Power line communication apparatus and power line communication method

An integrated circuit for receiving a signal via a power line, the signal being carried on a plurality of subcarriers, the integrated circuit comprising:

• a noise level calculator that calculates a noise level corresponding to each of the plurality of subcarriers;
• a determination unit that determines, according to the noise level, a modulation scheme employed for each of the plurality of subcarriers to assign a data volume per symbol to each of the plurality of subcarriers;
• a transmission rate calculator that calculates a transmission rate by calculating, according to the data volume assigned to each of the plurality of subcarriers, a total data volume per symbol resulting from all of said plurality of subcarriers, said symbol having a constant duration;
• and
• a display controller that displays on a display a status of the transmission rate.

A power line communication method for communications via a power line, the power line communication method comprising:

• receiving via the power line a signal being carried on a plurality of subcarriers;
• calculating a noise level corresponding to each of the plurality of subcarriers;
• determining, according to the noise level, a modulation scheme employed for each of the plurality of subcarriers to assign a data volume per symbol to each of the plurality of subcarriers;
• calculating a transmission rate by calculating, according to the data volume assigned to each of the plurality of subcarriers, a total data volume per symbol resulting from all of said plurality of subcarriers, said symbol having a constant duration;
• and
• displaying on a display a status of the detected transmission rate.