Power system communications: Recent trends, technologies and future - A comprehensive literature scan

A communication infrastructure is an essential part of the future power systems. The conventional power systems with sophisticated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are expected to evolve into a new grid paradigm called, a “Smart Grid”. The Smart Grid (SG) can also be thought of as a conventional power system with additional digital layers. Here, in this paper, a humble attempt is made to present the current state of art with reference to the various research works reported in literature so far in the communication sector as applicable to Electrical Power Systems. The technological developments achieved in the domain of Power system communication starting from Power Line Carrier communication to the recently evolved Cognitive Radio Network based communication are considered for discussion.