Application of ethernet over powerline communication

Abstract

Powerline communication (PLC) has seen notable demand due to its efficiency and the wide range of applications. It is a system for carrying data on a conductor that is also used for electric power transmission. In this thesis, this technique is used to implement a web server using the FPGA development board (DE 2). The information is sent through Ethernet over powerline. Using DE2 Altera kit, a webserver is created. The implementation of web server is done by first instantiating a Nios II system on the board. Nios II system is built around the Altera’s Nios II processor using the SOPC builder tool of the quartus II CAD tool. The SOPC builder tool generates the VHDL code of the defined system. The developed code is, then, configured in the FPGA board to instantiate the system. After implementing the Nios II system, an application program is run in the system to implement the web server. Ethernet packets are sent through the LAN cable over powerline. The output is taken from the Ethernet port and the fed into the Homeplug adapter. The packets are captured using wireshark packet sniffer and detailed analysis is done. This idea can be used for transmitting Ethernet packets over powerline using Homplug adapters.