Software defined utility: A step towards a flexible, reliable and low-cost smart grid

The Smart Grid relies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) but usually there is still a lack of integration in their deployment. They are designed as separated systems and managed that way too. In addition, the changes in the electric network are so complex and dependable on a very rigid hardware architecture. Based on the work done in the European project FINESCE, this paper presents the “Software Defined Utility “(SDU) concept, which advocates the migration of the utility infrastructure to software systems instead of relying on complex and rigid hardware based systems. This new approach provides a prospective view on the evolution of power systems that will benefit from software systems and high-speed data network infrastructures. More concretely, as a first SDU building block, the paper proposes a data storage and management system based on a hybrid cloud infrastructure to meet the storage requirements of electric utilities. In this regard, the following dimensions have been analysed: the most appropriate methodology to select where data resources should be allocated; security requirements and threads taking into account its deployment in a critical infrastructure like a Smart Grid

Recent Advances on Telematics Engineering

[EN] This Special Issue includes extended versions of selected papers from the XII Jornadas de Ingeniería Telemática (JITEL 2015), that took place in Palma, Spain, from October 14th to 16th, 2015. These papers underwent a rigorous review process, ensuring that they present enough new material so as to be considered original contributions while avoiding self-plagiarism.Agüero Calvo, R.; Payeras Capellà, MM.; Femenias Nadal, G.; Lloret, J. (2016). Recent Advances on Telematics Engineering. Network Protocols and Algorithms. 8(1):1-6. https://doi.org/10.5296/npa.v8i1.9365S168

Application of service composition mechanisms to Future Networks architectures and Smart Grids

Aquesta tesi gira entorn de la hipòtesi de la metodologia i mecanismes de composició de serveis i com es poden aplicar a diferents camps d'aplicació per a orquestrar de manera eficient comunicacions i processos flexibles i sensibles al context. Més concretament, se centra en dos camps d'aplicació: la distribució eficient i sensible al context de contingut multimèdia i els serveis d'una xarxa elèctrica intel·ligent. En aquest últim camp es centra en la gestió de la infraestructura, cap a la definició d'una Software Defined Utility (SDU), que proposa una nova manera de gestionar la Smart Grid amb un enfocament basat en programari, que permeti un funcionament molt més flexible de la infraestructura de xarxa elèctrica. Per tant, revisa el context, els requisits i els reptes, així com els enfocaments de la composició de serveis per a aquests camps. Fa especial èmfasi en la combinació de la composició de serveis amb arquitectures Future Network (FN), presentant una proposta de FN orientada a serveis per crear comunicacions adaptades i sota demanda. També es presenten metodologies i mecanismes de composició de serveis per operar sobre aquesta arquitectura, i posteriorment, es proposa el seu ús (en conjunció o no amb l'arquitectura FN) en els dos camps d'estudi. Finalment, es presenta la investigació i desenvolupament realitzat en l'àmbit de les xarxes intel·ligents, proposant diverses parts de la infraestructura SDU amb exemples d'aplicació de composició de serveis per dissenyar seguretat dinàmica i flexible o l'orquestració i gestió de serveis i recursos dins la infraestructura de l'empresa elèctrica.Esta tesis gira en torno a la hipótesis de la metodología y mecanismos de composición de servicios y cómo se pueden aplicar a diferentes campos de aplicación para orquestar de manera eficiente comunicaciones y procesos flexibles y sensibles al contexto. Más concretamente, se centra en dos campos de aplicación: la distribución eficiente y sensible al contexto de contenido multimedia y los servicios de una red eléctrica inteligente. En este último campo se centra en la gestión de la infraestructura, hacia la definición de una Software Defined Utility (SDU), que propone una nueva forma de gestionar la Smart Grid con un enfoque basado en software, que permita un funcionamiento mucho más flexible de la infraestructura de red eléctrica. Por lo tanto, revisa el contexto, los requisitos y los retos, así como los enfoques de la composición de servicios para estos campos. Hace especial hincapié en la combinación de la composición de servicios con arquitecturas Future Network (FN), presentando una propuesta de FN orientada a servicios para crear comunicaciones adaptadas y bajo demanda. También se presentan metodologías y mecanismos de composición de servicios para operar sobre esta arquitectura, y posteriormente, se propone su uso (en conjunción o no con la arquitectura FN) en los dos campos de estudio. Por último, se presenta la investigación y desarrollo realizado en el ámbito de las redes inteligentes, proponiendo varias partes de la infraestructura SDU con ejemplos de aplicación de composición de servicios para diseñar seguridad dinámica y flexible o la orquestación y gestión de servicios y recursos dentro de la infraestructura de la empresa eléctrica.This thesis revolves around the hypothesis the service composition methodology and mechanisms and how they can be applied to different fields of application in order to efficiently orchestrate flexible and context-aware communications and processes. More concretely, it focuses on two fields of application that are the context-aware media distribution and smart grid services and infrastructure management, towards a definition of a Software-Defined Utility (SDU), which proposes a new way of managing the Smart Grid following a software-based approach that enable a much more flexible operation of the power infrastructure. Hence, it reviews the context, requirements and challenges of these fields, as well as the service composition approaches. It makes special emphasis on the combination of service composition with Future Network (FN) architectures, presenting a service-oriented FN proposal for creating context-aware on-demand communication services. Service composition methodology and mechanisms are also presented in order to operate over this architecture, and afterwards, proposed for their usage (in conjunction or not with the FN architecture) in the deployment of context-aware media distribution and Smart Grids. Finally, the research and development done in the field of Smart Grids is depicted, proposing several parts of the SDU infrastructure, with examples of service composition application for designing dynamic and flexible security for smart metering or the orchestration and management of services and data resources within the utility infrastructure

