Opportunistic Routing for Smart Grid With Power Line Communication Access Networks

Power line communications ( PLCs) have recently absorbed interest in the smart grid since they offer communication capability in an easy and simple deployment. The main role of PLC access network ( PLC-AN), which is constructed with medium and low voltage distribution networks, is to exchange control signals between substations and end users or to provide the Internet access to homes. Since a transmission signal of narrowband PLC penetrates electronic devices, a use of opportunistic routing ( OR) can be a viable option in PLC-AN design. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of OR use in PLC-AN and propose a customized OR for it, named PLC-OR, which uses static geographical information. For doing this, we formulate a bit-meter per second maximization problem and solves it in a distributed manner. Through simulations, we confirm that our proposed PLC-OR successfully reduces packet transmission time compared to the traditional sequential routing while achieving the same level of reliability in packet delivery.