Identity‐based Schemes for a Secured Big Data and Cloud ICT Framework in Smart Grid System

Smart grid is an intelligent cyber physical system (CPS). The CPS generates a massive amount of data for efficient grid operation. In this paper, a big data‐driven, cloud‐based information and communication technology (ICT) framework for smart grid CPS is proposed. The proposed ICT framework deploys hybrid cloud servers to enhance scalability and reliability of smart grid communication infrastructure. Because the data in the ICT framework contains much privacy of customers and important data for automated controlling, the security of data transmission must be ensured. In order to secure the communications over the Internet in the system, identity‐based schemes are proposed especially because of their advantage in key management. Specifically, an identity‐based signcryption (IBSC) scheme is proposed to provide confidentiality, non‐repudiation, and data integrity. For practical purposes, an identity‐based signature scheme is relaxed from the proposed IBSC to provide non‐repudiation only. Moreover, identity‐based schemes are also proposed to achieve signature delegation within the ICT framework. Security of the proposed IBSC scheme is rigorously analyzed in this work. Efficiency of the proposed IBSC scheme is demonstrated with an implementation using modified Weil pairing over an elliptic curve

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