International Amateur Radio Union - Region 1

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF - EUROCOM WG Chairman
Avenue Paul Hymans 117/29  -  B-1200 Brussels - Belgium
Tel: +32.2.771.67.74     Fax: +32.2.771.49.89     Email: gaston.bertels@chello.be       

EUROCOM Newsletter
06.03.2001

Power Line Communications Workshop
Brussels, March 5th, 2001
Report

1.	Reminder
EUROCOM Newsletter of  26.01.2001 announced the PLCforum Workshop, hosted by the European Commission. EUROCOM Newsletter of 01.02.2001 circulated the agenda and the registration form of the Workshop.

2.	Venue
Over 100 participants gathered in the PLCforum Workshop held in the EC Baraldini room, Brussels on March 5th, 2001 and chaired by Mark Bogers, DG Enterprise.
Representatives of several national regulatory authorities assisted (Germany, France, Belgium...), as well as representatives of NATO, BBC, Deutsche Telekom and military.   
The amateur radio service was represented by Hilary Claytonsmith, G4JKS, RSGB EMC consultant, Erich Lemke, DJ1BD and Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, EUROCOM chairman.

3.	Presentations
•	Chairman Bogers opened the Workshop by drawing attention on the standardisation issue for PLC. PLC is not a radio service and there is no regulatory spectrum issue as such. 
The density of PLC networks can be of considerable influence. To preserve HF users from interference, the chimney approach has been put forward, but no consensus was reached on the efficiency of proposed measures. 
In the EU, EMC limits setting is delegated to standardisation bodies. If standardisation mechanisms don't work, the European Commission can deliver a special mandate to try and solve the problem.
•	Ludwig Hiebinger, PLCforum's Technical and Regulatory Working Group's chairman, introduced PLC. He referred to pilot projects in different European countries, offering several Mb/s wideband communications to test groups of 10 to 250 end users.
Standards for EMC limits have been drafted but no consensus has been reached by the standardisation bodies. Hot spots are the coupling factor (injected power versus emitted electrical field) and the requested radiation limit of 50 dB (V/m) at 10 meters distance.  
The presentator referred to a Dortmund university study.
•	Klemens Gutmann presented the Palas project, targetting a market of 27 million potential users in Europe.
A stumbling-block are different national regulations. The network termination should be defined as being the metering cabinet and not the final plug. 
•	Bernard Desprez, France Telecom reported on the ERC SE35 workgroup he is chairing. 
•	Hilary Claytonsmith, G4JKS, RSGB EMC consultant, was introduced by chairman Bogers as spokesperson for the amateur radio community in the EU.
Hilary briefly presented the amateur radio service and stressed the threat PLC represents to amateur radio. Even with 20 dB "notches" in amateur bands, as proposed in the chimneys' approach, the remaining 30 dB (V/m) is unacceptable and would mask all but the strongest amateur signals.
RSGB measurements in UK suburban locations show day time noise levels below the ITU-R "rural" level (ITU-R PI 372/6 publication).
Proposed PLT injection levels are far in excess of the EN 55022 "B" conducted emission limits. Being a cable network, PLT should be subject to the same limits as other cable distribution networks, e.g. EN 50083-8 limits for cable television networks.
Moreover, "Access" PLT is an intrusive system as it is present in all premises connected to a power network, whether required or not. Interference prohibiting HF radio broadcast reception could be in contravention to Article 10 of the European convention on Human Rights. 
The Amateur Service cannot live with PLT if its emissions exceed existing harmonised standards. Even existing limits are too high for broadband signals using multi-carrier modulation.
•	Mel Maudrell, NATO, presented the viewpoint of the organisation's HF Radio working group (1.6 - 30 MHz).
He said not all military can use satellite communications. Moreover, there is a need to have systems independent of any relay. 
For very short paths and for communications to mobiles, HF is often the only solution. Military have often to cope with lossy antennas and very low signals. Even a 3 dB increase of the noise floor would cause severe problems. The actual noise floor is presently 20 dB lower than the former ITU measurements.
•	Jonathan Stott, BBC recalled the unique HF property of creating usable skywaves. This is a valuable asset for national and for international broadcasting without third party gatekeepers.
He referred to Digital Radio Mondiale, an worldwide consortium of broadcasters created to develop digital broadcasting in the HF bands.
Allmost all EU countries have an international HF broadcasting service. This represents a significant voice to inform the world. Moreover, it contributes to develop European unity.
PLT represents a serious threat to HF users. Power cables are not designed for broadband digital communication and interference is inevitable. Cumulative effects can lead to disturbances over large distances. Radio listeners cannot take any steps to reduce the problem.
•	George Rigopoulos presented the HomePlug Powerline Alliance (HomePlug), an american not-for-profit corporation formed to provide a forum for the creation of open specifications for high speed home powerline networking products and services. 

