Commissioning ofanAMR Prototype System byPLCTechnology
Soodeh Haghgoo · 2007
In1980,thenovelPLC system wasusedasa new system tocommunicate several computers inabuilding. Then, the PLCcommunication reliability andtransfer rateupto1600bps wasdeveloped. PLC communication canworkinenvironments withunpredictable parameters andlongdistances. Nowadays, this communication channel isusedinhighspeedtransfer called BroadPowerLine(BPL).Themainadvantage ofPLC is availability ofitsinfrastructures inelectrical network. Inaddition, bytheextendedform ofthis network, allconsumers, evenatlong distance, canbeaccessed. Itsoptimum frequency rangeofthis communication channel is70-160 KHl However, there aresomeproblems. Noiseisconsidered asthe mainconstraint. Themainrecourses ofnoise areasfollows: a) 50Hzharmonics that causemaximumdisturbance inhighspeed datatransferring andmostly attenuate andbecome narrowbandat frequencies morethan30kHz.B)Thebackground noisethat generated byhousehold equipments, c)burstnoisecausedby industrial loads. Generally, PLC noisereduces in higher frequencies. Lossandattenuation aretheother constraints aswell assignal dispersion. Automatic meterreading (AMR)isoneofthefields thatcanbe performed byPLCcommunication channel. Inthis paperanAMR system besides oftheabove constraints isdescribed.