A Wireless Communication Architecture for Smart Grid Distribution Networks

Electric power distribution networks in smart grids are envisaged to observe substantial modifications in order to suit the nature of nonradial power flow due to the wide spread of renewable energy resources (RERs) across the power grid. Most of the current supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for power grids do not provide any monitoring to the low-voltage distribution networks where RERs (e.g., photovoltaic cells) may be connected. This paper proposes a multihop wireless network with a cellular frequency-reuse structure that can provide the communication infrastructure to the dense low-voltage distribution networks for active monitoring and control purposes. Moreover, this paper proposes an effective way of data dissemination across the introduced network architecture with prioritized data transfer using a position-based quality-of-service (QoS)-aware routing protocol. Furthermore, a load-balancing mechanism is proposed to account for data network overloading during the occurrence of abnormal events in the distribution network. In addition, this paper provides an analytical framework that can be used as a tool to estimate the capacity and coverage area of the proposed architecture mathematically. The analytical framework is validated by extensive computer simulations.