ZyXEL Communications PLA-470 V2 - V3.0.5 Installationsanleitung

MAC Header Format 100Format of an Encrypted MAC Frame 102Format of Control and Management Frames 103PART IIPLC in Practice 105CHAPTER 6Applications 10

RADIUS and Diameter802.1x does not define a particular authentication protocol on the server side. Two cli-ent-server authentication protocols, RADIUS

Apart from encryption, EAP-TLS has the same characteristics as TLS but theseare encapsulated into EAP packets.•EAP-TTLS. EAP-TTLS (tunneled TLS) is a

The authentication is always initiated by the station which sends anEAPoL-Start request. The access point transmits to it one or several requests towh

message; in this case, the station is not authenticated. The station can deauthenticateitself at any time by sending an EAPoL-Logoff request.802.1x us

Virtual Private NetworksThe purpose of the virtual private networks, or VPN, is to provide an end-to-endsecured tunnel between a client and a server.

CHAPTER 5FramesTo send information, the PLC stations must prepare data frames, i.e., data blockswith a header and an area indicating the end of the fr

This chapter discusses the structure of the PLC frames used in HomePlug 1.0and introduces the main characteristics of the frames in HomePlug AV.Physic

Figure 5.3 illustrates the respective times of these various OFDM blocks.The complete frame time is defined by adding the various OFDM symbol blocktim

Improved transmission speeds are predicted with the evolution of PLC technolo-gies, as indicated in Table 5.3.Architecture of the Physical and Data Li

Repeaters 145Filters 146The Cost of PLC148CHAPTER 8Installation 151Frequency Bands 151Regulation of Radio Frequencies 152Electromagnetic Compatibility

The OFDM Interface FrameThe OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) interface is the accesstechnique used by PLC. This access technique is a

Each frequency sub-band conveys OFDM frames comprising two main parts:•The CP (Cyclic Prefix) is used for the temporal delimitation of the part convey

noise can affect some symbols. In the OFDM technique, symbol losses in a carrier donot affect other carriers.•High bit rate allocation flexibility for

The 917 frequency sub-bands at the physical layer are used by HomePlug AV.Each band then uses OFDM symbols in order to encode the data in an orthogona

Differences Between HomePlug Frames and 802.11b FramesFrom a functional point of view, there are a few differences between the variousparts of the Hom

The PLC Physical FrameIn HomePlug 1.0, the physical layer frames, or PHY PPDU (physical protocol dataunit) are strongly related to the MAC layer frame

•The preamble included in the SOF indicates the timestamps of the MAC typeframes.•FC (Frame Check) is used to check the frame. The frame consists of f

Physical Frame Start DelimiterThe start delimiter contains two parts, the preamble and FC:•The preamble contains the frame sending time stamp.•FC (fra

•Contention check used to check the state of the contention periods betweenframes.•Delimiter type specifying whether the delimiter is at the beginning

•Variable field specific to this delimiter, which contains the priority level of thePLC station (indicated by the CAP parameter).•FCS, which uses a 16

Configuring the PLC Gateway 224Configuring PLC Security 228Testing Operation of the PLC Network 230Firewall 231VPN and PPPoE 232Configuring an Interne

•Protocol version. Defines the value of the protocol used. This value is reservedand will only be used during a standard evolution.•Bridged. Indicates

The 48-bit address consists of the four following parts:•Individual/Group (I/G). The first bit indicates whether the address is an indi-vidual (1) or

•IV (initialization vector). Initialization vector with a block of bits concate-nated with the block of main data used for decrypting frames. The IV i

104 FramesFigure 5.18 Control and management fields of PLC frames

PART IIPLC in PracticeThe first part of the book introduced the architecture of PLC networks andexplained how they operate from a theoretical point of

lation phase takes place. A number of constraints must be respected in this phase,such as the electrical network topology, security, and performance.B

CHAPTER 6ApplicationsMany prospective studies show that, in a few years from now, Ninety percent of thenetworked terminals will not be computers. This

Telephony over PLCThe bit rate is not a problem in itself to convey telephone speech, since it can be aslow as 5.6 Kbit/s and that such a value is sup

The access method used to obtain the right to transmit to the access point, theCSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance), makes the

Transit TimeIn PLC, the waiting time to access the power line medium can be relatively long. If,for example, five clients are connected to the same el

CHAPTER 13Hybrid PLC 295Coexistence of Multiple Networks 295PLC Technologies Between Themselves 296Coexistence of PLC and Wi-Fi 298Coexistence of PLC

nal to another one in the same PLC network. After going across the outgoing PLCnetwork, the stream of telephone packets is routed in a fixed IP networ

VideoVideo is another application that should develop in the future in PLC networks. Thisapplication especially requires a high rate that becomes acce

Necessary Rates for Video RoutingThe video devices mainly use the most recent MPEG standards. DVB (digital videobroadcasting) is also widely used.MPEG

several tens of seconds if this is necessary. In this case, once the streaming applica-tion is started, the first image only appears at the end of thi

ited to a factor 3. This is the case of imaging applications, in which the quality isessential, such as X-ray radiographies, for example. Factors vary

Internet Connection SharingOne of the most usual PLC applications relates to the sharing of the Internet connec-tion between several terminals or comp

Ethernet interface (RJ-45 connector). From then on, the other users can use itas a network printer with its IP address.PLC Local Networks 117Figure 6.

Audio BroadcastingA PLC local area network enables data broadcasting over the electrical networkincluding audio data (see Figure 6.6) originating from

Backbone of a Wi-Fi NetworkAs we’ll see in Chapter 13, dedicated to hybrid networks, each computer networktechnology has advantages and disadvantages.

