High-speed reliable data transfer for distribution smart grid applications

Smart grid can be viewed as a modern electric power grid infrastructure with enhanced reliability, flexibility and efficiency that is achieved through automated control of production and distribution of electric power, modern communications infrastructure, smart monitoring devices, and renewable energy resources. New features introduced by smart grid means that substation communication is more complex than that of traditional power grid. Due to the data requirements of the smart grid, new challenges have arisen at the network layer of OSI model with respect to the reliable and efficient exchange of data between smart grid substations. This paper aims to analyze applicability of different protocols in distributed smart grid environment. Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) protocol was tested to identify how it responds to high network traffic conditions, varying message sizes and number of receivers. Obtained transfer rates by PGM was also compared with transfer rates of conventional TCP/IP protocol when applied in multi-site smart grid environment.