[1st-mile-nm] AT&T broadband over power lines trial

[Steve Ross]

AT&T has a big patent portfolio on this -- mainly ways to make the devices
cheaply. The idea is to insert very high frequency signals on copper by
clamping a transmitter on the wire, every few telephone poles along the
line. This gets around the key problem that high frequency signals don't
carry very far on copper. With Airgig, they get refreshed every few hundred
feet. The (potentially) little refresh/relay devices on the poles would
also broadcast to nearby premises and the roadway, replacing a physical
drop.

They also have variants that can be used on poles as needed to get around
transformers and other devices that can screw up signals.

This is quite different from the old BOP ideas around 2003-4 that inserted
much lower frequency signals on devices much farther apart. We're talking
5+ and even 30+ Ghz now, 100 Mhz then.

Even with the short copper runs between signal refresh, the copper has to
be in good shape. Latency is pretty high along the network as a whole, and
that can be a problem for driverless vehicles, which would probably use
802.11p to communicate with the little antennas that sit on the poles with
the refresh circuitry. (Where 5G is installed, cars would presumably use
cellular transmissions, not Ethernet 11p directly; ATT has a current test
on that using 4G down in San Diego.) Unless conditions are ideal, the costs
climb to where fiber would be easier, especially once you look at opex....

I would see a lot of trouble with using this on a transmission line above
880 V or even above 440 V just because the insulation and isolation issues
get dicey and expensive; 440V would probably be the norm, though. Also, big
transmission lines usually have fiber alongside anyway. But there is no
theoretical reason why this would not work on big DC lines, except that the
tower spacing is greater.

We at Broadband Communities tend to think of these sorts of things in
business terms. If the market is big enough, the devices can be
multi-sourced and made cheaply. But no one solution seems ideal for huge
swaths of problems. These are things that bring about 5 or 10% more
business cases into the money. And that is GREAT! We have not talked about
this much at the magazine, so these opinions are my own.



Steve Ross
Editor-at-Large, Broadband Communities Magazine (www.bbcmag.com)
201-456-5933 mobile
707-WOW-SSR3 (707-969-7773) Google Voice
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steve at bbcmag.com
editorsteve at gmail.com


On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 11:08 AM, John Badal <JBadal at sacred-wind.com> wrote:

> I think you’re right.  I just remember that Edison favored DC.  Guess he
> lost.
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
> *From:* John Brown [mailto:john at citylinkfiber.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, December 18, 2017 8:52 AM
> *To:* John Badal <JBadal at sacred-wind.com>
> *Cc:* David Breecker [dba] <david at breeckerassociates.com>; 1st-Mile-NM <
> 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [1st-mile-nm] AT&T broadband over power lines trial
>
>
>
> Aren't our power grids AC  ??
>
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 8:48 AM, John Badal <JBadal at sacred-wind.com>
> wrote:
>
> I looked at this a few years ago, visiting with a former Sandia Labs
> expert on the matter, and concluded then that the technology was nowhere
> near acceptable in the U.S.  Older power equipment in rural areas and the
> number of transponders seemed to be just one hurdle.  Signal loss is
> another.  If I recall one overriding issue, with our DC electric power
> grids that require a power transformer every specified distance, Broadband
> Over Powerline (BBPL) will require corrective equipment at every
> transformer, not just at the switch and customer premise.  I’m eager to see
> what AT&T comes up with.  It’ll take a deep pockets company to figure this
> out.
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* 1st-mile-nm [mailto:1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org] *On
> Behalf Of *David Breecker [dba]
> *Sent:* Friday, December 15, 2017 2:52 PM
> *To:* 1st-Mile-NM <1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org>
> *Subject:* [1st-mile-nm] AT&T broadband over power lines trial
>
>
>
> I’m curious to know if anyone knows anything about the effectiveness of
> this technology in its current state:
>
>
>
> https://na.smartcitiescouncil.com/article/how-internet-over-
> power-lines-could-be-solution-underserved-communities
>
>
>
> David Breecker,
>
> President
>
>
>
> * David Breecker Associates*
>
> *www.breeckerassociates.com <http://www.breeckerassociates.com>*
>
>
>
> Santa Fe Office: 505-690-2335 <(505)%20690-2335>
>
> Abiquiu Office:   505-685-4891 <(505)%20685-4891>
>
> Skype:  dbreecker
>
>
>
>
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