Study of Smart Grid Communication Network Architectures and Technologies

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Journal of Computer and Communications, 2019, 7, 19-29
http://www.scirp.org/journal/jcc
ISSN Online: 2327-5227
ISSN Print: 2327-5219
DOI:
10.4236/jcc.2019.73003 Mar. 15, 2019 19 Journal of Computer and Communications
Study of Smart Grid Communication Network
Architectures and Technologies
Naeem Raza1, Muhammad Qasim Akbar2, Aized Amin Soofi3, Samia Akbar2
1Department of Computer Science, National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2Department of Computer Science, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
3Department of Computer Science, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Smart Grid (SG) is an emerging paradigm of the modern world to upgrade
and enhance the existing conventional electrical power infrastructure
from
generation to distribution to the consumers in a two-way communication fa-
shion to automate the electrical power demand and supply and make
this a
cyber-physical system. SG infrastructure key elements,
such as smart meters,
circuit breakers, transformers, feeders, substations, control centers, grid sta-
tions, are required well-formed comm
unication network architectures. SG
infrastructure is divided into three main communication networks architec-
tures, such as HAH, NAN, and WAN. Each of these communication network
architectures requires reliable, stable, secure, high data rate at real-
time with
the help of different wireline and wireless communication technologies from
HAN to WAN networks. To understand the complete concepts about SG,
a
concise review is presented and it will help the readers to get foundations of
communication network architectures and technologies of SG.
Keywords
Smart Grid, Communication Network Architectures, Wireline and Wireless
Communication Technologies, HAN, NAN, WAN
1. Introduction
This Electricity demand of any country is increasing day by day and causes the
emergence of several severe issues regarding congestion, safety, lack of ubiquit-
ous and operational communication, fault diagnoses, monitoring and automa-
tion due to the nonlinear and complex distribution of electrical power. These
problems may cause a major breakdown at a regional level or beyond by just
How to cite this paper:
Raza, N.,
Akbar,
M
.Q., Soofi, A.A. and Akbar, S. (2019
)
Study of Smart Grid Communication Ne
t-
work Architectures and Technologies
.
Jou
r-
nal
of Computer and Communications
,
7,
19
-29.
https://doi.org/10.4236/jcc.2019
.73003
Received:
January 9, 2019
Accepted:
March 12, 2019
Published:
March 15, 2019
Copyright © 201
9 by author(s) and
Scientific
Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY
4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access

N. Raza et al.
DOI:
10.4236/jcc.2019.73003 20 Journal of Computer and Communications
having a cascading effect on a minor fault. Consequently, it’s a global concern of
21st century to have a different alternative and renewable energy source to take
demand of power by addressing several new design challenges such as storage of
energy, the stability of the power systems and integration of power grids [1].
Smart Grid will enhance the capabilities of the traditional energy systems and
make available for us a more advanced and automated future energy system.
They have lots of characteristics, such as distributed control, solar or wind-based
energy productions, novel components, and virtual smart power plants etc. [2].
SGs are power systems based on integrated bidirectional communications by
sensing and control through the different technologies [3]. Modern SGs are ca-
pable of providing effective delivery of power by responding all the conditions
and events occur at any stage such as generation, transmission, distribution, and
consumption of electrical power with the adaptation of several strategies by us-
ing state of the art information communication technologies. For example, if any
of the problems arise at the distribution side by the failure of medium voltage
transformer, SG may have the capability to automatically recover and control
the flow of electrical power at the distribution grid. Moreover, power demand
profiles of the consumer may be shaped accordingly by smoothly adopting the
demand profile of electrical power at the real-time and peak demand of electrical
power in order to reduce the inclusive requirements of the power plant and its
capital cost [4]. Figure 1 depicts the electrical grid system where power gener-
ated is transferred to distribution and control centers via high voltage transmis-
sion network which is further transferred to distribution feeders via medium
voltage transmission network and at the very last stage is then transferred to
meters via low voltage transmission network [5].
Although numerous conceptual prototypes and architectures are proposed for
Figure 1. Electrical grid system outline [5].

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the implementation of the SG. National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) proposes a conceptual architectural based model for SGs as a guideline
for connecting, studying, analyzing and developing different SG standards. The
overall organization of the paper is shown in Figure 2. The abstract level archi-
tecture to highlight different domains of SG is shown in Figure 3. These do-
mains may have several subdomains and inter- and intra-domains communica-
tion requirements [6]. Requirements and Characteristics of Traditional and
Smart Grid Infrastructures are highlighted in Table 1. Socio-Economic Chal-
lenges/Issues are depicted in Figure 4.
Smart grids are providing several novels applications such as Advanced Distribu-
tion Automation (ADA), Building/Home/Industrial Energy Management (BHIEM),
Demand Response (DR), smart metering, Electrical Vehicles (EVs), etc. [8].
2. Communication Networks of Smart Grid
The infrastructure required for the environment of smart grid can be visualized
Figure 2. Organization of the paper.
Figure 3. NIST conceptual model for Smart Grid [6].

