POWER LINE CARRIER

COMMUNICATION

POWER LINE CARRIER COMMUNICATION

equipments ( PLCC’s) are used for POINT TO POINT
Communication over high voltage power lines PLCC
equipments are used to SEND OR RECEIVE speech /
data teleprortection signals by using HF carrier
signal ranging from 30 Khz to 500 KHz
NEED FOR COMMUNICATION

 Speech
 Tele-protection
 Data Signal ( ex.RTU )
 Telemetering
 Telecontrol
VARIOUS COMMUNICATION
MODES IN POWER UTILITIES
 Communication System employed by electrical utilities
 Fibre Optic Link (high capital cost, high reliability, speed and
large band width availability for data transfer, commonly used
in European & American countries )
 PLCC
 Telephony wires /DOT lines
 Wireless ( commonly used by some of SEBs among cluster
of HT/EHT substations)
 Conventional Radio Telephone Services (some of utilities
abroad)
 VHF or Microwave radio channels(for huge data transfer
among Load Despatech centres)
 Satellite communication (Not suitable for teleprotection due
to inherent transmission time delay typically in seconds)
ADVANTAGES OF PLCC

High reliability as that of the power lines

 Low capital and running cost
B) Disadvantages
 Limited bandwidth of 4 Khz
 Low speed of data transfer (typical 1200 baud, transfer
of file comprising of graphics size of 1 MB take
minutes )
 Needs separate Battery/Battery chargers for reliable
DC supply
Proven availability and overall economy of the channel
makes PLCC the preferred telecommunication medium
of many power authorities.
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION OF
PLCC
 A carrier frequency in the range 36 to 500KHz is
generated in a high frequency oscillator. It is then
amplified, modulated by speech and other super –
imposed signals like telemetering, ,teleprotection etc.
whenever required and transmitted over power lines.
 Coupling equipments (i.e. coupling device and
Coupling capacitor) are used for isolation of Carrier
equipment from high tension voltage and providing a
low impedance path for the carrier frequency. In
addition wave traps are used to confine the carrier
current signals between the two Carrier Equipment
located at respective substations.
 The various components of PLCC are shown in Fig. 1.
Mode of Operation:

 PLCC terminals are used as a pair, one at each

end of the power line ( between substations)
 Each terminal is designated for a set of transmit
and receive frequencies ( channel frequencies)
 The corresponding PLCC at the other end will be
designated for the reverse value of the
transmission and reception frequencies.
 The channel frequency will be either in 4 KHz
bandwidth or 8 KHz bandwidth depending upon
single channel or twin channel equipments.
 PLCC converts a input signal of 300-4 kHz
bandwidth to the RF range between 30-500 kHz
and amplifies this RF signal to the desired output
power level ( upto 40 Watts).
Pilot Signal

 A Pilot channel (3600 ± 30 Hz/ 2580 ±

30 Hz/ 3825 ± 30 Hz) is provided for self
monitoring and automatic gain control (
receiver volume control).
 Pilot frequency is transmitted ( e.g. 3570 Hz)
during normal rest condition and shifted dial (
e.g. 3630 Hz) is transmitted during dialing for
transmission of pulses.
Speech Signal
 An input signal of 300-2000 Hz or 300-
2400 Hz or 300-2200 Hz or 300-3400 Hz
bandwidth can be used as speech signals
depending upon the customer
requirements.
 PLCC has got provision for 2 wire/ 4 wire
speech from switching equipments ( EPAX
etc.), 2 wire/ 4 wire express telephone
communications ( hot line from control
desk to control desk) and communication
through emergency jack telephones.
Data / Telemetering

