Simple and Low-Cost PLC Modem for IoT Applications

Authors

  • Adelson Duarte dos Santos Department of Semiconductors, Instruments and Photonics (DSIF), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-852, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8396-1760
  • Rodrigo Moreira Bacurau Department of Computational Mechanics (DMC), School of Mechanical Engineering (FEM), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-860, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0861-6729
  • Anderson Vedoveto Martins Department of Semiconductors, Instruments and Photonics (DSIF), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-852, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1034-1311
  • Alex Dante Integrated Micro and Nanotechnologies Research Group (IMiNa) of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Braga 4715-330, Portugal. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1993-0502
  • Elnatan Chagas Ferreira Department of Semiconductors, Instruments and Photonics (DSIF), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-852, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5732-1831

Keywords:

Internet of things, IoT, Modem, Power line communication, PLC

Abstract

We present in this paper a simple and low-cost Power Line Communication (PLC) modem for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The proposed modem implements a simple on-off-keying (OOK) modulation/demodulation with only discrete electronic components, not requiring complex ICs, such as processing units. It uses the ground and neutral wires as a channel communication, eliminating the need for complex isolation circuitry. To improve its robustness to noise, the developed PLC modem includes an automatic receiver gain adjustment and a transmitter sweep carrier frequency algorithm. Laboratory tests show that the developed PLC modem is capable of transmitting data at 9,600 bps with no errors if the noise spectral density in the power line is below 111 nVRMS2/Hz in the bandwidth of 150 kHz to 500 kHz. The system was also evaluated in a residential power network, where it presented a bit error rate below 1.21%. Due to its low cost, the developed PLC modem is suitable for low data rate IoT applications such as energy consumption monitoring, appliance monitoring and control, environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity, luminosity), security monitoring (presence sensors), etc.

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Author Biographies

Adelson Duarte dos Santos, Department of Semiconductors, Instruments and Photonics (DSIF), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-852, Brazil.

Adelson D. dos Santos received the B.E. E. degree in electrical engineering from the University Center of FEI, Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, in 2015, and ˜ the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil, in 2018. In 2019, he enrolled in the PhD program at the Department of Semiconductors, Instrumentation and Photonics, University of Campinas, focusing in the design and signal processing circuits for reconfigurable smart sensors. His current research interests include electronic instrumentation, embedded systems, smart sensors, edge computing, energy harvesting and Internet of Things (IoT

Rodrigo Moreira Bacurau, Department of Computational Mechanics (DMC), School of Mechanical Engineering (FEM), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-860, Brazil.

Rodrigo M. Bacurau was born in São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brazil, in 1988. He received the B.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the Federal University of Vale do São Francisco – UNIVASF, Juazeiro – BA, Brazil, in 2011, and the M.Sc and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Campinas-SP, Brazil, in 2014 and 2017, respectively. In 2019, he joined the School of Mechanical Engineering - FEM, of the University of Campinas – UNICAMP, where he is currently a Professor and Researcher in mechatronics. His current research interests include electronic instrumentation, robotics, signal processing, inertial navigation, sensor fusion and fiber optic gyroscopes.

Anderson Vedoveto Martins, Department of Semiconductors, Instruments and Photonics (DSIF), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-852, Brazil.

Anderson V. Martins was born in Umuarama– PR, Brazil. He received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Federal University of Santa Catarina – UFSC, Florianópolis – SC Brazil, in 2008, and M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Campinas-SP, Brazil, in 2018. From 2008 to 2015 he worked as R&D engineer, developing electronics prototypes and automating test equipment. His research interests include electronic instrumentation, test automation, embedded systems, IoT, and Industry 4.0.

Alex Dante, Integrated Micro and Nanotechnologies Research Group (IMiNa) of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Braga 4715-330, Portugal.

Alex Dante was born in Limeira-SP, Brazil. He received the B.Sc. degree in physics (2009), and the M.Sc. (2012) and Ph.D. (2016) in electrical engineering from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil. From 2016 to 2021, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Photonics and Instrumentation Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. He is currently working as a Research Engineer at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Portugal. His research interests include fiber optic sensors, biosensors, micro and nanofabrication, and electronic instrumentation.

Elnatan Chagas Ferreira, Department of Semiconductors, Instruments and Photonics (DSIF), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-852, Brazil.

Elnatan C. Ferreira was born in Fortaleza, Brazil, on April 25, 1955. He received the B.Sc. degree in physics from University of Ceará – Ceará, Brazil, in 1981, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil, in 1984 and 1991, respectively. He joined the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, FEEC/UNICAMP, as a Teaching Assistant in 1985, where he is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Electronics and Microelectronics. His current research interests include electronic instrumentation, signal processing, fiber optic gyroscopes, and fiber optic sensors.

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Published

2022-08-03

How to Cite

Duarte dos Santos, A., Moreira Bacurau, R., Vedoveto Martins, A., Dante, A., & Chagas Ferreira, E. (2022). Simple and Low-Cost PLC Modem for IoT Applications. IEEE Latin America Transactions, 20(12), 2455–2462. Retrieved from https://latamt.ieeer9.org/index.php/transactions/article/view/6666

Issue

Section

Electronics