7.1 Introduction

The PLC communication standards evolved to hybrid solutions where radio frequency is used to create alternative routes between devices in the same network.

The RF tests help to evaluate the transmission and reception capabilities of the RF subsystem of devices running PLC Hybrid protocols. These tests cannot be considered as a full validation of the RF subsystem or any design guideline of the RF subsystem.

Microchip provides the necessary firmware/software to perform the different measurements in a similar way than for PLC evaluation:
  • Microchip PLC PHY Tester Hybrid Firmware – The apps_phy_tester_hybrid_tool embedded project configures PLC and RF PHY layers and its serial interface to communicate with any application that implements the corresponding Universal Serial Interface (USI). This firmware is loaded into the DUT and the Reference Device. For the DUT, the user has to adapt the original PHY Tester Hybrid Tool embedded project to the hardware specifications of the design.
  • The Python® Library Package, mchp_plc_tools – It includes a specific package for RF evaluation: mchp_rf_tools_phy_tester_public.
  • The Python PLC PHY Performance Validation Package – Includes on the SNR and EVM Analysis section a simple example for RF analysis.