Sensor Network Infrastructure for AMI in Smart Grid

Abstract

Utility companies incur financial loss due to transmission losses as well as non technical losses like power theft and billing irregularities. Smart meters with the required functionalities along with an intelligent grid form an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) infrastructure which can improve the distribution efficiency. AMR infrastructure can be expanded by allowing for bi-directional communication between the grid components to form an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). This helps for the smooth interaction between grid components to load and off-load the distributed energy sources while supporting an efficient Demand Side Management of power. Communication technologies play a vital role in the implementation of smart grid and Wireless Sensor Networks are gaining attraction in this field. Routing protocols with high reliability, low latency and that can co-exist with the established protocols are the need of the hour. Routing Protocol for Low Power Lossy Networks (RPL) fit into this space well. An attempt to build an automated infrastructure using RPL for collecting the metering information, which at a later stage can be easily upgraded to an AMI setup by simply adding the supporting end devices for a much more intelligent smart grid, is carried out in this paper