October 2007 | Technical Report TR-08-450
Potential Interference from Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Systems to Federal Government Radiocommunications at 1.7–80 MHz - Phase 2 Study, Volumes I and II
Cite This Publication
James C. Richards and Jonathan V. Williams, “Potential Interference from Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Systems to Federal Government Radiocommunications at 1.7–80 MHz - Phase 2 Study, Volumes I and II,” Technical Report TR-08-450, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, October 2007.
James C. Richards and Jonathan V. Williams
Abstract: On October 14, 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) adopted a Report and Order that defined new Part 15 rules for Access Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) contributed to the Commission’s work by providing analysis to support recommendations for refinements in the rules and measurement guidelines in comments and staff correspondence filed in response to the Commission’s earlier BPL Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
The NTIA Phase 2 study of Access BPL systems expands on its earlier Phase 1 study by providing additional modeling results and analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of the FCC’s rules and measurement guidelines in minimizing the potential for harmful interference to federal radiocommunication systems under worst-case conditions. . . . This Phase 2 report illustrates the application of the rules and measurement guidelines in a case study. Using the NEC software package, NTIA created an elaborate power line model that approximates an existing overhead Access BPL power line structure. After applying the emissions limits and methodology from the BPL measurement guidelines, NTIA analyzed the noise floor increase expected in nearby receivers as a result of BPL operations. In addition, NTIA used this power line model to analyze the BPL emission levels that might be seen at more distant receivers. The results of the case study are consistent with NTIA’s earlier analyses using simple power line models. [T]he Phase 2 study analyses expanded on the scope of NTIA’s earlier analyses and applied the Commission’s adopted rules and measurement guidelines for Access BPL systems. The results of these analyses confirm that these Access BPL rules, measurement guidelines, and special protection provisions will limit the interference risks for federal radiocommunication systems.
Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software may be identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.
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