Based on the theory of multiple-sample detection of signal vectors, we propose an optimum space-diversity receiver specifically designed for power-line channels dominated by asynchronous impulsive noise. By simultaneously transmitting the same symbol over two wires and performing two-branch maximal-ratio combining (MRC) at the receiver, the proposed scheme extracts diversity gain without bandwidth expansion.
Assuming impulse noise estimation (INE) at the receiver, the new system outperforms the equivalent diversity structure with conventional AWGN detection over the full
range of SNR levels. For low values of SNR, distance gains in the order of 100 metres can be achieved over the use of single-wire power-line communication systems.