The role of communication systems in smart grids: Architectures, technical solutions and research challenges

The purpose of this survey is to present a critical overview of smart grid concepts, with a special focus on the role that communication, networking and middleware technologies will have in the transformation of existing electric power systems into smart grids. First of all we elaborate on the key technological, economical and societal drivers for the development of smart grids. By adopting a data-centric perspective we present a conceptual model of communication systems for smart grids, and we identify functional components, technologies, network topologies and communication services that are needed to support smart grid communications. Then, we introduce the fundamental research challenges in this field including communication reliability and timeliness, QoS support, data management services, and autonomic behaviors. Finally, we discuss the main solutions proposed in the literature for each of them, and we identify possible future research directions

Application of Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks to Achieve Intelligent Microgrids: A Promising Approach towards a Global Smart Grid Deployment

Smart Grids (SGs) constitute the evolution of the traditional electrical grid towards a new paradigm, which should increase the reliability, the security and, at the same time, reduce the costs of energy generation, distribution and consumption. Electrical microgrids (MGs) can be considered the first stage of this evolution of the grid, because of the intelligent management techniques that must be applied to assure their correct operation. To accomplish this task, sensors and actuators will be necessary, along with wireless communication technologies to transmit the measured data and the command messages. Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANs) are therefore a promising solution to achieve an intelligent management of MGs and, by extension, the SG. In this frame, this paper surveys several aspects concerning the application of WSANs to manage MGs and the electrical grid, as well as the communication protocols that could be applied. The main concerns regarding the SG deployment are also presented, including future scenarios where the interoperability of different generation technologies must be assured

Future strategic plan analysis for integrating distributed renewable generation to smart grid through wireless sensor network: Malaysia prospect

AbstractIntegration of Distributed Renewable Generation (DRG) to the future Smart Grid (SG) is one of the important considerations that is highly prioritized in the SG development roadmap by most of the countries including Malaysia. The plausible way of this integration is the enhancement of information and bidirectional communication infrastructure for energy monitoring and controlling facilities. However, urgency of data delivery through maintaining critical time condition is not crucial in these facilities. In this paper, we have surveyed state-of-the-art protocols for different Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) with the aim of realizing communication infrastructure for DRG in Malaysia. Based on the analytical results from surveys, data communication for DRG should be efficient, flexible, reliable, cost effective, and secured. To meet this achievement, IEEE802.15.4 supported ZigBee PRO protocol together with sensors and embedded system is shown as Wireless Sensor (WS) for DRG bidirectional network with prospect of attaining data monitoring facilities. The prospect towards utilizing ZigBee PRO protocol can be a cost effective option for full integration of intelligent DRG and small scale Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV)/Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) under SG roadmap (Phase4: 2016–2017) conducted by Malaysia national utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). Moreover, we have provided a direction to utilize the effectiveness of ZigBee-WS network with the existing optical communication backbone for data importing from the end DRG site to the TNB control center. A comparative study is carried out among developing countries on recent trends of SG progress which reveals that some common projects like smart metering and DRG integration are on priority

Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to address the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by incorporating IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes of IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems

Radio Communications

In the last decades the restless evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) brought to a deep transformation of our habits. The growth of the Internet and the advances in hardware and software implementations modified our way to communicate and to share information. In this book, an overview of the major issues faced today by researchers in the field of radio communications is given through 35 high quality chapters written by specialists working in universities and research centers all over the world. Various aspects will be deeply discussed: channel modeling, beamforming, multiple antennas, cooperative networks, opportunistic scheduling, advanced admission control, handover management, systems performance assessment, routing issues in mobility conditions, localization, web security. Advanced techniques for the radio resource management will be discussed both in single and multiple radio technologies; either in infrastructure, mesh or ad hoc networks

Techniques, Taxonomy, and Challenges of Privacy Protection in the Smart Grid

As the ease with which any data are collected and transmitted increases, more privacy concerns arise leading to an increasing need to protect and preserve it. Much of the recent high-profile coverage of data mishandling and public mis- leadings about various aspects of privacy exasperates the severity. The Smart Grid (SG) is no exception with its key characteristics aimed at supporting bi-directional information flow between the consumer of electricity and the utility provider. What makes the SG privacy even more challenging and intriguing is the fact that the very success of the initiative depends on the expanded data generation, sharing, and pro- cessing. In particular, the deployment of smart meters whereby energy consumption information can easily be collected leads to major public hesitations about the tech- nology. Thus, to successfully transition from the traditional Power Grid to the SG of the future, public concerns about their privacy must be explicitly addressed and fears must be allayed. Along these lines, this chapter introduces some of the privacy issues and problems in the domain of the SG, develops a unique taxonomy of some of the recently proposed privacy protecting solutions as well as some if the future privacy challenges that must be addressed in the future.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111644/1/Uludag2015SG-privacy_book-chapter.pd

Supervisor virtual machine for VoLTE service on a cloud environment

With the continuing growth of Voice of Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) networks, coupled with the need of Mobile Operators to reduce maintenance costs, Cloud Service deployment is becoming a common application. This study was designed to create a method capable of improving the Operations and Monitoring activities of a VoLTE service that is deployed on a Cloud platform. In this study, we present contents referring to the constituent elements of a VoLTE network, and we review in detail the features of the Telephony Application Server. For this study, TAS used was the Open TAS. Also included in this study is a generic explanation of Cloud Openstack’s behavior. The presented method implies the creation of a virtual machine Supervisor and its deployment in Cloud. This virtual machine is capable of establishing SSH connections with open TAS to extract the Clear Codes report, which identifies the state with which calls were terminated for analysis. The virtual machine contains defined limits, which check if they have been exceeded. If this a limit is excited, the virtual machine notifies the system operator of an incident. This study presents the possibilities of implementation in a Cloud environment, to improve and automate Operations and Maintenance functions in the Telecommunications network.Com o crescimento contínuo das redes de Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE), juntamente com a necessidade de redução de custo de manutenção pelos Operadores Móveis, a implementação do Serviço em Cloud começa a ser uma aplicação comum. Este estudo foi elaborado com o intuito de criar um método capaz de melhorar as atividades de Operações e Monitorização de um serviço de VoLTE, que esteja implementado numa plataforma Cloud. Neste estudo, encontram-se presentes conteúdos referentes aos elementos constituintes de uma rede de VoLTE, e é revisto em detalhe as funcionalidades do Telephony Application Server. Para este estudo, o TAS utilizado foi o open TAS. Neste estudo, igualmente é incluído uma explicação genérica do comportamento da Cloud Openstack. O método apresentado implica criação de uma máquina virtual Supervisor e da sua implementação na Cloud. Esta máquina virtual é capaz de estabelecer ligações SSH com o open TAS, de modo a extrair o relatório de Clear Codes, que identifica o estado com que as chamadas foram finalizadas, para proceder a análises. A máquina virtual contém limites definidos, os quais verifica se foram excedidos. Caso este evento seja verificado, notificam o operador do sistema para um incidente. Esta é uma proposta que apresenta as possibilidades de implementação num ambiente de Cloud, em melhorar e automatizar as funções de Operações e Manutenção na rede de Telecomunicações