•Voice. Telephony over IP services. The InternetBox behaves like a telephonereceiver to which the analog telephones used on the switched telecommunica

PrefaceSince the emergence of the first power line communication (PLC) products in early2000, PLC technologies have been steadily undergoing great imp

•set-top boxes;•TV decoders;•electrical over-plugs;•flat screens.New Applications for PLCThe maturity of PLC technologies convinced some manufacturers

The industrial applications that currently use PLC networks are the following:•sensor networks;•connection of programmable controllers;•PC located in

In Europe, the Valeo component manufacturer and the company manufactur-ing PLC products worked together to implement a solution using PLC to communi-c

124 ApplicationsFigure 6.10 Number of HomePlug chips sold worldwide

CHAPTER 7EquipmentSince the emergence of the HomePlug 1.0 specification in 2003, the PLC networkequipment market has continued to grow. Originally foc

Master-Slave ModeFigure 7.1 illustrates the architecture of an LV (low voltage) PLC network for elec-trical distribution in the master-slave mode. We

Figure 7.2 illustrates another architecture in the master-slave mode in a domes-tic electrical network. Here we find conventional private electrical n

Conventionally, this is a star topology. The MV/LV transformer used as theinjection point of the PLC signal is located in the middle of the star and t

As illustrated in Figure 7.7, the peer-to-peer mode is ideal for local area net-works since the LAN architecture must enable any terminal (typically P

In HomePlug AV PLC networks, one of the devices acts as the central device andmanages the communications between the PLC stations of the network. Thee

•Chapter 1. Introduction. This first chapter covers the history of PLC technol-ogies and presents the work carried out by the different working groups

Although the PLC technology does not use the modulation-demodulation pro-cess implemented in the modems, we talk about a PLC modem to designate thedev

ments and at temperatures that can be as high as 70°C and are made of plastic for con-sumer equipment and of metal for professional equipment.Inside t

Figure 7.11 illustrates a F@st Plug type Sagem USB PLC modem.PLC Ethernet ModemsThe generalization of network interface cards in computers, network te

The increased performance of HomePlug PLC devices will probably lead themanufacturers to use 1,000baseT (1,000 Mbit/s) boards so that the throughput i

The networks of cable operators are much less widespread than the electricalnetwork and generally have few TV sockets. However, such networks can end

•data circulation over the cable television network to make it the backbone ofthe PLC network;•use of the coaxial interface with an adapter called “in

Figure 7.17 illustrates Thesys (on the left) and Devolo MicroLink dLAN Wire-less (on the right) PLC/Wi-Fi modems.Some manufacturers are currently work

•ADSL/router PLC modem used to transmit the signal originating from theInternet connection over the electrical network. Some devices even add a Wi-Fib

nel) connectors used to broadcast four 192-Kbit/s audio channels over the electricalnetwork.The audio PLC modems must be configured to parameterize th

Methods for Accessing the MediumIn PLC networks, the method for accessing the medium consists of connecting thePLC devices to the electrical network i

•Chapter 12. PLC for Communities. This chapter focuses specifically on thosecommunities faced with the issue of providing Internet access in remoteare

CouplingIn the electrical field, coupling can be defined as how two electrical circuits connecttogether in order to generate an electron flow between

Figure 7.24 illustrates the same principle but with two magnetic ferrites over athree-phase network.Choice of Injection CableIt is preferable to injec

Direct Tap MethodsThe “direct tap” methods are used to connect PLC devices directly to the networkelectrical wirings by perforating the cable insulato

•Some types of meters integrating a galvanic isolation also behave as PLC signalcutters. However, these models are relatively rare and most meters all

are major components of an electrical network for the PLC signal since they sepa-rate the public electrical network from the electrical network of a b

Home-Made PLC RepeaterA home-made PLC repeater can be fabricated by using Ethernet PLC modems available instores.All you have to do is to take two Eth

ticular, these electrical devices send back electromagnetic noises in the frequencyband of the PLC devices. Therefore, it is interesting to install fi

The Cost of PLCAs a result of the evolving HomePlug specifications and increased demand, theprices of PLC products did not stop falling in 2005 and 20

The emergence at the beginning of 2006 of HomePlug Turbo products accentu-ated this fall. We can consider that the price of the HomePlug 1.0 products

As soon as the first HomePlug AV products appeared at the end of 2006, theprice of HomePlug Turbo products felt in turn by 10 to 20%.For private indiv

CHAPTER 8InstallationThe disturbances received and caused by PLC networks must be taken into accountwhen installing the network. The electrical topolo

nologies are installed and implemented under the responsibility of MV electrical net-work operators.The 3- to 148-kHz and 1-to 30-MHz bands are called

As explained before, the PLC networks are not radio networks, but their imple-mentation over electrical wiring produces radiated waves that propagate

broadcast digital quality radio programs over very long-range links and also totransfer data at rates of some tens of kilobits/s.The disturbances caus

Particular Case of EDF Pulsadis Signal (France) for Day/Night TariffMetersThe Pulsadis signal is better known as the day-night signal, since it is use

ham radio operators are not used. The total HomePlug 1.0 bands are therefore equalto de 84 − 8 = 76.Table 8.2 summarizes the high rate frequency bands

In addition, and unlike Wi-Fi, the network configuration does not require youto make choices according to the other assigned channels. All the channel

Figure 8.6 shows that the transmission channel can be viewed as N sub-bandswith their sub-carriers, all of them operating simultaneously and each conv

