Performance Comparison of IP and CCN as a Communication Infrastructure for Smart Grid

The infrastructure for smart grid is classified into three categories: infrastructure for electric power generation, delivery, and consumption, infrastructure for information measurement, surveillance, and management, and infrastructure for information communication. In this paper, we derive the total amount of traffic in the network, average end-to-end communication delay, and availability when using IP and CCN (Content-Centric Networking) as the communication infrastructure for a smart grid, respectively. Through several numerical examples, we clarify under what conditions either IP or CCN is suitable for the communication infrastructure of a smart grid. We found that, in terms of the total amount of traffic and the average end-to-end communication delay, CCN is effective compared with IP except when cache hit rates in RGCC (Remote Grid Control Center) and LGCC (Local Grid Control Center) are very low. We also found that, in terms of availability, the performance advantage of CCN over IP is marginal.