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as the hierarchical and layered architecture of all the major electrical and com-
munication network elements of power generation to the distribution as shown
in Figure 5.
Table 1. Comparison b/w traditional and smart grid [7].
Parameter(s)
Traditional Grid
Smart Grid
Flow of Information
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Power Generation
Central
Distributed
Monitoring
Not Applicable
Self-Monitoring
Topology (Grid)
Radial
Network
Healing
Manual
Self
Testing
Manual
Remote
Control
Passive
Active
Efficiency (Overall)
Low
High
Environment-Friendly
No
Yes
Figure 4. Socio-Economic challenges of SG [9].
Figure 5. Communication Networks of Smart Grid (Requirements) [10] [13].

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Three communication network architecture layers are based on wide area
network (WAN), field area network (FAN)/neighbor area network (NAN) and
home area network (HAN)/building area network (BAN)/industrial area net-
work (IAN) [10] [11] [12]. HAN/BAN/IAN customer premises area CNAs pro-
vide home/building/industrial automation specific applications aim to send or
receive the sensed data from electrical appliances to/from the controller embed-
ded within the appliances. Main requirements are less power consumption, less
cost, ease and secure links for communication. FAN/NAN based CNAs provide
smart metering and distribution specific applications aim to send or receive the
transmitted data from customer/field devices to/from the substation/concentrator.
Main requirements are high data rate and large geographical coverage.
WAN-based CNAs provide wide-area control, protection and monitoring aim to
transmit a huge amount of data at a much higher data rate and longest distance
[13].
3. Communication Technologies of Smart Grid
3.1. Wireline Communication Technologies
Wireline communication is always preferred due to the reliability and less prone
to interference. All the communication technologies both in terms of wirleine
and wireless are shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. Modern technological trends
such as Software Defined Networking (SDN), Internet of Things (IoT), New Ra-
dio (NR), and upcoming Fifth Generation (5 G) cellular networks based dep-
loyment of SGs are also highlighted (Table 2).
Figure 6. Complete Layered Architecture of SG [19].

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Figure 7. Communication Technologies of Smart Grid.
Table 2. Emerging Trends to enhance Modern SG Infrastructures.
Modern Trends and Technologies
Articles
Narrowband Internet of Things (IoT) based SG
[22]
NR based SG
[23] [24]
SDN based SG
[25]
SDN and IoT based SG
[26]
SDN and Cloud-based SG
[27]
Renewable Energy Resources and SG
[28]
Distributed Power Control and SG
[29]
Energy Internet
[30]
3.1.1. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) provides 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps data rate over the
conventional telephone line. Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) provides 8 Mbps, ADSL2+
provides 24 Mbps and very-high-bit-rate DSL (VDSL) provides 52 Mbps down-
stream data rate over copper wires [14].
3.1.2. Power Line Communication (PLC)
Power Line Communication (PLC) is a widely used wireline communication
technology for the SG. PLC face lots of technical challenges such as unpredicted
propagation features and electromagnetic interference due to transformers and
of transmission and distribution power lines. Cater to these issues, there are sev-
eral PLC technologies are in use. Narrowband PLC (NB-PLC) provides 1 bps to
500 Kbps data rate at 500 kHz frequency whereas broadband PLC (BB-PLC)
provides up to 200 Mbps data rate at 2 MHz to 30 MHz frequency [14] [15].
NB-PLC and BB-PLC are based on two-way communication and are capable of
handling and identifying equipment faults by delivering utility application spe-
cific high-speed real-time data. These technologies are preferable on the power
grid distribution side by participating in and supporting distributed generation
(DG), microgrids and consumer participation. PLCs are providing point to point
(P2P) communication b/w transformer substation on a medium voltage (MV)
distribution and are configured to provide point to multipoint connectivity on a
low voltage (LV) b/w meters and transformers near to the home, building and
industry consumers [16] [17].

