The uprising interest in multi-agent based networked system, and the numerous
number of applications in the distributed control of the smart grid leads us to
address the problem of time synchronization in the smart grid. Utility
companies look for new packet based time synchronization solutions with Global
Positioning System (GPS) level accuracies beyond traditional packet methods
such as Network Time Proto- col (NTP). However GPS based solutions have poor
reception in indoor environments and dense urban canyons as well as GPS antenna
installation might be costly. Some smart grid nodes such as Phasor Measurement
Units (PMUs), fault detection, Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) etc.,
requires synchronous accuracy as low as 1 ms. On the other hand, 1 sec accuracy
is acceptable in management information domain. Acknowledging this, in this
study, we introduce gossip algorithm based clock synchronization method among
network entities from the decision control and communication point of view. Our
method synchronizes clock within dense network with a bandwidth limited
environment. Our technique has been tested in different kinds of network
topologies- complete, star and random geometric network and demonstrated
satisfactory performance