Penn State Researchers Claim Speed-enhancing BPL Techniques

Penn State University says that it has developed a model for electric power providers to deliver data on broadband over power line (BPL) systems at speeds that far exceed current cable modem and DSL services.  “If you condition those power lines properly, they’re an omni-present national treasure waiting to be tapped for broadband Internet service delivery, especially in rural areas where cable or DSL are unavailable,” said Professor Mohsen Kavehrad, leader of the Penn State BPL studies, in a press statement today.

Penn State shared its findings this week at the IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference in Las Vegas.  Kavehrad said his team has identified areas in the current U.S. overhead electrical grid design that create an effect similar to “multipath ” interference in radio signals.  Multipath causes static and ghosting to analog broadcast TV signals and causes bit-rate errors in digital transmissions.  Eliminating this form of signal degradation could reduce the number of signal repeaters needed to deliver a broadband signal to the home.

Last year, NRTC, NRECA and the Cooperative Research Network, co-published a report outlining the technical and economic barriers to rapid BPL service launches in rural America (“CRN/NRTC Report Provides Comprehensive Look at BPL ,” NRTC Update, Sept. 22, 2004).  The need to deploy signal repeaters every few miles in sparsely populated areas is among the chief cost-related barriers, the report found.

For expanded coverage of rural telecommunications developments, read NRTC Update