 PLCC terminals can be used for

sending/ receiving data signals for
telemetering etc. The input signal
for this channel will be between
2000-4000 Hz. VFT-MODEM will be
connected with PLCC for this
purpose along with RTU.
Teleportection
 Protection coupler equipments can be
used along with PLCC terminals for
teleportection requirements.
 During line fault/ other fault occurring in
substations, trip signals can be
transmitted or received by the protection
couplers through PLCC terminal for
activating the distant protection relaying
equipments
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENTS
WITH PLCC: COUPLING DEVICE
The outdoor equipment consists of Co-axial cable, Coupling Device,
Coupling capacitor or CVT and Wave traps. The functions of each of these
are:-
o Coupling Device :- Comprises of LMU, Drain Coil, Lightening arrester
Earth switch . Further LMU has tuning unit and high frequency transformer
 Tuning unit of LMU: Compensates for the reactive component of the
coupling capacitor impedance, in order to promote the efficient
transmission of carrier frequency signals.
 Transformer unit of LMU:-
 i) Impedance matching between the powerline carrier frequency
connections i.e. it matches the output impedance of carrier set(75 ohms )
to that of overhead line (320 ohms to 640ohms)
 ii)Galvinic isolation between primary and secondary terminals of the
coupling device.
 Drain Coil: Draining to earth , the power frq. Current derived by the
coupling capacitor
 LA : Limitation of voltage surges coming from the power line at the
terminals of the coupling device.
 Earth Switches :- Direct earthing of primary terminals of coupling device
during maintenance activities.
Technical Parameter of Coupling
device

 Line side Impedance : 320 to 600(ohms) Ph to earth coupling 400KV line:

320ohm
 Equipment side: 75 ohms(unbalanced)
 Composite Loss: Not more than 2dB
 Return Loss: Not les than 12 dB
 Bandwidth: 36 kHz to 500kHZ
 Nominal Peak envelope power: Not less Than 650 watt
 Drain Coil ( Impedance at Power Frq. 20 ohms, Continuous Current 1A rms
& short time 50A rms for 0.2 sec)
 Routine Testing/Checks of Coupling Device
 Composite Loss :- It measures the loss of signal level at HF Carrier
Frequency band width and thus indicates efficiency of coupling device
equipment.(Acceptable limits : less than 3 dB)
 Return loss :- It measures the efficiency of impedance matching circuit (
of coupling device) to inject maximum signal into load ( into the EHV line)
with minimum return signal in HF Carrier Frequency band.
 It is defined in terms of the ratio of output signal voltage across an
impedance equal to the charateristic impedance of the line and infnite
impedance i.e open circuit . ( Acceptable limits Return loss less than 12
dB)
COUPLING CAPACITOR
Coupling capacitor of value 4400pF or
8800pF are inserted between coupling device
and EHV line. These are suitable for
withstanding EHV side high voltage. CVT
comprises of coupling capacitor and
transformer unit, thus requirement of a
separate PT may be avoided.
Routine tests on Coupling Capacitor:
i) Capacitance and Tan Delta (Tolerance for
Capacitor at rated power frq. -5% or +10% ,
Tan Delta value of capacitance= less than
0.005%)
WAVE TRAP OR LINE TRAP
This is connected in series with the power line between
the point of connection of the coupling capacitor and
the substation. Its function is to confine the high
frequency currents to the out going power line and to
block them from the impedances represented by the
station transformers and other equipment.
 Consists of choke coil (inductance value of 0.5mH or
1mH) , tuning unit and a protection device i.e.LA. The
choke coil is rated for continuous current and rated
short time fault current of the line.
 Short time current rating for 1 sec (31.5 KA for 132KV
and 40KA for 220KV and 400KV lines) determines the
mechanical strength of Line trap
 Rated Continuous Current 1250/1600/2000A.
 Broad Band tuned line traps (36Khz to 500Khz)
WAVE TRAP OR LINE TRAP
 Two types based on broad band tuning 36khz to 90Khz and 90khZ to
500 khz.
 Resistive component of impedance of line trap ( approx. 570 ohms)
offer high attenuation to Carrier frequency (36Khz to 500Khz)
 Mounting arrangement suspension or pedestal type
i) Main Coil :- The inductor which carries the power frequency current
of the High Voltage transmission line. Inductance rating of 0.5 mH
and 1 mH and short time current ratings of 31.5KA or 40KA are
commonly in use.
ii) Tuning Device:- A combination of capacitors, inductors and
resistors connected across the Main Coil for obtaining a relatively high
line trap impedance for carrier frequencies. Usually line traps are with
broad band tuning device. The minimum resistive component occurs
at the limits of the blocking band and is given by
Rmin = K(2x3.14)Lx (f1xf2)/(f1-f2)
( L is inductance of main coil
WAVE TRAP OR LINE TRAP
iii)Protective Device:- To protect the line trap against transient
over voltages which may occur across it. It is connected
across the main coil and tuning device.