The HomePlug 1.0 technology includes 84 sub-bands of 195.31 kHz, whereasHomePlug AV comprises 918 narrower sub-bands of 24.414 kHz. Therefore, thePSD

Figure 8.8 illustrates the HomePlug AV PSD curve in the 1- to 30-MHz band.We clearly observe that some frequencies are less emissive than other ones (

AcknowledgmentsI would like first to extend my appreciation to the people at Artech and namely SimonPluntree, my editor in chief, and Judi Stone, who

220V and is 190V or 380V between two phase cables. A three-phase electricalnetwork rather than a single-phase network is used in some buildings since

162 InstallationGround&222 22222Figure 8.9 Topology of a domestic single-phase electrical networkFigure 8.10 Topology of an apartment single-phase

propagates over the cables then goes via the circuit breaker panel to start at the vari-ous cables again. The wiring length can exceed 300m, which is

Like for single-phase networks, the average distance between the circuit breakerpanel and the last outlet connected to the electrical wiring must not

electrical hazards. The protecting devices are called “circuit breakers” (or fuses forold networks). They may be of several types. Each circuit breake

166 InstallationFigure 8.12 Circuit breaker panel of a domestic installation

lets is 15m. The maximum cable length between the circuit breaker panel and the farthestpoint (luminous point or outlet) generally is 50m.It is import

•Identify the areas of the electrical network where the PLC signal is not receivedand the parts of the building connected to other electrical networks

are therefore relatively insensitive to electromagnetic disturbances, or aerial cables,in which case they are more sensitive to electromagnetic distur

170 InstallationFigure 8.14 Electromagnetic disturbances caused by PLC devices connected to the electricalnetworkFigure 8.15 Disturbance amplitude on

Figure 8.16 illustrates how a power strip must be used with a PLC device. Apower strip is inherently a source of noise for PLC devices to which the no

for data at these levels, which is calculated according to the overhead used for man-aging and sending the transmission.As we saw in Chapter 5, the da

TtMACbytes bit byte14 Mbit/s=×≈1534 80000876,.sThe 120-bit PLCP-PDU header is sent at a rate of 1 Mbit/s. Therefore, its trans-mission time (TtPLCP-PD

We are going to calculate the useful throughput associated with this ideal case(Du2). As in the example above, we consider the use of short preambles

The transmission time (Tt3) becomes:Tt T T Tt Tt3+++ + ++WaitCIFSBackoff Data ACKRIFSSince the waiting time and the back-off timer are not fixed, it i

Iperf is used for generating any type of traffic between a client and a server. Forour test, illustrated in Figure 8.20, we use the following componen

Table 8.10 shows the results obtained for various technologies with this test bed.Table 8.11 summarizes the necessary data rates for certain usual Int

In the case of all the stations’ different speeds, the waiting time is prolonged.Because of this, the global network data rate falls heavily. If a sta

CHAPTER 9ConfigurationThe installation of a PLC network is rather simple. All you have to do is connect thePLC devices to an Ethernet network or to a

configuring them according to the targeted operating systems. They are describedfor Windows XP as well as for the Linux and FreeBSD systems.Configurin

Power Line Communicationsin Practice

CHAPTER 1IntroductionThe PLC (power line communication) designates a technology that uses the mediumand low voltage electrical network to provide tele

HomePlug Turbo:DatarateBYTESPHYper sblock=××336840 8 4μ./Mbit swhere Bytesper336 sblockrepresents the number of bytes in a data block at the physical

agement of the PLC network, Figure 9.2, management of priority levels foreach VLAN illustrated by Figure 9.3).•SoftPlug from LEA-Thesys (http://209.23

This tool provides the same functionalities as the previous tools but with aninterface which is perhaps easier to use.Most PLC modems have Ethernet in

Once the tool is downloaded, we can proceed with the installation. Once theinstallation is completed, the Power Packet Utility program can be started

In Figure 9.6, the NEK password has been replaced with the PLC Networkvalue. The longer this password is, and the more numbers and symbols it has, the

Figure 9.8 illustrates the configuration of a PLC local area network using DEKread on the living room and bedroom devices connected to the same electr

networks. It is possible to have several PLC local area networks on the same electrical net-work. These PLC local area networks just have to share the

for 2 seconds. The power on indicator light of the package then blinks. Theuser then has 1 minute to depress the EasyConnect buttons of the other devi

As a configuration example, we are going to use the tool developed byAsokaUSA for its easy implementation and its user-friendly user interface. Once t

assign a device name to it that will be used for easily retrieving the identity of thisdevice in the PLC logical network supervision.At that level, th

(intruder alarm, fire detection, gas leak detection, and so forth). Much less powerneeded to be injected, since the power was reduced to levels of app

With all the functionalities of the Power Manager tool, it is then possible toinstall, configure, and supervise a HomePlug AV network easily by follow

http://download.devolo.biz/webcms/0607105001130251610/dLAN-linux-pack-age-2.0.tar.gzFigure 9.19 illustrates the page of the Devolo site offering PLC c

carcelle@debian:~/Projects/CPL$gunzip dLAN-linux-pack-age-2.0.tar.gzcarcelle@debian:~/Projects/CPL$gunzip dLAN-linux-pack-age-2.0.tar.gzConfiguring a

The USB PLC device must then be connected to an available port of the PC andthe device recognition must be verified by running the following command:c

To compile the USB driver, the next make usbdriver command must then be run(see Figure 9.24):carcelle@debian:~/Projects/CPL/dLAN-linux-package-2.0/dri

carcelle@debian:~/Projects/CPL/dLAN-linux-package-2.0/driver$makeinstallbootenables the USB driver to be loaded when starting up.Simply reboot the co

Since the configuration tool under Linux has been decompressed in the samedirectory as the USB driver, it must first of all be placed it in the correc

debian:home/carcelle/Projects/CPL/dLAN-linux-package-2.0#./con-figureWe can start by configuring the compilation parameters as illustrated in Figure9.

