A power unit includes an AC/DC converter for converting VAC input to DC, a zero cross unit for modulating the AC/DC converter output to facilitate zero crossing detection based on the output, and a high pass filter (HPF) for filtering data signals, where the data signals are transmitted and received on the same medium from which the VAC input is received. A method for providing power and data signals from a single powerline source, including receiving incoming VAC in an external power unit, converting the incoming VAC to DC, modulating the DC in accordance with zero crossings from the incoming VAC, filtering the VAC to isolate high frequency data signals, where the data signals are transmitted and received on a same medium from which the incoming VAC is received, and providing the DC, modulated DC, and data signals to an embedded processing unit capable of processing the data signals.