A Close Examination of the Multipath Propagation Stochastic Model for Communications over Power Lines

This paper focuses on the parameterization of the multipath propagation model (MPM) for indoor broadband power line communications (PLC), which up to now has been established in an heuristic way. The MPM model was initially proposed in the PLC context for outdoor channels in the band up to 20 MHz, but its number of parameters becomes extremely large when used to model indoor channel frequency responses (CFR), which are much more frequency-selective than outdoor ones, and the band is extended to 80 MHz. This work proposes a fitting procedure that addresses this problem. It allows determining the model parameters that yield the best fit to each channel of a large database of single-input single-output (SISO) experimental measurements acquired in typical home premises of different European countries. Then, the statistics of the MPM parameters are analyzed. The study unveils the relation between the model parameters and the main characteristics of the actual CFR like the frequency selectivity and the average attenuation. It also estimates the probability density function (PDF) of each parameter and proposes a fitting distribution for each of them. Moreover, the relationship among the main parameters of the model, as well as their impact on the performance of PLC communication systems are also explored. Provided results can be helpful for the development of MPM-based models for indoor broadband PLC.