Distribution network fault location and isolation based on edge computing and 5G

Abstract

Some of the traditional power distribution network fault location, isolation, and service restoration (FLISR) tasks were conducted with feeder automation (FA), which is part of the distribution automation (DA) system. Existing FA scheme have issues such as long fault processing time, due to centralized decision making. In this paper, a FLISR scheme for distribution network based on edge computing and 5G is proposed. Three key technologies of the scheme are introduced: ① Edge computing servers with local terminal units (LTU); ② FLISR algorithms with software-defined control and edge-cloud collaboration; ③ 5G integrated with edge computing (MEC). The proposed scheme is the first case with integrated 5G and MEC in DA applications, which can effectively shorten the fault processing time as evidenced by the deployed system’s performance.