Requirements for communication infrastructure in smart grids

The paper provides an overview of the requirements for the communication infrastructure in the smart grid. Communication traffic is classified as the time critical and non-critical and correlated with the power system phenomena. Required values of quality of service parameters are given for particular applications: wide area measurement system, distribution automation and advanced metering infrastructure. Since available standards describing communications in the smart grid define Internet Protocol (IP) and Ethernet as the most appropriate communication protocols for the broad deployment of the smart grid applications, mechanisms for traffic prioritization at the MAC layer are reviewed in the paper.