It performs much better than wireless alternatives.
If I hide enamel coated filament just beneath my lawn is that going to be good for a one wire bus to work? Does it even need to be insulated?
This is the implementation: https://github.com/gioblu/PJON/tree/master/src/strategies/So...
This is the source code: https://github.com/gioblu/PJON/blob/master/src/strategies/So...
It is extremely rugged, it works much better than any alternative I have ever tried. Ah, it is free and open-source ;)
In case of wireless all you need is ESP32, relay and a power supply. And all of that together will cost less than 10$.
Can you easily (cheaply) use the already existing power cables for PJDL? I know there are network repeaters that use power cables to transfer data, but I have no idea how much it would cost in IoT scenario. Do you have some examples?
Does it have anything in common with 'single-wire earth return', in power-distribution?
Though, I don't know if insulation helps in the case of lightning. Apparently with Ethernet, special grounding thingies help.
In general even the most rugged lightning/surge protection only decrease the likelihood of protected equipment being vaporized.
it can be a nightmare.
A twisted pair seems nice to me because you can use differential signaling and not have to ground your devices e.g. 2 wire RS485.
What if you just connect the antenna wires of all the devices together?
That's what a single wire protocol does.
When you have an object with static electricity and put it in contact with a different object, there will be a transient current, even if the circuit is not closed. The objects basically work as poor-man's capacitors.
Even though the name is "static electricity", when the objects come into contact, it's actually more dynamic than normal, because there is no current between two objects of fixed and different voltage. The more current that flows, the lesser the voltage difference becomes, in an exponential fashion.
This kind of single wire protocol operates solely based on these kind of transient currents. Because the frequency is so high, very little current flows during one period of the waveform, so the receiver will maintain constant potential, as if it was grounded.
That it isn't actually grounded means the signal becomes high-pass filtered. In particular, the DC-component must be completely blocked as it would lead to charge buildup with nowhere to go.