•“set local network password,” used for configuring the PLC network key(NEK) on the PLC device or devices directly connected to the configurationPC us

•“set remote network password,” used for configuring the PLC network key onremote PLC devices connected to the electrical network (DEK);•“list remote

A “standard” is a document from any national body, such as the IEEE (USA), orfrom a Community of States, such as ETSI. To make the difference, it is s

after performing a check-out on the development repository using the follow-ing command:#svn co http://svn.open-plc.org/•Installation of the Debian fa

option, he or she obtains the information on the firmware versions available on theIntellon chip as illustrated below:Choose the frame type (Ctrl-C to

00000000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C B9 08 47 0F 88 E1 00 3900000016: A0 00 B0 52 01 B0 F2 E6 95 66 6B 03 0E 01 00 0000000032: 0C B9 08 47 10 03 01 00 0C

PB received failed...: 0TBE errors over successfully...: 21TBE errors over failed...: 0-- Rx interval 2 --Rx PHY rate...

Powerline Bridge config version 0.2 by Manuel Kasper<[email protected]>Usage: plconfig [-pqrh] [-b device] [-s key] interface-s key set

•The Tasks Communications stack: Used with mails and events for tasks com-munication, interrupt handlers, and buffers for exchanging information witht

Configuring a DS2 Network 207Figure 9.33 DS2 configuration HTTP tool homepageFigure 9.32 Addressing planes of a DS2 PLC network

208 ConfigurationFigure 9.34 DS2 PLC device configuration parametersFigure 9.35 DS2 PLC device MAC and network parameters configuration

placed at 255.255.0.0. In this case, the default gateway is not important since theconfiguration PC has an address in the same addressing plane (10.10

The priority of each of the network PLC devices can then be configured by set-ting the “Default priority” parameter of the “Priority configuration” se

For European countries, this is a fundamental level since the international stan-dards, the specifications of which will be used as a reference for CE

Configuring Network ParametersTo complete the configuration of a PLC network, it is still necessary to assign thecorrect network parameters to each de

There are two versions of the IP protocol: IPv4 and IPv6. The IPv4 address,which is most frequently used nowadays, is on 4 bytes and only limitedfunct

0000000 and 0111111 in the binary format. Knowing that addresses 0.0.0.0.and 127.0.0.0 are reserved, there are therefore 27– 2, i.e., 126 available cl

Subnet MaskThe mask is used for knowing the network address of a computer via a binary sub-traction between the mask and the computer IP address.If th

Configuring Network Parameters Under Windows XPIn the Configuration panel, select “Network” then, in the network componentsarea, choose the TCP/IP com

the IAP like DNS addresses. If there are several DNS addresses, just add a line withnameserver adress_IP_DNS for each additional DNS address.This conf

CHAPTER 10PLC in the HomeIn spite of the still relatively high cost of PLC devices, more and more people aretempted to install a power line communicat

The main electrical safety rules to be complied with are the following:•Install a 500 mA differential circuit breaker for protection against short cir

•Do not overload power strips or extension cords in order not to increase elec-trocution or fire risk.•Comply with the operating instructions of the P

offered by Internet access providers from anywhere in an installation, requiresdevices with a throughput around 200 Mbit/s at the physical layer level

COMPANY STANDARD:Consensus among the employees of an organization.CONSORTIUM STANDARD:Consensus among a small group of organizations, usually like-min

Figure 10.4 illustrates the same home network with all the devices installed forthe broadcasting of the various Internet flows to the outlets of the e

available for the IP network applications based on the PLC network. According tothis table, it is important to find an outlet 5 that gives a minimum 1

The following Niroda devices of the RJ-11 PLC network can be placed as indi-cated in Figure 10.6:•InternetBox connected to the electrical network to o

coverage area that can extend beyond the home area. This allows anybody to accessthe network and to use its Internet connection, for example.PLC netwo

Figure 10.8 illustrates the location of these various gateway types in a domesticinstallation.For a HomePlug device, the PLC gateway requires no speci

226 PLC in the HomeFigure 10.7 Broadcasting of the analog telephone signal over the electrical home networkFigure 10.8 Location of the various gateway

The WinPCap tool used for managing inputs/outputs on the network interfacecard must be installed beforehand. This tool is generally pre-installed by t

Once the network interface card has been chosen, the DOS window closes; thisindicates that the priority configuration is completed.It is important to

This key must have between 4 and 24 characters and include numerals and(lowercase and uppercase) letters if possible, for example, PLCNetworks. Just c

•MAC device = 00:0C:B9:08:47:0F to living room device: “good” quality with24.55 Mbit/s displayed throughput;•MAC device = 00:0C:B9:08:47:10 to bedroom

Cenélec and ETSI. This international standard is not aimed at limiting the deploy-ment of wired networks but at limiting their interfering emissions.A

To test the good operation of the PLC network, it can also be useful to run“Ping” commands from the PC connected to the PLC network to the InternetBox

Hardware firewalls must be installed on the computer connected to the Internet.This is ideally a dedicated computer, such as the access gateway define

Another way of improving the security of the PLC network and of the IP localarea network consists of installing a PPPoE server and an associated RADIU

