TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of IP-Based Communication for Smart Grid Using Software-Defined Networking
AU - Cataliotti, Antonio
AU - Guaiana, Salvatore
AU - Panzavecchia, Nicola
AU - Cosentino, Valentina
AU - Rinaldi, Stefano
AU - Cara, Dario Di
AU - Sisinni, Emiliano
AU - Panzavecchia, Nicola
AU - Ferrari, Paolo
AU - Bonafini, Federico
AU - Tine, Giovanni
AU - Flammini, Alessandra
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - The smart grid (SG) approach is based on a strong interaction between the network communication infrastructure and the power grid. Usually the management of the infrastructure is done by the distribution system operators (DSOs) that are worried about the increasing managing complexity due to the presence of increasing number of distributed energy resources and electrical vehicles. The use of software-defined networking (SDN) may simplify the network configuration and management for DSO, as highlighted from previous research works. The objective of this paper is to introduce and characterize an internet protocol (IP)-based communication architecture with specialized SDN bridges operating also over narrowband power line communication (PLC) to reach the last mile applications (e.g., smart meters and inverters). The feasibility of this approach depends on the communication performance of the supervisory level used to dynamically configure the SDN bridges. The characterization of this level is done using the following performance indicators: the round trip time (RTT), the packet loss (PL) ratio, and the actual IP throughput. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed architecture, since the limitations are given only by the physical implementation of the PLC modem. In detail, results of the case study show that the minimum RTT is on the order of 30 ms, the PL ratio is always less than 1.7% and the maximum throughput is of 95 Mbit/s, fully compatible with the requirements of the applications.
AB - The smart grid (SG) approach is based on a strong interaction between the network communication infrastructure and the power grid. Usually the management of the infrastructure is done by the distribution system operators (DSOs) that are worried about the increasing managing complexity due to the presence of increasing number of distributed energy resources and electrical vehicles. The use of software-defined networking (SDN) may simplify the network configuration and management for DSO, as highlighted from previous research works. The objective of this paper is to introduce and characterize an internet protocol (IP)-based communication architecture with specialized SDN bridges operating also over narrowband power line communication (PLC) to reach the last mile applications (e.g., smart meters and inverters). The feasibility of this approach depends on the communication performance of the supervisory level used to dynamically configure the SDN bridges. The characterization of this level is done using the following performance indicators: the round trip time (RTT), the packet loss (PL) ratio, and the actual IP throughput. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed architecture, since the limitations are given only by the physical implementation of the PLC modem. In detail, results of the case study show that the minimum RTT is on the order of 30 ms, the PL ratio is always less than 1.7% and the maximum throughput is of 95 Mbit/s, fully compatible with the requirements of the applications.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10447/298942
M3 - Article
SN - 0018-9456
VL - 67
SP - 2410
EP - 2419
JO - IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
JF - IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
ER -