Design and Analysis of Current Differential Protection of T-Connection Line Employing Power Internet-of-Things B5G Networks

The successful operation of current differential protection (CDP) requires the support of the real-time and reliable power Internet-of-Things (PIoT) communication networks. Particularly in the future power distribution networks modeled as T-connection line topology, the current 5G standard based on the configurable frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA) cannot perfectly meet the strict reliability requirement in data communication due to the lack of a robust signal processing strategy. This paper is concerned with improving the performance of the T-connection CDP service via the novel 5G and beyond (5G/B5G) system design. First, a reliable PIoT B5G system based on hopped-subcarrier and configurable OFDMA (FH/OFDMA) is proposed to improve the reliable connectivity for multiple CDP nodes. Second, the impact of the synchronization error and the data error of the proposed communication link on the performance of CDP, including mal-operation rate and refusal operation rate, are studied via signal analysis. The numerical analysis and simulation results verify that, compared with the current OFDMA-based 5G network, the proposed scheme boosts the reliability of CDP (i.e., lower mal-operation rate and refusal operation rate) benefited from the new communication design. The proposed FH/OFDMA-based PIoT B5G network is capable of combating the synchronization error and the data error over the complex electromagnetic environment, which enhances the robustness of the information exchange among multiple CDP nodes. © 2025 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.