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

A Survey of Intelligent Network Slicing Management for Industrial IoT: Integrated Approaches for Smart Transportation, Smart Energy, and Smart Factory

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via the DOI in this recordNetwork slicing has been widely agreed as a promising technique to accommodate diverse services for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Smart transportation, smart energy, and smart factory/manufacturing are the three key services to form the backbone of IIoT. Network slicing management is of paramount importance in the face of IIoT services with diversified requirements. It is important to have a comprehensive survey on intelligent network slicing management to provide guidance for future research in this field. In this paper, we provide a thorough investigation and analysis of network slicing management in its general use cases as well as specific IIoT services including smart transportation, smart energy and smart factory, and highlight the advantages and drawbacks across many existing works/surveys and this current survey in terms of a set of important criteria. In addition, we present an architecture for intelligent network slicing management for IIoT focusing on the above three IIoT services. For each service, we provide a detailed analysis of the application requirements and network slicing architecture, as well as the associated enabling technologies. Further, we present a deep understanding of network slicing orchestration and management for each service, in terms of orchestration architecture, AI-assisted management and operation, edge computing empowered network slicing, reliability, and security. For the presented architecture for intelligent network slicing management and its application in each IIoT service, we identify the corresponding key challenges and open issues that can guide future research. To facilitate the understanding of the implementation, we provide a case study of the intelligent network slicing management for integrated smart transportation, smart energy, and smart factory. Some lessons learnt include: 1) For smart transportation, it is necessary to explicitly identify service function chains (SFCs) for specific applications along with the orchestration of underlying VNFs/PNFs for supporting such SFCs; 2) For smart energy, it is crucial to guarantee both ultra-low latency and extremely high reliability; 3) For smart factory, resource management across heterogeneous network domains is of paramount importance. We hope that this survey is useful for both researchers and engineers on the innovation and deployment of intelligent network slicing management for IIoT.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)Hong Kong RGC Research Impact Fund (RIF)National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaShenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commissio

Security issues and threats that may affect the hybrid cloud of FINESCE

FINESCE is the Smart Energy use case project of the Future Internet Public Private Partnership Programme. It aims at defining an open infrastructure based on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) used to develop new solutions and applications in all fields of Future Internet related to the energy sector. To accomplish this goal a cloud-based environment is proposed, providing high scalability, fast provisioning, resilience and cost efficiency, while facilitating the deployment of applications and services for utilities. The proposed solution for Smart Energy system encompasses Cloud Computing technologies taking advantage of the service delivery models that it provides (Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)) over different cloud deployment solutions (Private, Public, Hybrid, Community). Therefore, it is necessary to study their implications, particularly with regard to security and data privacy, whether in transit or stored data, of the cloud solution chosen. The present paper aims to gather basic security requirements in deploying a solution based on Cloud Computing highlighting issues in hybrid clouds because this is the deployment model used in Smart Energy use case. It also exposes attacks and vulnerabilities related to Cloud Computing to be considered for implementing a secure environment for FIDEV, the private platform implementation. Moreover, the security requirements for Smart Energy use case are defined. And, finally, the results of a security audit performed over the testbed platform that simulates a distributed storage solution for FINESCE project are presented