Time-Dependent Bit Error Rate Analysis for Smart Utility Networks in the Presence of WLAN Interferers

Abstract

The smart grid (SG) modernizes the aging power grid by using two-way reliable communications dedicated to adaptive energy management. To achieve this goal, smart utility networks (SUNs) are used to efficiently connect the SG devices. However, the SUNs are designed to work on unlicensed frequency bands and are very sensitive to interferences from other networks operating in the same band, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs). Therefore, in this paper, the effect of the WLAN interferers on the SUN transmission is investigated and we show that by detecting the initial transmission offset of each WLAN transceiver using energy sensing, the activity of the interferers can be predicted with high accuracy. Furthermore, we prove that the SUN data bit error rate is time dependent and that each SUN bit has a different bit error rate expression depending on its time offset. These expressions are derived analytically and verified by Monte Carlo simulations. In fact, these expressions can be used by the SUN devices to enhance their communication links in the presence of WLAN devices by using adaptive transmission techniques to avoid the interference.