Why Should Interference Be Included in a BPL-Industry Standard?

1. BPL and EMCEd Hare, W1RFIARRL Laboratory Manager225 Main StNewington,CT 06111Author: ARRL RFI Book, RF Safety and YouMember: ARRL, IEEEMember ASC C63, EMC Chair C63 ad hoc PLC working group Chair C63 SC-5, ImmunityMember SAE EMC/EMR committeesMember IEEE SCC-28 (RF Exposure)Paul Rinaldo: US delegation to ITU-R, IARUDennis Bodson: Standards Association Board

2. Why Should Interference Be Included in a BPL-Industry Standard? • FCC: Interference issues must be resolved if BPL it to be successful • NTIA: Phase I report outlines interference to government operations to several hundred meters for fixed stations • Over 50 US reports of interference from present deployment • FCC often relies on industry standards in place of more specific regulations. • A standard will strengthen customer perception that interference issues can be resolved

3. Why (continued)? • Licensed services governed by FCC regulations and international treaty • Many HF and low VHF stations will be co-located in neighborhoods where BPL deployed • Consensus standard or industry specification?

4. Background on ARRL • Over 650,000 licensed amateurs in U.S. • ARRL has 160,000 as members • ARRL is membership-services organization, technical publisher and advocate for amateur radio • ARRL’s only concern with BPL is its interference potential

5. Intentional Emitter Radiated Emissions Limits - HF • Sec 15.209 • 1.705-30.0 MHz -- 30 V/m at 30 meters • This will result in an –87 dBW signal to nearby 3.5 MHz dipole • S9+16 dB • This is 10s of dB higher than the weak signals often used on HF • Rules also require that unlicensed devices not cause harmful interference

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8. Emergency management National Guard US Coast Guard U.S. Military Fire Departments Law Enforcement CAP FAA FEMA NASA Voice of America TV stations Amateur and CB radio EMC Is Not Just About Amateur Radio

9. Information about Amateur Radio ARRL can provide frequency information and band-planning (some provided to NOI and NPRM) Amateur transmit power ranges from milliwatts to 1500 watts Amateur antennas range from modest low-gain wires to high-gain antennas on towers Amateur receivers have sensitivity as good as 0.1 dB noise figure (6-10 dB typical on HF) HF external noise figure more typically 20-40 dB, depending on band ARRL will provide reference circuits (station power, emission types, reference antenna patterns, etc) ARRL can write white papers to provide to committee Why Does ARRL Expect to Bring to the Table?

10. Recommendation ITU-R P.372-8 can provide baseline data, although most HF users seek out the lower noise levels that are sometimes well below the median “Median” means exactly what it says, and the range above and below is substantial Any emission that was continuous over spectrum would degrade communications capability, even if at the median values of man-made noise Man-Made Noise

11. The international standard for spectrum sharing is generally set at 1 dB degradation To set a higher level would afford unlicensed users more latitude than that given to licensed services Although there would still be some interference, a good starting point for this level of protection is a field strength of 0 dBuV/m at the receiver antenna, although this is difficult to attain for mobile stations near power lines This is the intent of the industry’s “notching” proposals BPL modulation schemes must be analyzed vis a vis specific narrow-band modulation modes Criteria for Spectrum Sharing

12. User awareness of interference issues Specific mitigation techniques Specific mitigation levels Reasonable clarification about harmful interference to weak-signal users Specific measurement techniques for each type of BPL component Immunity? Up to 200 V/m, 20-30 V/m more typical AMRAD tests, ARRL tests Standard Should Cover:

13. MORE INFORMATIONEd Hare, W1RFIARRL Laboratory Manager225 Main StNewington,CT 06111w1rfi@arrl.org860-594-0318 • http://www.arrl.org/bpl • http://www.arrl.org/~ehare/bpl/hyperlinks.html