel-efficient aircrafts.
Abstract: Wiring is one of the main challenges in aircrafts. The avionics industry is exploring new schemes to minimize the number of power and data cables to build lighter, more reliable and fuel-efficient aircrafts. In this paper, we describe a novel integrated power harvesting interface to procure power required for avionic sensors. The implemented power harvesting approach is based on a modified power over Ethernet scheme in which the power in the ARINC 825 field (data) bus during its idle times serves as the source for the power conversion chain. A transistor-level design is carried out in CMOSP 0.35 $\mu \text{m}$ (AMS) 3.3 V/5 V technology and the system performance is investigated under various conditions to improve its efficiency. From the experimental tests, an overall efficiency of 60 % was achieved and the harvesting device provided an output power of 10.08 mW for feeding sensors. Reported experimental results proved that the proposed power recovery scheme could serve as a power recovery unit to supply embedded sensors.

4 citations

References
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Book
20 Oct 1997

459 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present appropriate power line channel models, which form the basis for the design of a channel emulator, which turns out to be extremely helpful for various tests and comparison of performance of different communication systems.
Abstract: The development of power line communication systems requires detailed knowledge of the channel properties, such as transfer function, interference scenario, and channel capacity in order to choose suitable transmission methods. This article presents appropriate power line channel models, which form the basis for the design of a channel emulator. Such a device turns out to be extremely helpful for various tests and the comparison of performance of different communication systems. A basic estimation of the power line channel capacity clearly demonstrates their enormous potential for high-speed communication purposes. Eventually, an evaluation of different modulation schemes is carried to optimize PLC system design.

398 citations


"Communications over aircraft power ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...The aircraft power line characteristics: According to [3], the lower frequencies have less attenuation in aircraft power lines....

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  • ...A frequency division duplex (FDD) transceiver is proposed in [3]....

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Book ChapterDOI
24 Nov 2006
TL;DR: In this article, the principles of QAM-OFDM Modulation by DFT Transmission via Bandlimited Channels are discussed. And the implementation of cyclic OFDM Symbol Extension and decision-directed adaptive channel equalisation of OFDM Bandwidth Efficiency is discussed.
Abstract: This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Principles of QAM-OFDM Modulation by DFT Transmission via Bandlimited Channels Basic OFDM Modem Implementations Cyclic OFDM Symbol Extension Decision-Directed Adaptive Channel Equalisation OFDM Bandwidth Efficiency Chapter Summary and Conclusion

7 citations

ReportDOI
01 Jun 2005
TL;DR: A study of the feasibility and initial hardware design for transmitting data over aircraft power lines and the intent is to significantly reduce the wiring in the aircraft instrumentation system.
Abstract: : This paper introduces a study of the feasibility and initial hardware design for transmitting data over aircraft power lines. The intent of this design is to significantly reduce the wiring in the aircraft instrumentation system. The potential usages of this technology include Common Airborne Instrumentation System (CAIS) or clock distribution. Aircraft power lines channel characteristics are presented and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is introduced as an attractive modulation scheme for high-speed power line transmission. A design of a full-duplex transceiver with accurate frequency planning is then discussed. A general discussion of what communications protocols are appropriate for this technology is also provided.

5 citations