Field performance comparison of IEEE 802.11b and HomePlug 1.0

The HomePlug 1.0 standard allows high-speed communication on low-voltage power lines without a requirement for new wires. Effective use of the power line bandwidth requires a robust medium access control (MAC) protocol to mitigate the harsh conditions of the power line channel as well as the capability to support prioritized multimedia traffic. This paper briefly describes the HomePlug 1.0 MAC and PHY protocols, which allow prioritized channel access. It then presents field test results comparing this with the more familiar IEEE 802.11b protocol.

1. Introduction

This paper investigates two cost-effective options for providing in-home networks. One is the wireless LAN based on the IEEE 802.11b standard [1], [3], [5]. The other uses the existing low-voltage (110/220 V.) power lines for communication [7], [9] based on the HomePlug Powerline Alliance's HomePlug 1.0 Standard, which enables one to establish an Ethernet-class network over these lines [6].