The proposed system is to comply with US FCC 47CFR Part15. See a description in the appended RSGB position paper, page 5.
Field trials are underway for Access and Indoor systems. Certification is needed and exclusion zones will be provided.
This approach is quite different from the situation that would exist if a harmonised European standard were introduced for PLT.
•	A representative of the ETSI PLT working group reported on the drafting of standards under the presumption of conformity with EU Directives. 
Efforts tend to assure compatibility between PLT systems.
•	John Ryan, secretary of SC205A, commented the work done by CENELEC. SC205A covers mains communications systems.
The existing CENELEC norm EN 50065-1 covers PLC below 148,5 kHz. The norm defines output levels, frequency bands and coexistence issues between utility systems. 
For PLC above 148,5 kHz, a working group 10 has been created within SC205A. A norm has been drafted for a European specification prES59013 to assure coexistence between Access and InHouse PLC systems. Voting is scheduled for 28 March 2001.
WG10 is also developing a norm for broadband PLC, similar to EN50065-1. 
Three task groups have been created :
1. PLT Access
2. Home Networks
3. In-situ measurements 
First meeting June 2001.
A joint working group has been set up with ETSI to develop standards for telecommunication networks, CATV, LANS and PLT. This JWG has not yet started work. An initial meeting is scheduled for May 17th, 2001. Where ETSI is developing system standards, CENELEC is working on norms for the physical layer, up to the data link.
The JWG encounters difficulties to liaise with CISPR/G.
A synoptic table of the impressive number of bodies working on PLT issues was shown.    

4.	Panel session
During lunch break, a position paper prepared by the RSGB EMC Committee was deposited on each seat. This paper is appended.
Mark Bogers chaired the panel session. Here is a summary of the session highlights.
•	Leo Koolen, EC reported on the "unbundling of the local loop". Up till now, 91 % of the end user market is still run by the original companies. But there has been a dramatic price reduction.
•	Among the various means for increasing competition at the local loop level, PLT is one of the possibilities.  
•	A German network company owner stressed the importance of the organisational aspects of unbundling the local loop. If the main company does not offer sufficient facilities to the local loop market, the customer quits.
•	A Spanish company representative said that in Spain PLC testing is going on in 200 households, and that there are no complaints from HF users, not even from radioamateurs living in the same building. Radiation from overhead lines in rural areas is reduced by limiting the power input to the needs of the fewer customers. PLT should not be forced to lower EMC limits than ADSL.
•	A German independent said that there is lack of evidence for the radiation data produced by the PLT promotors, because the testing measurement methods are not clearly defined. One should decide upon a common measurement setup. Discrepancy results from differences in viewpoint. The UK measurements were done from the reception viewpoint and the German measurements from a statistical viewpoint, NB30 being a compromise. The same rules should apply for xDSL and PLT networks.
•	Equipment is covered by the EMC Directive. But there is no standard for the lines.

5.	Conclusion of the workshop
Chairman Bogers observed that many different workgroups are trying to fix the PLT issue. To solve the problem, the EC could decide to deliver an explicite mandate to one body, CENELEC being the best positioned. 

6.	EUROCOM
EUROCOM was invited by DG Enterprise to present the amateur radio viewpoint to a workshop hosted by the European Commission. This is a first.    
We thanked chairman Bogers for this invitation.
Hilary Claytonsmith, G4JKS accepted to do the presentation. Hilary did an excellent job. Her  presentation of the radio amateurs' viewpoint was warmly welcomed. Her questions and her answers during the panel session attested a solid knowledge of EMC issues. Thank you, Hilary.
All presentators used PowerPoint presentations and so did Hilary. The RSGB position paper on PLT was the only technical paper document offered to the participants. Several PP presentations were also technically well documented. 
All in all, amateur radio consolidated its position as a technically valuable partner on the European Union scene.  
  
73.
Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
EUROCOM Chairman 

Annex : 1