QoS-aware inter-cluster head scheduling in WSNs for high data rate smart grid applications

The use of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to monitor and control power utility assets in the smart grid is gaining increasing popularity due to their various desirable features. WSNs with multihop cluster tree topologies solve the limited coverage problem of sensor nodes. However, in smart grid monitoring applications, data rates could increase suddenly due to the occurrence of critical faults in the monitored environment. Critical data transmission could experience excessive delays because of this increase in the packet arrival rates. Therefore, there should be an optimum operating point in the network where the network could handle high packet arrival rates and maintain low latency at the same time. In this paper, we present an optimization scheme that can achieve low latency while maintaining high reliability values. Furthermore, we design our scheme to provide Quality of Service (QoS) differentiation to high priority and delay critical data. Results show that our proposed scheme significantly reduces the delay while providing high reliability and incurring low energy consumption.