Overview
Therefore, a novel approach for diagnostics of the power cabling using channel measurements of power line communication devices is proposed. There are mature methods available for performing wire fault detection during a maintenance process, primarily such ones based on reflectometry.
The approach proposed here does not require the test subject to be taken out of service. Instead the goal is to use such a system in-situ, as a sensor network integrated into the power cabling systems which monitors the cabling with respect to anomalies and degradations which might lead to wire faults, and tries to locate such a degradation.
The goal of this project is to develop a wire fault detection concept / algorithms via simulation and specific measurements for a point-to-point connection of two power line devices, in order to show to which extent reliable information can be obtained for the cable as test subject and investigate the influence of various parameters.If the results of this project are promising then a system concept for a PLUS Smart Wire system will be developed and will be proven in a follow-on innovation project (Innosuisse or EC Horizon Europe). The vision for such a system is an embedded and on-line wire-fault-detection functionality of a PLUS modem which, as part of a PLC network, senses the behavior of the transmission medium between the modems, i.e. the power distribution cabling / network, with the goal to detect and locate an existing or emerging wire fault.
