Smart Grid

 

In 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which tasked NIST with developing standards and protocols to ensure that Smart Grid systems are interoperable. An important part of the Smart Grid is the communications infrastructure, which utilities use to send command information between generation and distribution systems, and to exchange usage and billing information with their customers. An important question is the extent to which networking protocols can be used in the Smart Grid communications network. For example, wireless communications allow mobile applications for work crews in the field and they facilitate deployment of communications networks in situations where the installation of a wired infrastructure is not economically or physically feasible.

There are many possible communications and networking standards that a Smart Grid developer could choose, but most of these standards were not developed specifically for smart grid applications. The critical issues that must be addressed by any communications standard that would be used in the Smart Grid are the following:

• Performance (does the standard allow Smart Grid applications to fulfill requirements such as delay limits, minimum reliability, and adequate coverage)
  
• Interoperability (does the suite of standards allow end-to-end communications between all actors in the Smart Grid)
  
• Coexistence (does the standard allow communication without interference from or interfering with other communications systems)
  

Our goals:

• Expedite the identification and development of network standards in support of reliable and robust smart grid communication infrastructures.
• Develop end-to-end communication requirements for Smart Grid applications.
• Develop a modeling and performance analysis framework to evaluate network protocols in the context of Smart Grid communications.  
• Devise mathematical, simulation tools and modeling techniques to accurately characterize network protocol performance.