PLC breaker bridge
First Claim
1. A power line communication (PLC) bridge circuit, comprising:
- a plurality of branch power line circuits branching from a main power line circuit;
a main coupler that couples data signals to and from the power line circuit to and from each of the branch power line circuits, wherein alternating current power is provided to the main power line through a watt-hour meter;
a main blocking filter that prevents signals in a frequency range of the data signals from reaching the watt-hour meter;
a first and a second branch coupler that couples data signals to and from first and second ones of the branch power line circuits;
a first and a second branch blocking filter that prevents signals in the frequency range of the data signals from entering or exiting the first and second branch power line circuits respectively;
a first communication transceiver connected to the first branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the first branch coupler;
a second communication transceiver connected to the second branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the second branch coupler;
a controller that examines data signals from the first transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the second transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the second transceiver is considered local data;
the controller further examines data signals from the second transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the first transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the first transceiver is also considered local data;
bridging means for passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second transceiver when the controller determines that the data is not local, and for not passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second communication transceiver when the controller determines that the data is local; and
wherein the controller and the bridging means are housed within a housing that contains a circuit breaker.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the invention, a power line communication (PLC) bridge circuit, consistent with certain embodiments, has a first coupler that couples data signals to and from a main power line circuit. A second coupler couples data signals to and from a branch power line circuit, wherein the branch power line circuit is branched from the main power line circuit. A first communication transceiver is connected to the first coupler for transferring data signals to and from the first coupler. A second communication transceiver is connected to the second coupler for transferring data signals to and from the second coupler. A controller examines data signals from the first transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the second transceiver, so that data that is not destined for the second transceiver is considered local data. The controller also examines data signals from the second transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the first transceiver, so that data that is not destined for the first transceiver is also considered local data. A bridge passes data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second transceiver when the controller determines that the data is not local, and passes data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second communication transceiver when the controller determines that the data is local. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
-
Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A power line communication (PLC) bridge circuit, comprising:
-
a plurality of branch power line circuits branching from a main power line circuit; a main coupler that couples data signals to and from the power line circuit to and from each of the branch power line circuits, wherein alternating current power is provided to the main power line through a watt-hour meter; a main blocking filter that prevents signals in a frequency range of the data signals from reaching the watt-hour meter; a first and a second branch coupler that couples data signals to and from first and second ones of the branch power line circuits; a first and a second branch blocking filter that prevents signals in the frequency range of the data signals from entering or exiting the first and second branch power line circuits respectively; a first communication transceiver connected to the first branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the first branch coupler; a second communication transceiver connected to the second branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the second branch coupler; a controller that examines data signals from the first transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the second transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the second transceiver is considered local data; the controller further examines data signals from the second transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the first transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the first transceiver is also considered local data; bridging means for passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second transceiver when the controller determines that the data is not local, and for not passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second communication transceiver when the controller determines that the data is local; and wherein the controller and the bridging means are housed within a housing that contains a circuit breaker. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A power line communication (PLC) bridge circuit, comprising:
-
a plurality of branch power line circuits branching from a main power line circuit; a main coupler that couples data signals to and from the power line circuit to and from each of the branch power line circuits, wherein alternating current power is provided to the main power line through a watt-hour meter; a main blocking filter that prevents signals in a frequency range of the data signals from reaching the watt-hour meter; a first and a second branch coupler that couples data signals to and from first and second ones of the branch power line circuits; a first and a second branch blocking filter that prevents signals in the frequency range of the data signals from entering or exiting the first and second branch power line circuits respectively; a first communication transceiver connected to the first branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the first branch coupler; a second communication transceiver connected to the second branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the second branch coupler; wherein the first and second communication transceivers comprise HomePlug®
standard compliant transceivers;a controller that examines data signals from the first transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the second transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the second transceiver is considered local data; the controller further examines data signals from the second transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the first transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the first transceiver is also considered local data; a common bus shared by the first and second communication transceivers, wherein the common bus is controlled by the controller; wherein the controller further passes data signals over the common bus between the first communication transceiver and the second transceiver when the controller determines that the data is not local, and for not passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second communication transceiver when the controller determines that the data is local, wherein the controller determines whether or not the data is local by consulting a device table; wherein the controller identifies at least one of an available time slot and an available frequency for passing the data signal between the first and second communication transceivers; and a circuit breaker, coupled between the main power line circuit and one of the first and second branch power line circuits, wherein the bridge circuit is housed within a housing that contains the circuit breaker.
-
-
14. A power line communication (PLC) bridge circuit, comprising:
-
a plurality of branch power line circuits branching from a main power line circuit; a main coupler that couples data signals to and from the power line circuit to and from each of the branch power line circuits, wherein alternating current power is provided to the main power line through a watt-hour meter; a main blocking filter that prevents signals in a frequency range of the data signals from reaching the watt-hour meter; a first and a second branch coupler that couples data signals to and from first and second ones of the branch power line circuits; a first and a second branch blocking filter that prevents signals in the frequency range of the data signals from entering or exiting the first and second branch power line circuits respectively; a first communication transceiver connected to the first branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the first branch coupler; a second communication transceiver connected to the second branch coupler for transferring data signals to and from the second branch coupler; a controller that examines data signals from the first transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the second transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the second transceiver is considered local data; the controller further examines data signals from the second transceiver and determines if the data is destined for the first transceiver, wherein data that is not destined for the first transceiver is also considered local data; bridging means for passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second transceiver when the controller determines that the data is not local, and for not passing data signals between the first communication transceiver and the second communication transceiver when the controller determines that the data is local; and a first branch circuit breaker, coupled between the main power line circuit and the first branch power line circuit, wherein the bridge circuit and the controller are housed within a housing that contains a circuit breaker. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A power line communication (PLC) bridging method, comprising:
-
providing a plurality of branch power line circuits branching from a main power line circuit; coupling data signals to and from each of the branch power line circuits, wherein alternating current power is provided to the main power line through a watt-hour meter; preventing signals in a frequency range of the data signals from reaching the watt-hour meter; examining data signals from the branch power line circuit to determine if the data is destined for the branch power line circuit, and if so not passing the data to the main power line circuit, and if not then passing data to the main power line circuit; and examining data signals from the main power line circuit to determine if the data is destined for the branch power line circuit, wherein if the data is destined for the branch power line circuit then passing the data to the branch power line circuit and if not, the then not passing data to the branch power line circuit. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
Specification