more on Is broadband set to make power lines sing? - already does in the UK

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 09:06:12 +0100
From: Andrew Bale <andrewbale () hotmail com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Is broadband set to make power lines sing? - already does in
 the UK
X-Originating-IP: [213.69.211.246]
X-Sender: andrewbale () hotmail com
To: dave () farber net

There have always been three major problems for powerline:
1) can you get data reliably over the (very noisy) power cables themselves
2) can you do it without using so much transmit power that it interferes
with every device in the neighbourhood
3) can you do it economically

(1) has (in most deployment scenarios) been solved by the use of advanced
signal processing techniques (for example home powerline LANs now work very
well - though have been completely overtaken by the even greater convenience
of in-home wireless)
(2) is largely solved - better receive signal processing reduces the need
for power in the transmitter
(3) remains - largely due to the architecture with which power is
distributed

Power systems rely on step-down transformers located close to the consumer -
each tending to serve a relatively small number of homes.  It's practically
impossible to get a data signal through a transformer(!) which means that
data has to be passed from the core network to a head-end device on the far
side of the transformer.  The hardware and deployment costs of this head-end
device has to be shared amongst the users of the system.  Since the
transformers are generally only supplying a small user base the economics
demand a VERY high take-up - something that experience shows is highly
unlikely, unless you are in an area of zero competition.  With all the
competing options (cable, DSL, satellite) that is unlikely.  While the UK
trials below are clearly working, that does not imply that they are
demonstrating a good commercial model.  Power companies (especially in the
UK and Germany) have been trying this for years, largely in attempts to see
whether they can persuade a high enough density of customers to adopt the
service to solve this economic problem.

Interestingly - the service described in a previous [IP] mail used wireless
for the last leg to the customer - which (I think) implies that they are
inverting the more usual powerline scenario, where fiber is used to the
distribution box and powerline gets to the customer (as in the UK trial
below).  In the wireless scheme I think they are proposing to use powerline
over the main distribution network to replace fiber, and then using wireless
instead of powerline in the local loop.  Interesting, but hardly
earth-shattering.

Andrew Bale

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>
To: <ip () v2 listbox com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 7:13 PM
Subject: [IP] Is broadband set to make power lines sing? - already does in
the UK



Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 18:05:18 +0000
From: "Charles Arthur, The Independent" <carthur () independent co uk>
Subject: Re: [IP] Is broadband set to make power lines sing? - already does
in
  the UK
X-Sender: Charles_main@localhost
To: dave () farber net

Hi ...

At 11:51 am -0500 on 24/2/04, you wrote:

 ><x-flowed>
 >
 >Is broadband set to make power lines sing?

It already does, in the UK. From an article in The Independent on February
4 (now behind a paywall on the site, so here's an extract):

".....
Scottish and Southern Energy have chosen Winchester and Stonehaven (near
Aberdeen) for full-scale commercial trials following successful pilots in
Crieff and Campbeltown. The company is expecting up to 1,000 users in
Winchester alone. Professor Cochrane's [former head of BT Research] views
are clear: "The laws of physics have not changed and the telephone line
well outperforms them. What these guys have and do promise, and what they
deliver, are worlds apart."
So who's right? The answer, of course, is to spend some time in Winchester
finding out.  Among the first users - just 33 of them in early December -
are Liz Galfskiy and her son, Adam. Mrs Galfskiy relies on her computer for
an Open University course. A fixed price dial-up AOL connection was
essential, especially as Adam is a keen user too. Several broadband offers
had left her unmoved until she heard about the Southern Electric trial.
In mid-November, engineers installed a booster box adjacent to her
electricity meter and provided a powerline broadband modem. For most
properties nearer a substation, only the modem is needed. Setting up the
broadband connection is trivial; plug in the modem (£50) and connect it
with an Ethernet cable to your PC. The service (£29.99 monthly) includes
unlimited e-mail addresses and web space too.
But is it strange to have your broadband connection through a 13-Amp
socket? Mrs Galfskiy doesn't think so. Thanks to her
technically-knowledgeable son, who installed a router, several PCs share
the single connection. Broadband allows them to watch BBC news items online
and listen to "crystal clear" radio: "It's excellent. I'd throughly
recommend it," she says.
A test with the speed checker on adslguide.org.uk confirmed an impressive
980 Kbps download - 20 times dial-up speeds. The upload result was a poor
478 Kbps given the advertised "up to" 1 Mbps for both directions. Adam
claims he's seen 1.7 Mbps connections.
But what happens when you turn on a hairdryer, run the washing machine or
vacuum the carpet?  "We haven't noticed any effects on the connection,"
responds Mrs Galfskiy.  However, choose the electrical socket with care as,
in her experience, powerline broadband dislikes multiple adaptors.
.."


Not everything gets implemented first, or even best, in the US, you know.



         best
         Charles
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The Independent newspaper on the Web: http://www.independent.co.uk/
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