234 PLC in the HomeFigure 10.17 PLC network with access gateway protected by a firewallFigure 10.18 PLC network with gateway protected by VPN or RADIU

This protection technique based on PPPoE tunnels is widely used by Internetaccess providers to ensure the separation between the various Internet acce

The disadvantage of this type of typology is that the PLC device only rarely has afirewall used for blocking various traffic types and avoiding attack

offers a user-friendly station configuration mode, but this configuration canalso be performed manually by modifying the board parameters directly.DNS

In the case where NAT and DHCP functionalities are not built into the Internetmodem or the InternetBox used as an Internet access gateway, it is still

DHCP can provide a station with a certain range of addresses and that each of theseaddresses is negotiated and is valid only for a given period of tim

240 PLC in the HomeFigure 10.24 Architecture of a PLC home network with a dedicated gateway for accessing theInternetFigure 10.25 DHCP architecture

any enforcement measures related to powerline communication systems). Thefirst such report is due on 31 December 2005.8. This Recommendation is addres

Once these parameters have been received, the computer can dialogue freelywith other computers on the network or have access to the Internet if there

Configuration Under Windows XPConfiguring a DHCP client under Windows XP is very simple:•When inserting an Ethernet board under Windows, it is automat

Configuring an Internet Gateway 243Figure 10.28 Status of the connection to the local area networkFigure 10.29 Properties of the connection to the loc

The board configuration can be checked via the ipconfig command:•In the Start menu, click on the “Execute” button, and enter cmd to open theMS-DOS com

Configuring an Internet Gateway 245Figure 10.33 TCP/IP parameters of the board via ipconfig

CHAPTER 11PLC for BusinessesThe PLC networks increasingly invade the business world, and more generally thenetworks of professional and industrial bui

Network ArchitectureIn a company, there can be great differences in the architecture of a PLC networkaccording to the network size, to the number of s

The terminals can be connected to the network PLC devices in different ways asfollows:•Terminals directly connected to a PLC device connected to the e

The PLC technologies operate at the data link layer level (MAC layer); they can-not be used for the direct remote SNMP interrogation. However, a numbe

and national standards relating to PLC in Europe, in particular the IEC, Cenélec,and the ETSI.Consortiums and AssociationsIn addition to the bodies an

The AsokaUSA company develops products intended for professionals based on theHomePlug specification, which makes these products interoperable with th

•Integration of advanced network functions (NAT router, DHCP server,firewall, switch, Wi-Fi, and so forth).As far as the PLC devices are concerned (fi

(guaranteed high thrughput, propagation time, jitter) are crucial for the good transmis-sion operation without data loss.These constraints can be tole

•Each phase (each cable), with three different injectors connected to the cableTV PLC device via a “one-to-three” TV signal splitter. The induction ta

Placing EquipmentThe location of the PLC devices on the electrical network clearly influences the PLCsignal propagation over the various electrical wi

cast the Ethernet (Internet or LAN) frames to the various PLC devices connected tothe outlets.It is important to recover a wiring diagram of the build

cal network outlets. This central location can be in the technical room as close to theLAN Ethernet network devices as possible.In the case of a centr

In the case of a company, it is however necessary to see to it that the firewalls foraccess to the Internet are correctly configured and that the vari

as a gateway capable of managing all these network keys. The 8950 switch fromAsokaUSA does this by being capable of managing up to 253 PLC network key

According to the manufacturers of PLC devices and to the PLC technologies, it ismore or less possible to configure advanced security functionalities.

The IEEE distributes both information and resources to its members, as well asproviding technical and professional services. To stimulate interest in

network. To remedy this attenuation problem and obtain an optimum and com-plete PLC signal coverage for a building, it may be useful to install device

To enable active PLC devices from Oxance to behave as a repeater (or bridge),an option must be activated by connecting to the PLT320 via the interface

Sample Implementation of PLC in a HotelA hotel wants to be fitted with a multi-purpose computer network for the variousservices it proposes to its cus

The following elements must be taken into account in the network architecture,as illustrated in Figure 11.13:•Place and configuration of the various P

Sample Implementation of PLC in a Hotel 265Figure 11.13 Complete architecture of the hotel PLC networks

Hotel Story PLC NetworksThe hotel proposes to the customers to connect to the Internet in their bedrooms viaa lent PLC device to be connected to the b

devices. For 22 bedrooms, it is just necessary to have two segments (one with 15 andone with 7) to cover the story requirements.Figure 11.16 illustrat

Configuring a DHCP Client Under LinuxFinding Linux systems in corporate networks, whether on servers or client stations,is more and more frequent. The

Configuring a DHCP/NAT ServerMost Linux distributions propose a DHCP server called dhcpd.The configuration of the DHCP server just requires the creati

It can also be started automatically by creating a script in the /etc/rc directoryand by incorporating the following command:/usr/sbin/dhcpd eth0NAT (

PLC ForumThe PLC Forum is an international body created at the beginning of the 2000s fromthe merger of two associations. It develops its activities i

ally after having switched on the gateway, or to write a script in the /etc/rc directoryin order to automatize the NAT execution when starting the gat

CHAPTER 12PLC for CommunitiesDuring the last years, high throughput Internet accesses proposed by Internet accessproviders have spectacularly develope

The various subnets of the electrical network partly differ by the networkowner, on the one hand (cables, pylons, infrastructure devices, and so forth

the framework of an electrical network that has safety rules different from those oftwisted pair, cable TV, or optical fiber networks.For electrical u

•Network topology;•Distance between pylons;•Distance between the transformer and the various meters that it supplies;•Number of meters behind a MV/LV

The electrical network construction rules determine the PLC engineering to beimplemented to obtain the best coverage and the best performance of the I

and the PLC infrastructure in collaboration with the operational teams of the localelectrical utility.The prime contractor team consists of electrical

•Distribution networks. Used for connecting the exchanges of the Internetaccess providers and the subscribers to the Internet and to IP networks in ge

Constraints of the Electrical Network for PLC ArchitectureIf the electrical network of a country supposedly not interconnected to its neighborsis exam

For a listing of recent titles in the Artech HouseTelecommunications Library, turn to the back of this book.

