Performance evaluation of hybrid spread spectrum based wireless smart meter sensor network with multi-user detection techniques

Smart grid is the process of revitalizing the 20th century aging power grid by leveraging the communication, networking and information technological advancements of the 21st century. In the communication and networking industry, the buzz word “smart grid” initiated a discussion on the selection of the appropriate communication and networking technologies for different smart grid applications. In a recent study, a trustworthy source compared different technologies like GPRS, RF mesh, PLC and 3G cellular technologies and concluded that the 3G cellular technologies meet the requirements of distribution side smart grid applications [1]. Even though 3G cellular technologies meet the requirements of smart grid applications, based on the data size specifications of smart grid applications given in [2], an analysis on the use of the current state of the art 3G cellular technologies for smart grid applications gives an indication that their usage results in high data overhead, high latency and high power consumption (during power outage) for data transfer [3]. Therefore, in our prior work we have proposed a Hybrid Spread Spectrum (HSS) based smart meter network design that can reduce the overhead, latency and power consumption in data transfer when compared to the 3G cellular technologies [3].