BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES

How the Internet Works

Regardless of which Internet service provider (ISP) and connection technology you use, the basic functions they perform are the same. This is because the Internet is essentially a hierarchical network of networks connected through various wired and wireless protocols that are interoperable and standard. In other words, networks, even from competing companies or other countries, speak the same computer ‘language' and freely communicate with each other. The instant you connect to the Internet, you have joined a vast global network of networks.

At present, ISPs usually use what are called last-mile technology. That is, they rent fiber-optic lines from phone companies to connect to larger fiber-optic lines, collectively called backbones, to transmit data around the Internet. This negates the need to lay a fiber optic cable for every household. Instead, the end or home user can access the network and data through a much more common and cheaper physical transmission medium, such as a phone line, DSL, cable, or wireless, that links the computer to the ISP's networks. An ISP supplying BPL is not any different from traditional ISPs, except that the transmission medium, instead of a phone line or cable, is a power line. Like other wires, power lines are in fact made from copper.

Before we get into more specifics, I do want to add a disclaimer: BPL is an emerging technology. As such, there are no real standards and specific details may differ; however, the basic execution is the same. This paper will aim to discuss only the most general and, if possible, least proprietary deployment of BPL.