Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) for broadband communication in smart grids using VLC and PLC

In this paper, a novel and efficient framework for the deeply integrated power line communication (PLC) and visible light communication (VLC) system is investigated with special emphasis on the preliminary results demonstrating its feasibility in smart grids. An emerging multiple access (MA) technique Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is discussed and proposed for the integrated system. Analytically, it is demonstrated that NOMA provides better performance over the Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) schemes in terms of system capacity and power efficiency. Different integration schemes are described for PLC and VLC channels in smart grids. For the comparison among different integration schemes, the key parameters are resilience to noise and interference characterization, highly-efficient signal structure, and overall improved performance at reasonable implementation cost.