Data Communication through the Power Grid System

Abstract

With the aim of disseminating and sharing information in many different locations with greater speed of transmission and low cost, it is growing the utilization, on a daily basis, of signal, voice and image transmission networks particularly through the adoption of new technologies. Among them, there is transmission of voice data and image through the power grid network (PLC - Power Line Communications). This article has the main objective of presenting the main features of the PLC technology and its contribution to access the Internet at broadband promoting the worldwide diffusion of the Internet. It describes and identifies the resources and the basic techniques of communication using this physical medium. This technology will be presented as an alternative for the provision of digital inclusion in the least prosperous regions, such as rural and more remote locations. There will be coverage of various issues including: history, services, technology, legal aspects (regulations), difficulties to deploy PLC systems, and an overview on the technology state of the art.