A Survey on Communication Networks for Electric System Automation

Published in Computer Networks 50 (2006) 877–897, an Elsevier journal. The definitive version of this publication is available from Science Direct. Digital Object Identifier:10.1016/j.comnet.2006.01.005In today’s competitive electric utility marketplace, reliable and real-time information become the key factor for reliable delivery of power to the end-users, profitability of the electric utility and customer satisfaction. The operational and commercial demands of electric utilities require a high-performance data communication network that supports both existing functionalities and future operational requirements. In this respect, since such a communication network constitutes the core of the electric system automation applications, the design of a cost-effective and reliable network architecture is crucial. In this paper, the opportunities and challenges of a hybrid network architecture are discussed for electric system automation. More specifically, Internet based Virtual Private Networks, power line communications, satellite communications and wireless communications (wireless sensor networks, WiMAX and wireless mesh networks) are described in detail. The motivation of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the hybrid network architecture that can provide heterogeneous electric system automation application requirements. In this regard, our aim is to present a structured framework for electric utilities who plan to utilize new communication technologies for automation and hence, to make the decision making process more effective and direct.This work was supported by NEETRAC under Project #04-157

Software Defined Networks based Smart Grid Communication: A Comprehensive Survey

The current power grid is no longer a feasible solution due to ever-increasing user demand of electricity, old infrastructure, and reliability issues and thus require transformation to a better grid a.k.a., smart grid (SG). The key features that distinguish SG from the conventional electrical power grid are its capability to perform two-way communication, demand side management, and real time pricing. Despite all these advantages that SG will bring, there are certain issues which are specific to SG communication system. For instance, network management of current SG systems is complex, time consuming, and done manually. Moreover, SG communication (SGC) system is built on different vendor specific devices and protocols. Therefore, the current SG systems are not protocol independent, thus leading to interoperability issue. Software defined network (SDN) has been proposed to monitor and manage the communication networks globally. This article serves as a comprehensive survey on SDN-based SGC. In this article, we first discuss taxonomy of advantages of SDNbased SGC.We then discuss SDN-based SGC architectures, along with case studies. Our article provides an in-depth discussion on routing schemes for SDN-based SGC. We also provide detailed survey of security and privacy schemes applied to SDN-based SGC. We furthermore present challenges, open issues, and future research directions related to SDN-based SGC.Comment: Accepte

Distributed environmental monitoring

With increasingly ubiquitous use of web-based technologies in society today, autonomous sensor networks represent the future in large-scale information acquisition for applications ranging from environmental monitoring to in vivo sensing. This chapter presents a range of on-going projects with an emphasis on environmental sensing; relevant literature pertaining to sensor networks is reviewed, validated sensing applications are described and the contribution of high-resolution temporal data to better decision-making is discussed

Open-source digital technologies for low-cost monitoring of historical constructions

This paper shows new possibilities of using novel, open-source, low-cost platforms for the structural health monitoring of heritage structures. The objective of the study is to present an assessment of increasingly available open-source digital modeling and fabrication technologies in order to identify the suitable counterparts of the typical components of a continuous static monitoring system for a historical construction. The results of the research include a simple case-study, which is presented with low-cost, open-source, calibrated components, as well as an assessment of different alternatives for deploying basic structural health monitoring arrangements. The results of the research show the great potential of these existing technologies that may help to promote a widespread and cost-efficient monitoring of the built cultural heritage. Such scenario may contribute to the onset of commonplace digital records of historical constructions in an open-source, versatile and reliable fashion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

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

Fall Prediction and Prevention Systems: Recent Trends, Challenges, and Future Research Directions.

Fall prediction is a multifaceted problem that involves complex interactions between physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Existing fall detection and prediction systems mainly focus on physiological factors such as gait, vision, and cognition, and do not address the multifactorial nature of falls. In addition, these systems lack efficient user interfaces and feedback for preventing future falls. Recent advances in internet of things (IoT) and mobile technologies offer ample opportunities for integrating contextual information about patient behavior and environment along with physiological health data for predicting falls. This article reviews the state-of-the-art in fall detection and prediction systems. It also describes the challenges, limitations, and future directions in the design and implementation of effective fall prediction and prevention systems

Performance Analysis of Discrete Wavelet Multitone Transceiver for Narrowband PLC in Smart Grid

Smart Grid is an abstract idea, which involves the utilization of powerlines for sensing, measurement, control and communication for efficient utilization and distribution of energy, as well as automation of meter reading, load management and capillary control of Green Energy resources connected to the grid. Powerline Communication (PLC) has assumed a new role in the Smart Grid scenario, adopting the narrowband PLC (NB-PLC) for a low cost and low data rate communication for applications such as, automatic meter reading, dynamic management of load, etc. In this paper, we have proposed and simulated a discrete wavelet multitone (DWMT) transceiver in the presence of impulse noise for the NB-PLC channel applications in Smart Grid. The simulation results show that a DWMT transceiver outperforms a DFT-DMT with reference to the bit error rate (BER) performance