Power Line Communication (PLC) is now used in multiple end-equipment applications. A good example are grid applications, where the necessary data is communicated from one device to another using the power cable as transmission lines. Hence the name; Power line communication. This is achieved by modulating the data at a higher frequency band (typically in the kHz and MHz band) on top of the power line. This reference design features a simple approach for PLC, using an On-Off-Keying modulator in combination with a line driver and passive filtering, to transmit data over a Universal Asynchronous Receiver, Transmitter (UART) interface.

• 4 selectable modulating frequencies: 125kHz, 500kHz, 2MHz, 5MHz
• Built-in current limit protection, and reverse polarity protection using TI eFuse
• Space reduction using the same communication line for both receiving and transmitting
• BoosterPack™ Plug-in Module compatible with multiple microcontroller families like MSPM0 and the C2000™