Page 244 - From Smart Grid to Internet of Energy

Cognitive radio based smart grid communications Chapter 6 217

license-free frequency band. The interference issue of license-free fre-
quency band will adversely affect stable communication demand of the
SG systems. Nevertheless, the CR devices can overcome this interference
problem by reconfiguring their operating parameters to enable SG commu-
nication [49, 50].
l The gathering and transmission of big data regarding electrical energy sys-
tems may cause major problems for current communication networks. In
addition to improving spectrum usage, the CR technology can handle for
gathering and transmission of big data.
l The communication architecture of SG systems is composed of home areas,
neighborhood areas, and wide areas. Hence, thanks to reconfigurability feature
of CR devices, these devices can manage communication among all of
these areas.
l Data transmission over spectrum holes in the CR technology can also sup-
port low-latency connections for time-sensitive applications of SG systems
[40, 41, 51].
l Since the CR devices detect the radio environment and can dynamically
configure the transmission parameters (i.e., transmission power level), this
technology can decrease both power consumption and operating cost.
l The unoccupied TV spectrum (referred as TV White Space (TVWS)) is a
sparse structure than that of the 2.4 GHz license-free frequency band.
Hence, this band presents better signal propagation advantage. In addition,
lower frequencies of the TVWS provide lower power consumption [52, 53].
Exploiting the TVWS spectrum in CRNs can yield high bandwidth oppor-
tunities for AMIs, Neighborhood Area Networks (NANs) and Field Area
Networks (FANs).
l The IEEE 802.22 standard based CRNs may also provide installation cost
advantage in SG networks since the long-range coverage feature of this stan-
dard (typically up to 100 km) decreases the number of required base stations
[54, 55]. In addition, the IEEE 802.22 standard based CRNs can present
advantages in collecting measurement data from wide area networks
(WANs) [56].
l Metering data should be transmitted to control center in order to ensure an
effective DRM system that is very crucial for the SG systems. Therefore, the
DRM process can be efficiently maintained by exploiting the CRNs [47].
l The SGs contain several distributed generation systems such as solar cells
and wind turbines that are generally located in far away. The effective uti-
lization of these power systems directly affects electrical power quality, and
collaboration between SG elements is necessary to achieve the desired elec-
trical power quality. The CR can be considered as a promising technology in
order to ensure this collaboration [47, 57].
l Low power quality and power outages may cause serious financial prob-
lems. An important reason of these issues is inadequate monitoring of elec-
trical power systems. Since the electrical power systems may spread over