Tests on Line trap

Tapping Loss:- of line trap is a measure of the loss of power
sustained by a carrier frequency signal due to the finite
blocking ability of the line trap. It is defined in terms of the
ratio of the signal voltage across an impedance equal to the
characteristic impedance of the line with and without shunt
connection of the line trap. ( Acceptable Value less than 2.6
dB) The most unfavorable case is a short circuit just behind
the trap.
Blocking Attenuation :
Blocking attenuation expresses the magnitude of carrier
signal blocked by the line trap. Blocking attenuation will be
infinite for ideal line trap.
 DIFFERENT TYPE OF COUPLING
USED
 PHASE TO PHASE COUPLING
 PHASE TO GROUND COUPLING
 INTERPHASE COUPLING
 Typical Block Schematic of a Coupling Device used
for phase to Phase Coupling is as shown below

 Wattage of the Coupling Device is calculated as

follows
 W= n*n*p,
 Where ‘n’ is the number of PLCCs connected and
‘p’ is the coaxial power of individual PLCCs
INDOOR CARRIER TERMINAL
 It comprises of carrier transmitter-receiver housed in a floor mounted steel
cabinet. The protection coupler for carrier teleprotection is also housed in
the same panel. The other auxiliary such as telephone exchange, telephone
sets, telemetry equipment etc are also indoor mounted.
i) Features of HF carrier terminal equipment:-
a)Mode of transmission: Amplitude Modulation single side band
with suppressed carrier or reduced carrier.
b) Carrier frequency 40 to 500 kHz range
c) Nominal carrier frequency 4.0 kHz
band in either direction of
transmission
d) Power output (PEP) 20/40 Watt
at HF terminal
e) Frequency difference Frequency difference between VF
between a pair of signal at the transmitting and rece-
PLC terminals iving ends will not exceed 2 Hz
f) Automatic gain shall be less than 1dB receive level
of signal 40 dB
g) Supply voltage : 48 V DC + 15%, - 10%. (Positive pole
earthed)
INDOOR CARRIER TERMINAL
Features of Protection coupler:-
 Voice Frequency transmission equipment (Ex.2580+/-250Hz)
 Work on frequency shift or coded signal
 Transmission time for permissive inter trip code:-20ms
 Transmission time for Direct Trip code:-30ms

Power Supply
 The 50Volt DC supply ( with +ve earthed) comprises of 50
volt battery bank and battery charger of adequate capacity.

HF Cable
 Armoured Co-axial Type
 Loop resistance: Less than 30 ohms
 Characterstic Impedance: 75ohms
 Attenuation :- 1-5 dB /Km for range 40 to 500kHZ
PLCC Carrier Frequency Allocation
Principles

