Communication overlays and agents for dependable smart power grids

Abstract

Smart grids rely on a dependable information infrastructure for the monitoring and control applications. Two elements can enhance the suitability of the communication and control infrastructure for such smart grid applications. Overlay networks allow to resiliently deal with nodes that appear and disappear, as well as with the dynamic nature of the power values these nodes represent in a smart grid. Agents-based modelling allows to simulate the smart grid applications in a scalable and flexible way before deployment. The paper discusses how both approaches can be combined for simulating a more dependable smart grid.