Self-Motivated Relay Selection for a Generalized Power Line Monitoring Network

Efficient power line monitoring is essential for reliable operation of the Smart Grid. A Power Line Monitoring Network (PLMN) based on wireless sensor nodes can provide the necessary infrastructure to deliver data from the extension of the power grid to one or several control centers. However, the restricted physical topology of the power lines constrains the data paths, and has a great impact on the reporting performance. We discuss the features of power-lines and their impact on the performance of monitoring and transmissions. We present a comprehensive design to guide efficient and flexible relay selection in PLMNs to ensure reliable and energy efficient transmissions while taking into account the restricted topology of power-lines. Specifically, our design applies probabilistic power control along with flexible transmission scheduling to combat the poor channel conditions around power line while maintaining the energy level of transmission nodes. We evaluate the impact of different channel conditions, non-uniform topologies for a power line corridor and the effect of reporting events. Our performance results demonstrate that our data forwarding scheme can well control the energy consumption and delay while ensuring reliability and extended lifetime.