Communications in Smart Grid: A Review with Performance, Reliability and Security Consideration
Moving from legacy power grid systems to Smart Grid (SG) is becoming a priority of many countries and energy service providers. One of the main enabler of a SG infrastructure is having the proper communication network to support its various functionalities and requirements. This paper introduces a communication framework which can be used to integrate the various data communication entities in a Smart Grid environment going from sensors at the consumer’s premises to the energy service provider command and control center. The paper provides a brief overview and discusses the various communication technologies and protocols which can be utilized for such purpose and shows potential scenarios which can be used. Network reliability, performance and overall security considerations are also discussed within the given context.