Among the disadvantages, there is the relative immaturity of the products con-cerning the outdoor (external) and the access networks. In the case of h

tecture that we have seen in Chapters 10 and 11 dedicated to home and corporatePLC networks.The topology of the low voltage HTA electrical network of

•PLC gateway used for the connection to other IP networks.•PLC injectors used in the public electrical network installations as illustratedin Figure 1

•Intervention on PLC devices by authorized people.The authorizations for interventions on an electrical network (deenergized,close or energized) are o

The information in this table is only given as an indication but it should enabledesigners to choose the PLC technology best suited to the community s

All the infrastructure devices can be supervised with the SNMP or TR-069 pro-tocols using tools used for retrieving information (throughputs, status o

•PLC distribution network, with the master PLC gateway or gateways at theelectrical substation (hosting the MV/LV transformer, the repeaters and thesl

For this purpose, it is necessary to connect to the HTTP configuration interface of theproducts via VPN tunnels between the NOC and the PLC infrastruc

(France), with the support of the Tiscali Internet access provider for the Internet con-nection.This distribution network was intended to test the qua

The deployment of PLC distribution networks has enabled the introduction ofhigh throughput in “white” areas not served by ADSL offers. So, these two c

As far as the United States is concerned, a good example is given by CurrentTechnology.In the USA, Current Technology deployed at the end of 2006, a B

•quick deployment;•no additional wiring;•a robust encryption method.12 Introduction

Current Technologies has developed a repeater-amplifier product at the level ofthe physical layer that is used for reamplifying the PLC signal over th

Current proposes a system for collecting meter information over the MV and LVnetwork. This information relates to the various electrical parameters av

The interface can be operated with the GIS (Geographical Information Systems)of the utility. Therefore, the data of a transformer or meter can be disp

CHAPTER 13Hybrid PLCThe recent developments of computer communication media have multiplied thenetwork media (wired Ethernet, Wi-Fi, PLC, optical fibe

PLC Technologies Between ThemselvesAs we have seen throughout this book, there is no IEEE PLC standard as yet. As aresult, a number of PLC technologie

•Management of hybrid accesses between FDMA (frequency division multipleaccess) and TDMA (time division multiple access);•Management of the QoS by a T

Coexistence of PLC and Wi-FiThere are no problems with coexisting PLC and Wi-Fi technologies since differentfrequency bands are used, with PLC operati

The NBG318S devices from Zyxel, illustrated in Figure 13.5, will be used toillustrate the configuration of such an architecture.Zyxel proposes a route

The next configuration step concerns the parameters specific to the Wi-Fi net-work and to its security. First, an SSID (i.e., a Wi-Fi network name) mu

PART IPLC TheoryThis part of the book is devoted to the HomePlug specification. Created by theindustrial alliance of the same name, HomePlug focuses o

Choosing the IEEE 802.11 ModeWhen the network is configured in the “802.11 Super G dynamic” mode, it isimportant to make sure that all the 802.11 clie

The network PLC devices must also be named in order to have a better readabil-ity of the network with respect to the MAC addresses of each device. In

Coexistence of Multiple Networks 303Figure 13.9 Confirmed association of a new PLC device on the networkFigure 13.10 Configuring the WAN interface cho

Coexistence of PLC and Wired EthernetThe coexistence of PLC and wired networks (Ethernet cable, optical fiber, cable TV,telephone cable, and so forth)

The network engineering study aims at identifying the following characteristicsin particular:•Structure of the buildings (size of the rooms, raceway p

•Open-endedness, removal requirements, temporary networks, test networks,and so forth;•User groups and requirements of specific logical networks;•Easy

•IP links between the telecommunications premises and the buildings usingSHDSL modems over twisted pair telephone cables;•Ethernet backbone along the

HomePlug AV and IEEE 802.11 Super G dynamic to market in order to providebetter throughputs and the broadcasting of HD video streams.Figure 13.13 illu

ResourcesWeb SitesStandardizations OrganizationsIEEE: http://www.ieee.orghttp:// grouper.ieee.org/groups/1901/ for the PLC network working groupETSI:

http://www.atlantisland.it/http://bewan.comhttp://www.billion-france.com/http://cometlabs.com/http://www.courantmultimedia.frhttp://www.connectland.ne

Low Bit Rate PLC Technologieshttp://www.siconnect.comhttp://www.itrancomm.comhttp://www.arianecontrols.comBooks and ArticlesDOSTERT (KLAUS), Powerline

About the AuthorXavier Carcelle earned an M.Sc. in EE from Ecole Normale Supérieure, France. Hehas held different positions in the industries of energ

IndexAACK response, 46, 47Active repeaters, 145Address classes, 212–213AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), 65–66AIFS (allocation interframe spacing),

Broadcast address, 102Brute force attacks, 72Business PLC, 247–271access to electrical medium, 253–255application classes, 255architecture illustratio

