Modeling Airfield Ground Lighting Systems for Narrowband Power-Line Communications

Airfield ground lighting (AGL) systems are responsible for providing visual reference to aircrafts in the airport neighborhood. In an AGL system, a large number of lamps are organized in serial circuits and connected to current regulators that supply energy to the lamps. Controlling and monitoring lamps (including detection and location of burnt-out lamps) are critical for cost-saving maintenance and operation of AGL systems. Power-line Communications (PLC) is an attractive technology to connect elements of the AGL, reusing the power distribution cable as a transmission medium. PLC technologies avoid the installation of new wires throughout the airport infrastructure. This paper proposes a new model for power-line communication links in AGL systems. Every element (isolation transformer, primary circuit cable, and lamps) has been analyzed in laboratory and modeled using SPICE. The resulting models have been integrated to build a complete power-line link model. Simulation results are compared to experimental results obtained in real conditions in the Airport of Seville (Spain).