ZyXEL Communications PLA-470 V2 - V3.0.5 Guía de instalación descargar pdf (Pagina 124)

PART II

PLC in Practice

The first part of the book introduced the architecture of PLC networks and

explained how they operate from a theoretical point of view. This second part,

focused on practice, details the rules to follow when installing such networks by

putting the emphasis on the new application possibilities brought about by concepts

relating to data broadcasting over an electrical network as well as on the electrical

constraints and choosing, installing, and configuring the devices.

The simplicity and practicality of PLC networks means they can be developed

quickly, which is sustained with the appearance of new PLC technology versions

resulting in new applications and the emergence of the IEEE 1901 standard for

PLCs in the very near future.

From an applications point of view, PLC networks do not bring about particu-

lar changes, and usual applications, particularly voice and video, are used. How-

ever, using an electrical network to convey high rate data has brought about

unexpected applications such as conveying data in a motor vehicle or using PLC as

the backbone of a Wi-Fi network.

We are still at the early stages of these new techniques, and the applications will

evolve with time to integrate more user friendliness, simplicity, and more functions

in particular, which is undoubtedly the most important element as far as the user is

concerned.

Although the PLC philosophy seems simple at first, this is not the same when

focusing on its technical specificities. With regard to electronics, for example, the

notions of electrical network topology and interference are essential features to be

considered when installing a PLC network. In addition, it is important to differenti-

ate useful throughput notions from theoretical rate notions. This rate corresponds

to the network transmission speed. The usable rate is lower because of the mecha-

nisms implemented by the network protocols of the various layers (physical, data

link, network, transport, and so forth). These mechanisms were discussed in detail

in Chapters 3 and 5.

The basic device of a PLC network has highly evolved over the few last years.

Initially, only terminals in the form of bulky desktop packages that were relatively

unsuited to the users’ requirements were available. Now, the devices have all kinds

of configurations with several interfaces and many integrated network

functionalities (router, modem, Wi-Fi access point, switch, and so forth) so that cus-

tom-made configurations adapted to the user’s needs can be set up.

Configuring a Wi-Fi network starts with configuring the terminal and therefore

the PLC adapter. The configuration details in this section are for Windows XP,

Linux, and FreeBSD operating systems. Once the terminal is configured, the instal-

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ZyXEL Communications PLA-470 V2 - V3.0.5 Guía de instalación Pagina 124