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Smart grid network architectures Chapter 3 105

The network deployed at customer side will be more effective and efficient
only if it has features of simplicity, cost efficiency, less power consumption and
security. The most important advantage of wireless communications utilized in
HAN/BAN/IAN is that it can be established anytime, anywhere and without
spending too much money for installation. Besides that, wireless communica-
tion has also the provision to add on and remove the devices. For these reasons,
wireless communications are better options than wired ones for these network
schemes. Moreover, it is unrealistic to choose wired communication methods
in the scenarios where the nodes are highly dense like in sheer volume of home
automation networks. However, wireless communication has to undergo
through multipath environment since many wireless devices such as mobile
phones, mobile routers, remotes, different type of sensors and microwaves
are used at home which may face interferences due to reflections through walls.

3.3 Neighbor area networks (NANs)

The NAN is responsible of managing flow of communication signals between
WANs and consumer premises area networks, which can be done either through
wired or wireless communications. In a neighborhood, energy information
received from customers are transmitted to a utility company through the
NAN. The SMs are the endpoints of NANs that are assumed to be at the core
of SG systems. For AMI applications, the SMs are connected to local access
points through NAN. It gathers information from numerous household appli-
ances in its vicinity and conveys these data to the WAN. The SMs are endpoints
of NAN installed on the outdoor of single family houses or apartment buildings.
After a specified regular interval, a SM records electrical, water, and/or gas
usage of consumer, and then provides electronic means to read this data. The
SMs also facilitate in real-time or specified-time sensing, notifications on power
outage situation, and monitoring of power quality. Commonly, coverage area of
a NAN is about several square kilometers (e.g., 1–10 km). On the basis of topol-
ogy of power grid and the deployment of communication technologies and pro-
tocols, the number of SMs in every NAN scheme changes from several hundred
to several thousands. The data rate requirements of every SM may be different
based on the application types. For instance, low data rates (as much as bps per
SM) is required for interval and on-demand meter reading applications whereas
higher data rates (typically tens of Kbps per SM) may be necessary in order to
maintain advanced applications such as fault detection, advanced distribution
automation and so on. Since NAN is responsible for carrying a massive amount
of diverse data types and deploying control signals among utility companies and
an enormous number of devices mounted at customer premises, the NAN is con-
sidered as a crucial part of the SG communication networks.
The NAN plays a vital role for the connection of distribution side appli-
ances. A mesh can be created by the deployment of SMs entirely or may be
formed by combination of SMs and some GWs to transmit data. Normally, a