Confidentiality Technique for PLC Networks

This chapter presents and details a confidentiality technique for Power Line Communication (PLC) networks. It consists of a new multilevel quantization algorithm suitable for key generation, which facilitates the application of information reconciliation strategies to mitigate the impact of channel estimation errors. The method addresses the general lack of channel symmetry in the power line by utilizing the path delays of the Channel Impulse Response (CIR) to derive a symmetric virtual CIR that can lead to a decrease in the Bit Mismatch Rate (BMR) by at least three orders of magnitude.