PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF TURBO-CODED MC-CDMA OVER BROADBAND POWERLJNE CHANNEL

Abstract

In recent years, the use of existing power lines for transmitting data and voice has been receiving interest. The main advantages of power line communications (PLC) is the ubiquity of power lines and power outlets. Now a days, PLC is emerging as a new technology for broadband services such as fast Internet access, telephone and fax services, and home networking. The severity of noise, attenuation and multipath propagation pose challenges for communications over power lines. Impulsive noise and multipath effects are the main reasons that cause burst errors in power line communications. To nullify these effects, robust modulation and coding schemes are needed. In this dissertation, the BER performance of Turbo codes combined with MC-CDMA is evaluated for the broadband powerline (BPL) channel environment with different combining techniques. The performance is evaluated for single user and multi-user case. For simulating the channel, multipath model proposed by Zimmermann and Dostert is used. This model is based on physical signal propagation effects in mains networks including numerous branches and impedance mismatching. Impulsive noise in the channel has been modeled using Middleton's class A noise model. The performance of Turbo coded MC-CDMA system is compared with uncoded MC-CDMA system and significant coding gain is achieved as shown by simulation results. A performance comparison of Turbo-coded MC-CDMA is also done with other available coding techniques in the broadband powerline channel environment