A Channel Model for Multiple Input Multiple Output in-home Power Line Networks

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) techniques have recently become an important research field for enhancing the performance of in-home Power Line Communication (PLC) systems by exploiting the additional Protective Earth wire. The development of such systems requires an accurate description of the propagation channel. This paper presents a statistical model for the MIMO PLC channel, based on an extensive set of MIMO channel measurements performed in five houses. In this model, the Phase-Neutral link is described as a multipath channel with frequency variable attenuation, following a formalism first proposed by Zimmermann and extended statistically by Tonello. The full channel matrix is obtained by suitably modifying the path phase. The resulting channel matches our experimental measurements, and reproduces the correlation observed in the measured MIMO channel matrix.