Mauro Tucci

Analysis of Power-Line Communication Channels in Ships

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental analysis on the application of power-line communication (PLC) on a cruise ship. The authors have developed an accurate model of the power grid of a ship when it is used as a PLC channel. The model is developed based on a theoretical approach and validated by a thorough measurement campaign. The accuracy of the model is addressed by a comparison between simulation results and measured data, and its use gives an insight into the performance of the power network to be used as PLC channel.

A New Passive Maglev System Based on Eddy Current Stabilization

In this paper, a new passive maglev system is presented that is capable to levitate at a short distance from a dedicated guide. The magnetic suspension is assured by the repulsion of proper shaped permanent magnets that are present both on the fixed guide and on the moving suspended part. The presence of a conductive (aluminum) sheet that surrounds the magnets on the guide allows to overcome the intrinsic instability of the system when the suspended part is in relative motion with respect to the guide. The motional induced electric currents on the sheet interact with the magnets of the mover producing a stabilizing force. The detailed structure of the proposed system is described and the main results of the simulations by means of a hybrid electromagnetic FEM-MOM code coupled with the equation of motion of the rigid body are shown and commented.

A Wavelet Based Method for the Analysis of Impulsive Noise Due to Switch Commutations in Power Line Communication (PLC) Systems

The aim of this paper is to study the problem of load-time variation in power line communication (PLC) systems and to analyze asynchronous impulsive noise and related channel variations due to switch commutations. A numerical model of the time-varying communication channel is developed by using scattering parameters in the wavelet domain. The proposed method uses the N-port description of the elements that constitute a time-varying PLC system in terms of real matrices with constant elements. This represents a valid alternative to the time domain description usually adopted for analyzing time-varying networks. The comparison with results obtained from other numerical models and with experimental data has confirmed the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed method.

Power Line Communication in a full electric vehicle: Measurements, modelling and analysis

The Power Line Communications technology is now considered as a good alternative for implementing communication grids also in vehicles, with the main scope consisting in reducing the cable harness. In this paper we present the first results relative to a study performed on a fully electric vehicle. Due to the peculiar characteristics of the power grid in electric vehicles (topology and noise), this study is important to verify whether the PLC technology is applicable also in this case.

PLC systems for electric vehicles and Smart Grid applications

In this paper an extensive set of measurements, simulations and testing of a commercial modem are performed in an electric vehicle to evaluate the performance of PLC. The noise of the motor drive is measured and characterized in the time and frequency domains. Also, the noise generated by the AC/DC converter is measured and described. The symbol-error-rate performance of a multicarrier communication scheme is analyzed via simulation by employing the above modeled channels and noise.

Blind Channel Estimation for Power-line Communications by a Kohonen Neural Network

In this paper a new technique is proposed for blind channel identification and equalization in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication over power-lines. The proposed scheme is based on a competitive neural network which utilizes the frequency domain data in the receiver performing a nonlinear decision-directed equalization. This method allows for blind tracking of the time variant channel response and is robust to impulsive noise and non-linearities. Numerical simulations for a realistic indoor power-line show the potentiality of the proposed estimation procedure.

Power-line communications channel estimation and tracking by a competitive neural network

In this paper, a decision-directed method is proposed for channel estimation and equalization in power-line communication (PLC) based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). In the DDE (decision-directed estimation) method proposed, the received subcarrier-symbols are presented to a competitive neural network that adaptively finds the clusters of the QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) constellation. This method does not require a priori know/edge on the powerline then allowing a blind estimation of the channel with tracking capabilities limited by constraints on the phase changes. Simulations on a realistic indoor power-line system show that the proposed method achieves very good channel estimation and equalization performances and that it is robust to impulsive noise and nonlinearities

Multi-resolution based sensitivity analysis of complex non-linear circuits

This study addresses the sensitivity analysis of non-linear circuits in their transient and periodic behaviour. The circuits here considered are built of connections of N-ports with frequency-dependent parameters whose input and output quantities are expanded in the wavelet domain. The use of wavelet instead of the Fourier analysis allows a significant increase in the sparsity of the matrices with a comparable accuracy and convergence rate. In addition, by using the proper wavelet basis, it is possible to analyse both the steady state and the transient behaviour. The adjoint system method is used to obtain the sensitivities of the response of the circuit with respect to the design parameters. The multiport connection is described in terms of scattering parameters and the hierarchical approach is extended to the adjoint system. Computational aspects are discussed and examples of application of the proposed technique are reported. The results are compared with those obtained by the use of other techniques.

Cyclic Short-Time Varying Channel Estimation in OFDM Power-Line Communication

In this paper, we consider an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system over a power-line channel (PLC) that exhibits cyclic short-time variations. In order to follow the cyclic channel variation, a blind estimation method is proposed. Simulations on an indoor PLC network show that the proposed estimation method is suited for following the short-time variation of the channel, achieving a better bit-error rate (BER) than a base pilot-aided method.

Power line communication integrated in a Wireless Power Transfer system: A feasibility study

In this work a characterization of a Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) system as a possible channel for data communication is presented. The frequency response of a real WPT system based on the principle of magnetic resonance coupling is simulated accurately using a lumped equivalent circuit model. The theoretical channel capacity of the channel is calculated as a function of the coupling coefficient of the WPT system, in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise. Furthermore, a general design architecture is presented for embedding a broadband powerline communication, BPLC, system on a WPT system.