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3.1.3. Optical Fiber (OF)
Optical fiber guided media communication is a globally deployed wireline
communication infrastructure and is a great choice as a backbone network for
SGs services like Video traffic with very low latency at very high speed. It pro-
vides a maximum of 10 Gbps data rate with a single wavelength and 40 Gbps to
1600 Gbps with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). optical/electric
transducers used in optical communication is an ideal choice for SG due to ex-
cellent sensing and measurement capabilities of the current and voltage values of
electrical power [18].
3.2. Wireless Communication Technologies
Wireless communication technologies are always best suitable due to ease of im-
plementation and less installation cost as a network to work with the smart grid.
However wireless signals may have more attenuation and interference as that of
wireline signals due to the direct impact of transmission and environmental fac-
tors, so these signals provide reliable communication over shorter distance with
less data rate and bandwidth, also they always less secure and have serious pri-
vacy concerns [19].
3.2.1. Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4)
ZigBee is IEEE 802.15.4 standard based on wireless mesh topology network for a
cost-effective, low power and well-organized solution for wireless communica-
tions. ZigBee offers less data rate in personal area networks (PANs) such as
HAN. This wireless technology provides numerous applications such as automa-
tion, control, messaging and remote monitoring of consumer electron-
ics/home/building as well as healthcare, etc. It uses direct sequence spread spec-
trum (DSSS) to provide communication between linked devices in a very less
power. It provides 250 kbps data rate over the 2.4 GHz unlicensed band, 40 kbps
over 915 MHz band and 20 kbps over 868 MHz licensed band per channel. It
supports 10 - 75 meters Point to point (P2P), 30 meters indoor and ever more in
a mesh network. Mesh network may have multiple links to route data packets
from source to destination and the links are dynamically updated and optimized
by the network devices. These characteristics of the mesh network make it more
scalable, stable and fault-tolerant network of wireless nodes [20].
3.2.2. Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) is very popular and mature wireless local area network
(WLAN) technology adopted by the home applications worldwide. It’s operated
in an unlicensed band and is subjected to interference because several other
technologies are also sharing the same spectrum. Innovations in technologies are
moving Wi-Fi towards power sketchy and reduced cost communication. It’s very
preferable technology for HAN architecture. However, citywide infrastructure of
Wi-Fi will also support HAN, NAN and WAN applications. The typical data rate
of Wi-Fi is 1 - 150 Mbps over the distance of 20 to 100 meters.

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3.2.3. WiMAX (IEEE 802.16)
WiMAX can transport the application’s data of terminal devices enabled with
ZigBee or Wi-Fi wireless communication technologies in NAN and WAN net-
works. Smart meters (SMs) generated data is transferred from concentrators to
the backend connected WiMAX base stations. It’s a good choice for increased
data to be transported via WiMAX base stations in a less cost making promising
to deploy advanced real-time applications control with wider bandwidths. It also
supports distributed automation, control, monitoring, management, fault identi-
fication oriented advanced SG applications. The typical data rate of WiMAX is
288.8 Mbps downlink and 72.2 Mbps uplink over the distance of 5 - 100 Kilo-
meters.
3.2.4. Cellular/Mobile Networks
Cellular networks are most suitable wireless technology in WAN communica-
tion architecture for the transportations between SMs and the Utility companies
due to its stable infrastructure. Cellular networks are offering numerous wider
area services to the SG applications in a very affordable way. Emergent of
third-generation (3 G) and LTE wireless communication technologies to the
cellular networks provide much higher data rates in NAN and WAN networks.
Several grid assets such as circuit breakers (CBs), Sensors, transformers, remote
terminal units (RTUs) and substations are connected to the nearly suitable cen-
ters via fiber connections, making it ideal for the SG applications to deploy in a
short time frame without increasing the upfront cost of deployment. Typical da-
ta rate of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) example of 3 G
cellular is 2.048 Mbps over the distance of up to 120 Kilometers and LTE is 300
Mbps downlink and 75 Mbps uplink over the distance of 100 Kilometers [21].
4. Conclusion
To efficiently implement the fully functional SG power systems for the manage-
ment of real-time energy, numerous communication network architectures and
technologies are essential to be deployed at each level of SG infrastructure from
generation of electrical power to the distribution to substations, centers and then
electrical feeders to the actual consumers of electricity, such as homes, buildings
and industry. The division of the SG system is formed into three communica-
tions architectural networks, such as HAN, NAN, and WAN. For each network,
several wired and wireless communication technologies are available and need to
be critically evaluated before actual deployment, because each network may have
different technological requirements in terms of data rate, coverage, frequency,
reliability, security and cost. In this research article, concise review is presented
in a systematic way by first introducing the general conventional infrastructure
of the electrical power grid to more advanced and automated SG by introducing
different network architectures and technologies for the communication, auto-
mation, and control. Several issues are present in SG infrastructure, communica-
tion network architectures and technologies for the deployment of SG, so it’s a

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challenge to all the research community to devotedly work on possible solutions
regarding SG real-world implementations.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this pa-
per.
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