 HF FREQUENCY used IS 30 KHz- 500

KHz.
 For insulated earth wire transmission, 5
KHz- 500 KHz.
 Available range of carrier frequencies ( 30
KHz to 500 KHz) is divided into a number
of channels each of 4 KHz wide.
 In some places where 2.5 KHz are used,
the channels are 2.5 Khz wide.
MODULATION & SPACING
PRINCIPLES
 Single Side band ( SSB) Modulation is
widely used with suppressed carrier
 - Produce zero error in the re-constituted
VF( convenient in telemetering/ data
transmission in transit conditions)
 - Higher availability of frequency space
and additional power for other signals.
 - By careful carrier oscillator design the
problem of frequency deviation in
reconstituted VF band can be overcome.
 Double- Side band ( DSB) is not so
prevalent today.
Channel Spacing and paralleling
 SSB – Frequency spacing between transmitters
and/ or receivers is equal to “n * b” where ‘n’ is
an even number and ‘B’ is channels band width (
i.e. 4 Khz)
 Single Channels Terminals – Two nominal carrier
frequency bands are required. The transmitter
and Receiver bands may be either adjacent or
with a spacing of n*B; where ‘n ≥ 2’
 Twin Channel Terminals – Four nominal carrier
frequency bands are required. Two channels are
placed side by side in each direction. The
frequency spacing between the channel pairs is
equal to n* B; where ‘n ≥ 4’
 Several Terminals connected to same
coupling device
 Single channels terminals: n*B; where ‘n
≥ 2’
 Twin channels terminals: n*B; where ‘n
≥ 2’ for neighbouring transmitters or
receivers n*B; where ‘n ≥ 4’ for
neighbouring transmitter and receiver
 A conveneient rule for frequency planning
to choose ‘n’ equal to the number of
channels per terminal ( if this number is
odd, the frequency spacing is ‘n+1’ )
Points to be taken care while allocating
Frequencies
 The PLC systems must not cause interference to priority radio
communication services with in the frequency bands laid
down by the ITU Radio regulations.
 The actual range of frequencies available for use in specific
country must take account of the needs of various radio
services and broadcasting services, including aeronautical and
maritime navigation systems together with any local or
national restrictions or regulations affording them the
appropriate protection.
 The signals received on board aircraft may give false radio
compass indications in the event of interference.
 It is recommended that there should be close consultation
between the PLC users on the one hand, and frequency
assignment bodies and radio navigation authorities on the
other, to ensure that any risks of mutual interference are
reduced to acceptable levels.
 In special situations like installations near
international boundaries, the consultations should
be done with the bodies in the adjacent countries
also, which at present take place in relation to
radio services.
 The attenuation increases with frequency , it is
preferable to use the lowest frequencies of the
available range for the longer PLC link ( 250 Km
or more).
 As the power lines form a closed mesh, a
frequency used on one section of a network may
appear in other sections with a level high enough
to cause interference. This limits the extend to
which same frequencies can be are used in the
network.
PLCC- 9505 V3
 INPUT BANDWIDTH ( FOR SINGLE CHANNEL)- 300 TO 4 KHZ:
 TWO OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE:
 OPTION 1 : PILOT : 3570 Hz
DIAL : 3630 Hz Speech : 3000 to
2000/2200/2400/3400Hz DATA : 2180 TO 3460 Hz (
Programmable)
 ANOTHER OPTION OF PILOT FREQUENCY AT 3825 Hz IS ALSO
AVAILABLE BUT THIS IS LESS COMMONLY USED.
 INPUT IMPEDANCE ( AF) : 600 OHMS OUTPUT IMPEDANCE (
HF) : 75/125/150 OHMS
 IF FREQUENCY : 5.12 Mhz
 CARRIER FREQUENCY RANGE : 40-5000 KHZ IN STEPS OF 0.5 KHZ.
 RECEIVER SENSITIVITY: - 45 dB
 SPACING BETWEEN SPEECH AND PILOT : 14 dB
 BASIC CONFIGURATIONS:
9505- TP : 80W ( 40 W PEP) S/C OR T/C
9505- HP : 40W ( 20 W PEP) S/C OR T/C
9505- IP : 20W ( 10 W PEP) S/C OR T/C
ALLOCATION OF POWER
 PILOT : 10 %
 SPEECH : 40%
 DATA : 10% (EACH DATA CHANNEL)
 AUX CARRIER : 10%
 GUARD FREQ : 10% ( EACH
GUARD)
 TRIP FREQUENCY : 100 % IS
ALLOTED
9505 V3 PLCC – OUTPUT LEVEL
Output Output Single Channel Twin Channel
Impeda Level (
nce dB) IP HP TP IP HP IP

