Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Environmental Impact on RF and PLC for Advanced Metering Infrastructure in Smart Grids

Version 1 : Received: 13 September 2023 / Approved: 13 September 2023 / Online: 14 September 2023 (10:58:14 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

BenRhouma, O.; Rebai, C.; Ben-Romdhane, M.; Di Cara, D.; Artale, G.; Panzavecchia, N. The Environmental Impacts of Radio Frequency and Power Line Communication for Advanced Metering Infrastructures in Smart Grids. Sensors 2023, 23, 9621. BenRhouma, O.; Rebai, C.; Ben-Romdhane, M.; Di Cara, D.; Artale, G.; Panzavecchia, N. The Environmental Impacts of Radio Frequency and Power Line Communication for Advanced Metering Infrastructures in Smart Grids. Sensors 2023, 23, 9621.

Abstract

In the Neighborhood Area Network (NAN), the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) enables a bidirectional connection between the Smart Meter (SM) and the Data Concentrator (DC). Sensors, such as smart meter node or Radio Frequency transceiver, play a crucial role in collecting and transmitting data from meters to central unit for advanced monitoring, management, and analysis of energy consumption. Wired and wireless communication technologies can be used to implement the AMI-NAN. This paper delves into a novel approach for optimizing the choice of communication medium, Radio Frequency (RF) or Power-Line Communication (PLC), between the SM and DC in the context of AMI-NAN. The authors methodically select the specific technologies, RF and NB-PLC (Narrow Band Power-Line Communication), and meticulously characterize their attributes. Then, a comparative analysis spanning rural, urban, and industrial settings is conducted to evaluate the proposed method. The overall reliability performance of the AMI-NAN system requires a Packet Error Rate (PER) lower than 10%. To this end, a comprehensive methodology is introduced to assess and enhance the reliability of NB-PLC and RF for AMI-NAN applications. Simulation results demonstrate that wireless communication is the optimal choice for the rural scenario, especially for Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) lower than 25 dB. However, in urban environments characterized by higher SNR values and moderately dense networks, NB-PLC gains prominence. In denser networks, it outperforms wireless communication, exhibiting a remarkable 10 dB gain for a bit error rate (BER) of 10-3. Moreover, in industrial zones characterized by intricate network topologies and non-linear loads, the powerline channel emerges as the optimal choice for data transmission, affording a gain surpassing 20 dB.

Keywords

power-line communication; wireless communication; urban area; industrial area; rural area; electric grids, sensing and measurement

Subject

Engineering, Telecommunications

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