Channel Coding and Receiver Design for Simultaneous Wireline Information and Power Transfer

Abstract

For the first time, the recently proposed 'talkative power' paradigm combining power electronics and communication engineering is extended by channel coding and advanced receiver design aspects. In this concept, the pulses that control the duty cycle of switched-mode power converters are simultaneously used for data transmission by modifying the pulse phase, pulse frequency, pulse position or pulse width. The data sequence is embedded into the switching signal, similar to random modulation. The data can be used for example in point-to-point links, inside multi-port power converters, and for communication in networked power grids. As an application example a buck converter is studied. Its output voltage is numerically calculated for arbitrary two-level switching signals. The corresponding system model serves as a common framework for switching waveform design, receiver design, and performance analysis. The data sequence is represented by a small deterministic output voltage ripple. Various techniques to improve the data rate and the robustness of the communication are introduced, including line coding, a derivation of the optimum receiver in the sense of maximum-likelihood detection, and forward error correction coding as an option. Although emphasis is on a buck converter, the concept is applicable to other power converter topologies as well.