Improvements in data transfer rates and energy efficiency through opportunistic relaying in residential power networks

Abstract

In this research, we look at the feasibility of using half-duplex time-division relay protocols to enhance residential power line communication (PLC) networks in terms of data transfer rate, power consumption, and network reach. We consider a network in which source and destination nodes communicate using an opportunistic protocol in which the relay is used whenever possible in preference to direct transmission either (a) to improve the achievable rate subject to a power spectral density (PSD) mask constraint or (b) to reduce the power consumption subject to both the PSD mask and the rate target constraint. We look at both ODF and OAF, or opportunistic decode and forward and opportunistic amplify and forward. We presume that multi-carrier modulation is being used at the physical layer. To optimize the attainable rate or decrease the total transmitted power for both ODF and OAF, we determine the best resource allocation, meaning the optimal power and time slot allocation, between the source and the relay nodes under these conditions. We demonstrate that the combination issue of power and time slot allocation of DF is particularly difficult to solve, making it difficult to execute the power minimization challenge of ODF. For this reason, we offer a simpler approach that splits the original issue into two convex sub-problems. We demonstrate its near-optimal performance via numerical experiments. Finally, because over home PLC networks the relay can only be placed in outlets, in the main panel, or in derivation boxes, we also study the effect of relay position on performance for each opportunistic protocol. The employment of a statistically representative simulator allows for the utilization of both measured and simulated channel responses in the generation of results. They demonstrate how the placement of the relay and the scale of the network affect the achievable throughput and energy savings. Relay, Multi-carrier Modulation, Power Sharing, Power Line Communication, and Allocation of Limited Resources are some examples of Keywords.