ARRL participating in IEEE, industry
efforts to set BPL standards
Working with industry through the IEEE Broadband over Power Line (BPL)
Study Group
and in other venues, the ARRL is taking part in efforts aimed at defining
and establishing key BPL technical standards. Among other issues, these
standards will address the avoidance of interference from BPL to licensed
radio services.
The study group has held three meetings this year, and the next session
is set for January 14 in San Diego. The study group met most recently
in Piscataway, New Jersey, on October 13, the day before the FCC adopted
new Part 15 rules to govern BPL deployment. ARRL Lab Manager Ed Hare,
W1RFI, told those attending that gathering that any BPL standards must
address issues of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
"The consensus of the committee is still that dealing with emissions
and EMC is very high on the importance list," Hare said later. In
terms of EMC, he said, the components of any IEEE BPL standard should
"include the needs of the BPL industry to have a workable environment
in which to
manufacture and market BPL technology while addressing the need for licensed
radio services to operate in an environment that does not result in harmful
interference."
Hare's presentation focused on explaining why the BPL industry's measurements
using spectrum analyzers and test probes differ from the impact BPL emissions
have on communications receivers attached to typical amateur antenna systems.
"I also continued to extend our offer to work cooperatively with
industry representatives," Hare said. The ARRL and the FCC's Enforcement
Bureau have a long history of cooperating in resolving Part 15 interference
complaints resulting from power line noise.
Hare and ARRL Chief Technology Officer Paul Rinaldo, W4RI--who attended
a July study group meeting in Piscataway--have been charged with drafting
the part of the IEEE study group's "white paper" dealing with
affected radio services, including Amateur Radio. Other aspects of the
document
will include safety; compatibility between access BPL and in-home BPL;
compatibility with utility distribution systems, and security, privacy
and authentication issues.
Following the July study group meeting, Rinaldo said the consensus of
participants was that the core issue confronting the BPL industry was
dealing successfully with the issue of interference from and to BPL. "BPL
won't survive unless that fundamental problem is solved soon," Rinaldo
asserted.
Rinaldo also took part in a Power Line Communications Association (PLCA)
Strategic Summit and Business Briefing in late October in the DC area.
His presentation concluded, among other things, that best practice for
the BPL industry would be to avoid Amateur Radio spectrum at the quipment
design level.
A few days earlier, Rinaldo had represented the League at a meeting of
the National Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners (NARUC)
Broadband over Power Lines Task Force.
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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