An analysis on throughput and feasibility of Narrow-band Power Line Communications in Advanced Distribution Automation scenarios

Advanced Distribution Automation (ADA) is one of the key applications of the Smart Grid (SG). Since Narrow-band Power Line Communications (NB-PLC) can offer a cost-effective communication infrastructure supporting data acquisition and automation, it has appeared to be one of the most promising technologies to enable ADA. However, the applicability of NB-PLC needs to be investigated carefully since this technology still exhibits some limitations related to throughput, signal attenuation/distortion and reliability in ADA scenarios. This paper attempts to give a reasonable data rate estimation by considering realistic ADA infrastructures/applications and IEC 61850 as the primary data modeling and communications standard for ADA. Effects of channel contention at Medium Access Control (MAC) layer on the achievable throughput of existing NB-PLC technologies are investigated. The data rate estimation and throughput analysis are then used to evaluate the feasibility of NB-PLC in supporting ADA applications.