Cross-Layer Resource Allocation in Medium-Voltage Broadband Over Power-Line Networks

The adverse propagation phenomena along medium-voltage broadband over power-line (MV-BPL) networks necessitate appropriate resource allocation to ensure that the available bandwidth is optimally exploited and the end devices served by a BPL cell are fairly treated. In this paper, a cross-layer resource allocation scheme is proposed aiming at optimally managing the tradeoff between spectrum utilization and fairness on a BPL cell basis. The proposed scheme has been verified in the framework of the transmission control protocol transmission over BPL networks. Various topologies of BPL cells have been studied with regard to aggregate cell throughput and fairness. The analysis and the simulations performed reveal that the performance of MV-BPL networks is drastically dependent on the grid topology and the users distribution over the BPL cells. In this framework, design considerations concerning the optimal design of wide-area BPL networks are discussed.