Commercial Power Line Communication Adaptation for Avionic Applications

Abstract : —Aircraft designers believe that Power Line Communication (PLC) technology is a solution to reduce the number of cables aboard. One strategy to implement PLC networks in aircrafts is adapting commercial residential PLC solutions to the avionic environment. We propose in this paper a coupling architecture that improves PLC performance in terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR) when deployed on monofilar avionic networks. We also show that our proposal complies with the aeronautical electromagnetic standard (DO-160) through experimental validation. The proposed coupling architecture is investigated and validated through simulations and measurements. We analyze the performance of the PLC in terms of 3 parameters: S-parameters (transfer function), SNR and currents circulating on the aircraft circuit that must comply with the aeronautical electromagnetic regulations. The study also includes a real case scenario with the presence of a switch-mode power supply, which introduces distortion on the network and deteriorates the PLC performance. A comparison with a standard coupling circuit is performed and the results are promising.