The paper on physical layer security in power line communication networks is a landmark paper that sheds new light on the information theoretic limits for secure communications in power line communication (PLC) channels.

“While physical layer security is a well understood topic in wireless communications, this work for the first time addresses it in PLC. The PLC channel has very peculiar characteristics that render it much different from the well understood radio channel. Signal propagation in PLC networks is affected by some level of determinism that significantly affects the channel statistics and introduces correlation between the channel of the intended user and that of the eavesdropper. All of this influences the secrecy rate which is a measure of the speed of communication that can be achieved with total confidentiality”, Professor Tonello says.

This award attests the outstanding work that is carried out by prof. Tonello’s group on power line communications. This is the third award received by Tonello and his group in 2016 including two best paper awards received at IEEE ISPLC 2016. “We are devoting great endeavors in the field of PLC where we carry out research at experimental and theoretical level, looking for applications that can have a direct impact in boosting the PLC market for home networking, smart grids, and in-vehicle communications. This award is such a great encouragement to keep our focus and to contribute further”, Tonello says.

Publication

Alberto Pittolo and Andrea M. Tonello:
Physical layer security in power line communication networks: An emerging scenario, other than wireless.
IET Communications, 2014, 8(8), pp. 1239–1247.