EXTRACTING ZERO CROSS INFORMATION IN A POWERLINE COMMUNICATION DEVICE

摘要

A powerline communication (PLC) device can be configured to execute functionality for zero cross sampling and detection. When the PLC device is directly coupled to a high-voltage PLC network, the PLC device can comprise printed safety capacitors in series with a high-voltage input AC powerline signal to safely couple the high-voltage AC powerline signal to the low-voltage processing circuit. The PLC device can also comprise an ADC to sample a scaled AC powerline signal and to obtain zero cross information. When the PLC device is part of an embedded PLC application, dynamic loading can affect the integrity of a low voltage zero cross signal that is used to extract zero cross information. After digitizing the zero cross signal, the PLC device can execute functionality to minimize/eliminate voltage drops caused by dynamic loading and obtain the zero cross information.

主权项

1. A network device comprising:
a printed capacitor coupling unit configured to:
receive an AC powerline signal at a first voltage level from a powerline communication network; andprovide the AC powerline signal at a second voltage level to a zero cross detector of the network device, wherein the second voltage level is lower than the first voltage level; and the zero cross detector coupled with the printed capacitor coupling unit, the zero cross detector comprising:
an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) unit configured to convert an analog representation of the AC powerline signal to a digital representation of the AC powerline signal; anda digital processing unit coupled with the ADC unit, the digital processing unit configured to extract zero cross information from the digital representation of the AC powerline signal.