An efficient and light asymmetric cryptography to secure communication in smart grid

Abstract

The population growth influences the need for electric power. But the existing power grid is not fully qualified to resolve this need. For providing a suitable power grid that is match with today's needs, smart grid has been proposed. Smart grid includes advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), communication network, etc. alongside traditional power grid to deliver the electric power to the customers. One of the most important parts of smart grid is the communication link between smart meters and the control center. Since smart grid's performance relies on real time data communication, reliable and secure communications for transporting the real time data is crucial. Smart grid communication network consists of HAN (home area network), BAN (building area network), NAN (neighbor area network) and WAN (Wide area network). This paper proposes an efficient and secure infrastructure for communication in a smart grid focusing on two networks, HAN and NAN. Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) a key agreement scheme is built up that contains two phases, pre-deployment and key agreement. The proposed scheme is cost efficient in using operators and transmitting messages for agreement on a session key for safe data transmission.