Comparison of smart grid with cognitive radio: Solutions to spectrum scarcity

Cognitive radios (CRs) have recently attracted attentions as an alternative to the problem of spectrum scarcity. The main principle of these radio networks is opportunistic access to the spectrum holes mainly licensed to primary users (PUs). Within power systems, on the other hand, smart grid is one of the main areas of research. The core aspect of these grids is making use of digital technologies to save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and transparency in order to optimize the utilization of the available resources. Since scarcity of resources is the crisis of both communication systems and electrical energy systems, in this paper, comparing the smart grids with communication systems in general and with CRs especially, solutions for the problem of spectrum scarcity will be explored.