Abstract
Power utilities around the world are modernizing their grid by adding layers of communication capabilities to allow for more advanced control, monitoring and preventive maintenance. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), due to their ease of deployment, low cost and flexibility, are considered as a solution to provide diagnostics information about the health of the connected devices and equipment in the electrical grid. However, in specific environments such as high voltage substations, the equipment in the grid produces a strong and specific radio noise, which is impulsive in nature. The robustness of off-the-shelf equipment to this type of noise is not guaranteed; it is therefore important to analyze the characteristics of devices, algorithms and protocols to understand whether they are suited to such harsh environments. In this paper, we review several WSN standards: 6LoWPAN, Zigbee, WirelessHART, ISA100.11a and OCARI. Physical layer specifications (IEEE 802.15.4) are similar for all standards, with considerable architectural differences present in the higher layers. The purpose of this paper is to determine the appropriate WSN standard that could support reliable communication in the impulsive noise environment, in electrical substations. Our review concludes that the WirelessHART sensor network is one of the most suitable to be implemented in a harsh impulsive noise environment.
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