Page 128 - From Smart Grid to Internet of Energy

112 From smart grid to internet of energy

Since the size of transmitted data and transmission environments deeply
affect performance of SG communication networks, each section of SG com-
munication networks have to employ different communication technologies.
Generally, utilized communication technologies in the WANs are based on pub-
lic networks including wired broadband technologies and cellular networks
[27]. However, there exist several potential communication technologies for
WAN applications such as PLC, fiber optics, Ethernet, DSL, IEEE 802.15.4,
IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi, Cellular (3G, LTE, LTE-A 5G), IEEE 802.16/WiMAX
and so on. Also, it is important to note that there are several criterions, which
may be sorted out as installation and maintenance costs, required data rate, cov-
erage, power consumption, deployment characteristic of network and scalabil-
ity of network scheme, to decide which technology is appropriate for interested
applications in any SG communication network. The authors in [28] are inves-
tigated performance of a ZigBee based communication network in a SG system.
Another approaches based on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and WiMAX for SG communi-
cations are researched in [29–32]. In addition, utilization of Internet of Things
(IoT) concept in SG communications is reported in [33] while the improve-
ments on the advanced metering is presented in [34]. PLC based remote mon-
itoring applications for SG systems are reported in [35–37]. On the other hand,
security is a critical concern for public networks employed in WAN architecture
of the SG systems. The use of VPN that aims to combine public and private
network architectures has been recently considered as a solution for dealing
with the security issues. In addition, the use of VPNs may also provide advan-
tages for minimizing infrastructure costs.
The utilization of PLC technologies in SG WANs presents the advantage of
covering communication network with low-cost by exploiting existing power
lines that are essentially designed for energy transmission. The PLC technology
can also provide full control depending on the wide coverage that is merely
managed by the utilities. The PLC systems aim to provide low latency by sup-
plying direct routes among control systems and subsystems. Since several types
of electrical devices are connected to the power lines, which behave as noise
sources, there are various noise kinds adversely affecting performance of
PLC systems. In addition, varying impedance of power lines and electromag-
netic interference problem lead to important problems in terms of distortion
and signal attenuation. These issues are considered important problems for
PLC based SG systems. Another choice for the SG WANs is the use of IP based
technologies. The IP based communication systems are able to provide wide
coverage advantage to connect entire components of SG system. Differentiated
services and multi protocol label switching method can be utilized in these
systems to ensure high QoS and secure connections. In addition, the IP based
systems employ advanced security systems such as Internet protocol security
(IPSec). On the other hand, latency is an important problem for IP based com-
munication systems since slave nodes cannot transmit data in master/slave
configuration. This issue is considered as main disadvantage of IP based