Automatic Collecting System Based On Low Voltage Power Line Carrier

Driven by the continuous development and evolution of industries, demand for electric power has been experiencing an increasing trend. In order to ensure its power grid could maintain a reliable and efficient operation on a continuous basis, State Grid Corporation of China has put forward the strategy of intelligent grid. Communication system remains one of the most important prerequisites for establishing such a grid, and although the current cable and wireless networks could create a highly efficient communication system, the high costs incurred in the establishing and operating processes prevent it from covering the end users on low voltage power grid. Therefore, how to establish an effective and efficient communication system has become a significant challenge for everyone concerned. As an enormous network covering every place, low voltage power supply network has drawn increased attention from both the government and relevant science and research institutions. It will be the most cost effective solution if we could achieve data exchange by leveraging on power grid as transmission medium.This paper provides a detailed introduction to the low-voltage-power-line-carrier based automatic meter reading system, which enables communications amongst numerous and geographically widely spread electric meters. This reading system uses FM2261-a specialized carrier communication chip successfully developed by Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics. Co., Ltd. after years of great efforts. The company has applied such digital techniques including 2DPSK and DSSS in the chip during its development process.The author’s job responsibilities are mainly focused on the study achieving in FM2261 the link layer’s routing function, the network layer’s communication protocol, as well as the collector function.Key topics covered in this paper:FM2261 Spread Spectrum Communication Principles, FM2261 Function Introductions and Typical Applications, the Design and Implementation of Communication Protocols, Automatic Routing Algorithm, Automatic Meter Reading System Solution, System On-site Application.