75 Speech 25 28.8 31 19 22.7 25

OHMS
Pilot 11 14.8 17 5 8.7 11

Data 11 14.8 17 5 8.7 11

125 Speech 27.2 31 33.2 21.2 25 27.2

OHMS
Pilot 13.2 17 19.2 5.2 11 13.2

Data 13.2 17 19.2 7.2 11 13.2

150 Speech 28 31.8 34 22 25.7 29

OHMS
Pilot 14 17.8 20 8 11.7 14

Data 14 17.8 20 8 11.7 14

 The Tolerance in output level of speech is
± 0.6 dB. For pilot is ± 1.0 dB, and for Data is ± 2.6
dB. Guard ( G1/G2) levels will be same as that of
pilot
 These are optimum O/P power levels. The “TX”
Levels may be reduced in case of shorter line
distances/ less frequency attenuation. The standard
“HF RX” level should be between – 19dB ± 15.
please ensure that the receive level is not more than
– 4 dB.
Recommended pilot O/P levels for S/C
and T/C – 9505 V3 at co-ax points
Line Length ( Loss TX ( PI) Level TX ( PI) RX (PI) Level
KM) at Co- Ax ( Level at Co- at Co- AX far
SC ) AX ( TC ) end
0-50 km Approx. line 5 db -1db/CH. -19± 15 db
loss upto 50
km 5-10 db
50-100 km Approx. line 8 db -2db/CH. -19± 15 db
loss upto 50
- 100 km 10-
15 db
100-200 km Approx. line 11 db +5db/CH. -19± 15 db
loss upto
100-200 km
15-25 db
200-300 km Approx. line +14 db +8db/CH. -19± 15 db
loss 200-300
km 25-35 db

300-400 km Approx. line +14 db +11db/CH. -19± 15 db

loss 300-400
km 35-45 db
DATA COMMUNICATION
 Data Communication means transmission / reception of AF signal
corresponding to the digital input from ‘RTU’ ( carries various
parameters with respect to system voltage, freq, current etc.) over
PLCC link
 Speed of the data transmission starts from 50 baud ( available 50,
100,200,300,600,1200 and 2400)
 Generally 300 or 600 baud rate is used over PLCC
 In case of more baud rate is required full AF band of PLCC to be used
 Normally data band will be below pilot frequency in case pilot of 3570
HZ is used ( between speech cut off and pilot). Generally the bank is
2180 to 3460 Hz
 Data band will be above pilot frequency in case 2550 HZ pilot is used,
Band will be from 2720 to 3680 hz.
 Analog interface with PLCC; impedance 600 OHM
 Out put and input to be interfaced with data input and output section
of PLCC
 Data input level to PLCC IS-20 dB, 600 ohm
 Data output level from PLCC lS 0 to -20 dB, 600 OHM
Baud rate and channel allocation
 Baud rate
 50 Baud – 120 Hz band
 100 Baud – 240 Hz band
 200 Baud – 360 Hz band
 300 Baud – 480 Hz band
 600 Baud – 960 Hz band
 1200 Baud – 2400 Hz band
 2400 Baud – 3200 Hz band
Channel allocation
 Option 1 :
PILOT : 3570 Hz
SPEECH : 300 TO 2000 Hz
DATA : 2180 TO 3460 Hz ( PROGRAMMABLE)
 Option 2:
PILOT : 2550 Hz
SPEECH : 300 TO 2400 Hz
DATA : 2760 TO 3760 Hz ( PROGRAMMABLE)
 Option 3 :
PILOT : 3570 Hz
SPEECH : Not used DATA
: 300TO 3460 Hz ( PROGRAMMABLE)
 Option 4 :
PILOT : Not Used
SPEECH : Not used DATA
: 300 TO 3860 Hz ( PROGRAMMABLE)