HomePlug AV network, 187–191HomePlug AV network under Linux,200–204HomePlug Turbo network, 179–187Internet gateway, 235–245network parameters, 211–216

EAP (extensible authentication protocol)(continued)EAP-MD5, 81EAP-TLS, 81–82, 82LEAP, 82PEAP, 82EAPoL (EAP over LAN), 82–83EIFS (extended interface sp

electromagnetic compatibility and, 157–160high bit rate, 155–157illustrated, 153low bit rate, 154–155MV networks, 151OFDM, 91radio frequency regulatio

HomePlug 1.0/Turbo network configuration(continued)under Windows, 180–187USB device, 183–187visible parameters, 181HomePlug Alliance, 8HomePlug AV net

CHAPTER 2ArchitecturePLC, or power line communication, is the generic name for a network technologythat transmits data over electrical wiring. It is t

DHCP client configuration, 268–271HomePlug 1.0 network configuration,191–200HomePlug AV network configuration,200–204network parameter configuration,

Network parametersaddress classes, 212–213configuration, 211–216configuration (Linux/BSD), 215–216configuration (Windows XP), 215DNS (domain name serv

hybrid architecture example, 299modems, 136–137optimized, 307–308See also Wi-Fi“Power line carriers,” 2Power line communications. See PLCPowerPacket U

Security parameters (home PLC) (continued)configuring, 228–230firewall, 231–232PLC gateway, 224–228testing operation, 230–231VPN and PPPoE, 232–235Seg

Transmission channel (continued)segment bursting, 53–54synchronization and frame controls, 49–51Transmission power, 158–160Transmission time, 173, 175

Recent Titles in the Artech HouseTelecommunications SeriesVinton G. Cerf, Senior Series EditorAccess Networks: Technology and V5 Interfacing, Alex Gil

Digital Clocks for Synchronization and Communications, Masami Kihara,Sadayasu Ono, and Pekka EskelinenDigital Modulation Techniques, Second Edition, F

Marketing Telecommunications Services: New Approaches for aChanging Environment, Karen G. StrouseMission-Critical Network Planning, Matthew LiotineMul

Telecommunications Cost Management, S. C. StrotherTelecommunications Department Management, Robert A. GableTelecommunications Deregulation and the Inf

Drawing a parallel to the PSTN (public switched telephony network) model of anational telephone company, the electrical distribution network’s power p

In terms of responsibility, each part of the electrical network is operated by dis-tinct organizations, responsible for supply and transport of electr

This section introduces some of the physical properties of electrical wiring inorder to understand its capabilities (both advantages and limitations)

also be expressed in terms of electrical flux (φ) and associated with the electricalpotential between the two surfaces of the dipole:CV=φ(expressed in

•harmonic noise, composed of multiple frequencies used by electrical equip-ment connected to the network and which are multiples of the line frequency

Power Line Communicationsin PracticeXavier Carcelleartechhouse.com

The signal frequency of a HomePlug 1.0 modem is between 4 and 25 MHz, giv-ing a power spectral density of –50 dBm/Hz. We will examine the consequences

Depending on the electronic components used, the analog interface has a char-acteristic “sensitivity” that affects its ability to transmit the PLC sig

Work by Nicholson and Malak has allowed us to express the average imped-ance of an electrical line by the formula:ZLCc=whereL = μH/m (linear inductanc

With the exception of EMTP, which allows modeling an entire electrical net-work and all its wiring as a function of its topology, there exist few tool

main circuit breaker panel, and the PLC signal circulates in all branches by passingthrough the panel.Figure 2.7 illustrates a simplified example of a

At points in the electrical wiring where the PLC signal becomes too weak to beused by the network’s PLC devices, the repeater amplifies and regenerate

signal and not on the data frames. Therefore, this type of repeater does notreduce the bandwidth of the overall PLC network.•“Logical” PLC repeaters r

28 ArchitectureFigure 2.10 Sum of the modulated PLC signal and the power signal (for example, 110 V/60 Hz)Figure 2.9 Position of PLC technologies in t

Two frequency bands are allocated to PLC technologies:•3 to 148 kHz for low bit rate PLC;•2 to 20 MHz for high bit rate PLC.Figure 2.11 illustrates th

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataA catalog record of this book is available from the Library of CongressBritish Library Cataloguing i

CHAPTER 3FunctionalityThe functionalities of the PLC networks are introduced in this chapter. The technol-ogies used in these networks are simple enou

•Peer-to-peer mode. May be compared to a peer-to-peer IP network, where allthe PLC devices of the network play the same role and have the same hierar-

numbers of bits/Hz, and so forth). This QoS management is ensured by usinga quality table for the various links located at the PLC master level.•Possi

Peer-to-Peer ModeThe telecommunication network theory has been much based on the network devicehierarchy principle. This principle was put into questi

•Selection of the best suited modulation mode and FEC (forward error correc-tion) type in view of the PLC link qualities. In the case of HomePlug 1.0,

HomePlug 1.0 PLC Network Hierarchy by Means of PrioritiesWithin IEEE 802.3 Ethernet frames, a VLAN field may be placed described in the IEEE802.1Q sta

The data is communicated between the PLC1 and PLC2 devices in the followingway:1. PLC1 and PLC2 put in place an estimate of the transmission channel (

If managing the medium access is handled by the CCo centralizing device like inthe master-slave mode, the data is exchanged directly between the devic

increases when a station could not emit, making it possible to bring the use of thenetwork in line with this priority level.Figure 3.5 illustrates the

