Title :
A simulation study of routing protocols for smart meter networks
Author :
Kathuria, Vibha ; Mohanasundaram, Gokulraj ; Das, Sunil R.
Author_Institution :
Comput. Sci. Dept., Stony Brook Univ., Stony Brook, NY, USA
Abstract :
The automated metering infrastructure in a smart grid system requires a network connecting the smart meters in the households back to the utility´s operation desk. The network of choice is a wireless mesh network. While there has been some consensus on the choice of the link layer (Zigbee/IEEE 802.15.4-based or similar), the choice of the routing protocol remains an open issue. We evaluate a recently developed protocol in the IETF, called RPL (Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks) for its suitability for large-scale smart meter networks. Via a detailed and realistic simulation study using a standard packet-level simulator, Qualnet, we show that RPL significantly outperforms a commonly used routing protocol for ad hoc/mesh networks, AODV, when traffic is distributed such as congestions are likely. We use Zigbee/IEEE 802.15.4 at the 915 Mhz band for the link layer and promote the suitability of its `non-beacon enabled´ mode for smart meter networks. Overall, our work demonstrates the performance and scalability of RPL.
Keywords :
Zigbee; routing protocols; smart meters; wireless mesh networks; IEEE 802.15.4; Zigbee; ad hoc networks; automated metering infrastructure; bandwidth 915 MHz; routing protocols; smart grid system; smart meter networks; standard packet level simulator; wireless mesh network; Delays; IEEE 802.15 Standards; Routing; Routing protocols; Smart grids; Zigbee;
Conference_Titel :
Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), 2013 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Vancouver, BC
DOI :
10.1109/SmartGridComm.2013.6687988