Page 80 - From Smart Grid to Internet of Energy

66 From smart grid to internet of energy

FIG. 2.1 Overview of traditional power grid.

FIG. 2.2 Conventional and smart metering architectures.

network (IAN), field area network (FAN), and consequently wide area networks
(WANs) [1, 4, 6]. The architectures of conventional metering and smart meter-
ing systems are illustrated in Fig. 2.2 where conventional metering is unidirec-
tional and almost all the processes are done by manually. On the other hand,
the smart metering operations are based on two-way data transmission between
customer and monitoring center. The smart meter is interfaced with two-way
communication devices interacting with gateways and database that are used
to establish a communication channel.
In addition to ICT interfaces, smart meter utilizes several sensors and con-
trol devices to ensure security and reliability of transmission system. Moreover,
smart meters can be programmed to perform a set of functions while conven-
tional meters do not provide such an option. The functionalities of smart meters
can be listed as to present instant and accurate consumption data, to communi-
cate with remote monitoring center, to provide data base for analyzing and
assessment of power quality, to receive control commands from monitoring
and control station and to perform required processes such as turn off or sched-
uled operations, to operate schedule based tariffs, to interact with interfacing
devices and home energy management system (HEMS), to detect and prevent
power losses, tamper detection and energy theft interventions [1, 4].