Two types of mechanisms are used in the VCS:•detection of fields at the beginning of the frame;•wait for response information provided by the frame co

To Yves, Françoise

•RIFS (response interframe spacing). When a station waits for a response fromthe destination station, the latter waits for a RIFS time of 26 μs before

frames coming from the source station from the response frames coming fromthe destination station.•RGIFS (reverse grant interframe spacing). Used for

Figure 3.7 illustrates the variation of the contention window (CW) and of thetransmission failure counter (DC) according to the number of retransmissi

If CW and DC reach their maximum value defined by the HomePlug 1.0 stan-dard, these values are maintained, even if the BPC is decremented.As explained

Data Transmission ExampleWhen a source station wants to transmit data to a destination station, it makes surethat the medium is not busy. If no activi

The destination station can resend three types of acknowledgment frames:•ACK. The destination station has correctly received the data contained in the

ACK ResponseIn the case of an ACK acknowledgment by the source station, the destination stationresends to it a response frame containing the RFCS fiel

NACK ResponseIn the case a NACK type acknowledgment, the destination station resends to thesource station a response frame after a contention period i

SACK Response in HomePlug AVIn the AV version of the HomePlug standard, an additional response, the SACK (SelectiveACK) response, has been added to co

Synchronization of HomePlug AV FramesRecent PLC developments made it possible to improve the performance of thedevices while keeping the interoperabil

lish the specifications of the HomePlug AV (for Audio and Video) version which ismuch more efficient for the management of the quality of service (QoS

The CAP variable is used by a PLC station to inform the other stations of itsmedium access priority. This variable determines the values of the PRP1 a

the number of possible PLC stations in the same PLC network (16 stations forHomePlug 1.0 and 1.1 and 250 stations in HomePlug AV). Some values arerese

Frame Level FunctionalitiesIt is important to remind the structure of the data frames transported over the elec-trical network in order to understand

The network modeling into seven layers according to the OSI model makes itpossible to understand how the PLC technologies structure data exchanges for

Fragmentation ReassemblyIn a PLC transmission using a shared medium disturbed by other uses with a wiredEthernet link using a cable dedicated to data

the destination station or is damaged when it is received, NACK (non-acknowledg-ment) or FAIL (failure) processes are implemented between the source s

This is achieved with the dynamic adaptation of the data rate at the physicallevel according to the quality of the PLC links.Optimum use of the global

The unicast mode is also possible: since the PLC stations are identified by theirMAC address, if a station knows the MAC address of another station, i

delimiter and response frames is used to prioritize the frames with respect to those ofthe stations with the same priority level or a lower priority l

ContentsPreface xiiiOrganization of the Book xiiiAcknowledgmentsxviiCHAPTER 1Introduction1PLC Technologies 1Standard Organizations 2What Kinds of Stan

CHAPTER 4SecuritySecurity has been the main problem for Wi-Fi networks. In the case of PLC, this isnot so much of a concern as it is difficult to have

to send data; and integrity control, which is used to know whether the data sent was notmodified during the transmission.CryptographyMaking a text or

Various symmetric-key cryptography algorithms have been developed, in par-ticular DES (data encryption standard), IDEA (international data encryption

However, the DES hasn’t been used since 1998 as its reliability was consideredto be poor. Its encryption algorithm has been altered and improved.3-DES

RC5 and RC6RC5, another proprietary algorithm of RSA Security, is an encryption algorithm inblocks with a variable block size between 32 and 128 bits,

the next round. At the end of the last round, which does not require transformationmechanism M, the data block is considered encrypted.Once all the bl

As with symmetric-key cryptography, various algorithms are used, in particularRSA (Rivest, Shamir, Adelman) and Diffie-Hellman.Though this technique m

Mixed-Key CryptographyMixed-key cryptography, illustrated in Figure 4.6, uses the two aforementionedtechniques, i.e. symmetric-key cryptography and pu

A message to be sent can be signed using various techniques. One of them usespublic-key algorithms but hash functions are mostly used.Use of Public Ke

Figure 4.8 illustrates a sender who wishes to send a message while making sureof its authenticity. For this purpose, a message digest is created by th

Peer-to-Peer Mode 34Centralized Mode 36Transmission Channel Functionalities 38Access to the Medium Using CSMA/CA Techniques 38The ARQ (Automatic Repea

Various hash techniques are used, in particular the following ones:•MD2, MD4, and MD5. Message digests 2, 4, and 5 were developed by RonRivest for RSA

•Brute force attack. This attack consists of working through all the possiblecombinations in order to recover a password or an encryption key used in

Therefore, a PLC logical network is based on an encryption key called a NEK(network encryption key) in the HomePlug specification that encrypts the da

However, several more or less realistic techniques are used to have access to thedata exchanged over a PLC network; in particular, these techniques co

Access to Physical FramesThe data exchanged over a PLC network is carried in PLC frames known as “physi-cal frames.”The PLC frames circulate over the

The NEK identifies the PLC network in the same manner as the WEP (wiredequivalent privacy) is used to protect the data of a Wi-Fi network. It also car

Calculating the NEKThe PKCS#5 standard specifies two methods for the implementation of a cryptogra-phy derived from passwords. The PBFDK1 method was c

m is the input message of arbitrary length converted to a bit stream.mpadconsists of pad bits (1 followed by 0’s) concatenated to m such that the leng

Decryption AttacksThe purpose of this attack is to try to discover the NEK of a PLC network in order toconnect to it and to recover the exchanged data

We notice that this technique requires too much time to be used efficiently.Denial of Service AttacksThe purpose of an attack is not necessarily to cr