Preamble detection for broadband power line communication systems

Power line communication (PLC) systems enable information exchange over existing electric power grids at a low deployment cost. Such systems constitute a crucial component of smart grids. However, PLC is negatively affected by multipath channel, random impulsive noise (IN), and background noise. Numerous studies have evaluated the data detection performance of PLC systems; however, few studies have examined the preamble detection performance of these systems under IN. Accordingly, the present study evaluated preamble detection schemes for PLC systems. Specifically, the study compared two schemes, namely, an energy detection scheme and an autocorrelation detection scheme. The study results indicated that the energy detection scheme exhibited lower complexity and had a shorter mean time to correct detection than did the autocorrelation detection scheme. Therefore, the energy detection scheme was determined to be more suitable than the autocorrelation detection scheme for preamble detection in power line channels, a finding that is in contrast to expectations.