Project full title: Distribution Line Carrier: Verification, Integration and Test of PLC Technologies and IP Communication for Utilities.
Coordinator: KEMA (NL)
Consortium: KEMA International (NL), Austrian Accademy of Science (A), CRAT (I), Devolo AG (D), HW Communications Ltd (UK), iAd Gesellschaft fur Informatik (D), Automatisierung und Datenverarbeitung (D), Israel Electric Corporation Ltd. (IL), Lancaster University (UK), Technische Universitaet Dresden (D), Vattenfall Europe Netzservice GmbH (D), Vlaaamse Instelling voor Technologich Onderzoek (B), Ytran Communications Ltd. (IL)
Duration: 36 months
Expected Starting Date: January 2009
Expected Ending Date: December 2012
CRAT Key Persons:
Scientific co-coordinators: Dott. Alessandro Di Giorgio, Prof. Francesco Delli Priscoli
Project Description: DLC+VIT4IP aims to develop an advanced open system ICT-platform which allows advanced network monitoring and control, intelligent metering, and innovative service delivery for power generators, utilities and users of local power distribution grids using the IP communication protocol suite over powerline communication networks.
Both existing broadband and narrow-band powerline communication systems (PLC), often also called Distribution Line Carrier (DLC), do not fulfil the requirements for advanced monitoring and usage control of electricity distribution networks. This especially applies to modern and new smart grid applications. However, some recent developments concerning high-speed narrow-band powerline communication systems begin to show potential to fulfil these requirements. A considerable degree of fundamental work regarding physical layer, protocol stack, security, engineering chip set, and measurement tools has already been carried out.
Based on this knowledge the DLC+VIT4IP project will perform research on V erification and development of channel models, physical layers, topology and network models. I ntegration of PLC technology and energy applications using IP(v6) efficiently. T est of PLC technologies and systems in one or more field tests to gain reliable measurement results for application design.
This research output will include
•High performance IP(v6) transmission over powerline providing an ICT infrastructure for new applications such as management of renewable energies, demand side management, or management of distributed generation and advanced customer services
•Pre-standardisation knowledge including more precise channel models, network planning tools or rules for compliance tests The developed system will assure the efficient integration of Internet Protocol (IP) with (multiple) existing Powerline communication (PLC) technologies providing transparent management of the grid, asset management, energy trading, efficient exploitation of power generation, advanced Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, storage and complete customer integration, This will be reached through the extension and improvements of existing high-speed narrow-band powerline communication (PLC) solutions, the provision of an IP convergence layer, guaranteeing transparent data flow and quality of service (QoS) between multiple applications and new tools for channel and network simulation and planning. Focus is on the interconnection of Energy equipment, sensors and actuators in the distribution grid such as meters, switch gears, video surveillance and street lighting.
CRAT Contribution:CRAT is involved in many work packages to perform in depth analysis of current and potential PLC applications, to produce advanced channel and network models, to generate simulation tools for performance evaluation. We work on network planning which is itself an optimisation problem having hard and soft constraints and on Convergence Layer development to provide seamless high-performance integration of IP to fulfil the advanced network functionalities such as Video Surveillance.