(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009)
Stuntebeck, Erich P.; Robertson, Thomas; Abowd, Gregory D.; Patel, Shwetak N.
This work demonstrates the feasibility of using existing
in-home electrical wiring to extend the operational range of
certain wireless devices. Specifically, a wireless keyboard
operating at 27 MHz, which has an operational range of
1.5 – 2 meters on its own, was extended to work throughout
a 3-story 4,000 square foot / 371 square meter home by
coupling the antenna port on its receiver to the power lines.
Coupling between the keyboard and the power lines
occurred over the air, and coupling at the receiver was
accomplished capacitively by simply wrapping a wire
connected to the receiver’s antenna port several times
around a standard electrical device cord plugged into a wall
socket. This phenomenon of the power line as a
communications infrastructure for inexpensive and lowpower
wireless devices has a variety of interesting potential
avenues of research in the home.