Power Line Based Broadband Communication Systems: Last Leg Utility Grid High-Speed Data Communication Network Will Compete with Telephone and Cable Companies

A computer network using electric power lines to deliver high speed Internet connections to homes can provide cheaper last leg connections compared to telephones or cable connections say Current Grid, LLC inventors. 

The image in FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a power line based communication system which could compete with telephone and cable companies in providing high speed data to the home. Each power line node of each local area network (LAN) is operably coupled to the power line termination module via a high-speed communication path.

The power line based communication system developed by Current Grid, LLC (Germantown, MD) is inteded so that power companies may compete with cable and telephone companies.  U.S. Patent 7,664,117 describes a power line local area network (LAN or power line LAN) for a power line based communication system that includes a set of power line gateways and a respective portion of a utility grid over which a set of power line gateways receives communication services.

According to inventors Heng  Lou and Clifford A. Davidow, such a power line based communication system utilizes the power lines of at least one local distribution transformer and substation transformer to carry broadband data for a neighborhood of users that receive power from the local distribution transformer, and/or substation transformer. The power line based communication system includes a power line termination module, a plurality of power line gateways, and a plurality of power line nodes.

As is also known, the last hundred feet of a communication system, i.e., the connection to each individual user, is the most costly and most difficult to install. To make individual user connections, the Telephone Company, cable company, etc., incurs a truck roll for in-person installation of the wiring, optics, coaxial cable, splitters, specialized modems, etc. In addition, many homes are very difficult to physically access, making the installation of the local connection even more difficult and more costly.

Power, or utility, companies are currently installing, in ground, fiber optic lines in parallel with the installation and/or repair of, power lines into neighborhoods. Such fiber optics may be used for transceiving high-speed data for users within the neighborhoods. The power companies have similar physical constraints in installing fiber optics to each home as the telephone companies and cable companies, in that many homes are physically difficult to access and/or costly to access. Further, the power companies have been unable to easily complete these high-speed data communication paths to the end user's homes.

Therefore, say Lou and Davidow, a need exists for a method and apparatus that enables broadband communications in local area networks capable of connecting all the homes in an area.

These needs and others are substantially met by the utility grid communication system. The  method and apparatus for power line based communication systems. Such a power line based communication system utilizes the power lines of at least one local distribution transformer or substation transformer, to carry broadband data for a plurality of users that receive power from the local distribution transformer or substation transformer. The power line based communication system includes a power line termination module, a plurality of power line gateways, and a plurality of power line nodes which can connect to individual neighborhoods for Virtual Local Area Networks.  

In most embodiments, each of the power line gateways is associated with a respective home. A single power line node typically services each LAN, although a backup power line node may be used for redundancy purposes. In many embodiments, the power line node is physically co-located with a local distribution transformer that services the respective portion of the utility grid, at one of the homes in the LAN, or at any convenient location there between.

In general, the power line termination module manages the broadband data for a plurality of associated LANs Accordingly, the power line termination module includes routing, networking, and switching functions to facilitate the conveyance of data between users of the local area networks and between users of the local area networks and other entities via a communication network or a plurality of communication networks.