Dissertation (MSc Telecommunications Engineering)
Broadband Power-Line Communication (BPLC) is a technology which has drawn
attention to researchers in the field of digital communication. Using this technology
there is no need of new installation which is advantageous compared to other
technologies. However, due to noises and multipath fading in BPLC systems, studies on
coding techniques and suitable modulation schemes are unavoidable. Studies by other
researchers have shown that multicarrier modulation techniques perform better than
single carrier modulation techniques in power-line channels. In this work multicarrier
spread spectrum (MC-SS) has been adopted as a modulation scheme.
This work has investigated the performance of channel coding in power-line channel.
Due to their application in digital communication systems, the coding techniques
considered in this work are BCH codes, Reed-Solomon codes, Convolution codes,
Concatenated codes and the Low density parity check codes. The Generalized
transmission line (TL) theory model developed by Anatory et al has been adopted. A
typical power-line network found in Tanzania has been adopted and subjected to
different coding techniques in a typical noise environment.
It has been found that the coding gain of 16dB, 10dB, 6.5dB, 5.5dB and 4.5dB have
been realized using LDPC, RS, Concatenated, Convolution and BCH codes respectively
at BER of 10-6. This implies that LDPC is appropriate coding technique for BPLC
systems.