Smart Grid Communications
Presented by Solveig Ward
Smart Grid Vision
Slide I 2
Communications Requirements
DOE Smart Grid Communications Requirements 2010
Slide I 3
Evolution of Telecommunications
TDM
Manual network era
Extent of
Deployment
Manual
switching
1920
1940
Digital network era
Analog automatic network era
2-motion
selector
switching
Semielectronic
switching
1960
Ethernet
1980
Data networking era
Packet
based
switching
Digital
switching
2000
2020
Time Division Multiplexing
Synchronous communications
Time division multiplexing
2
24
64 Kbps
.
.
.
.
TDM
.
MUX
.
.
.
64 Kbps
64 Kbps
1
......................
1.544 Mbps
AGGREGATE
24
TDM
MUX
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
64 Kbps
24
24
Slide I 5
TDM Networking
Slide I 6
Conventional substation
communications
Slide I 7
Requirements
Data
Delay (latency)
tolerance*
Jitter (variation in
delay) tolerance*
Stream/burst
transmission
Error tolerance
Voice
High
Moderate/Low (100 ms)
High
Moderate
Bursts
Stream
Low
Moderate,
by
the
Packet/data loss
application requesting
tolerance
retransmission
Yes, by the application
Interruption
requesting
tolerance
retransmission
Proprietary/
Protocol standard
standardized
High
Some data loss is
acceptable until voice
quality becomes too low
Moderate (0.5 sec)
Protection
communications
Very low
(<20 ms)
Very low
Stream
Very low
No
None/very low
Standardized
Proprietary
Slide I 8
TDM versus Ethernet
Protective Relaying Communications
Requirements
Ethernet Communications Characteristics
Low bandwidth (< 100 kb/s)
High bandwidth (>100 Mb/s)
Fixed, predictable latency with little
wander
Variable unpredictable latency with
significant wander
Continuous, non-burst oriented
Burst (packet) oriented
Slide I 9
Ethernet
Ethernet packets
Mesh network
Slide I 10
Why Ethernet?
Cost!
1/10/100 Gbps over the same fiber
Plug-and-play no configuration required
More efficient bandwidth utilization
One platform that carries all type of traffic; voice, data
Concerns:
Real-time data; latency
Protection channels unpredictable and variable end-to-end
delays
Slide I 11
The solution - MPLS
Ethernet is a connectionless communications system by
design
MPLS transforms Ethernet into a connection-oriented
communications system
Promising QoS similar to TDM systems
Slide I 12
MPLS Benefits
Is expected to meet latency requirements for real-time
data
Teleprotection trial by Alcatel Lucent: 15 ms end-to-end delays
MPLS allows provisioning and management of VPNs
Cyber Security: In the absence of misconfiguration or
deliberate interconnection of different VPNs, it is not
possible for systems in one VPN to gain access to
systems in another VPN
MPLS routers / applications providing encryption are becoming
available
Slide I 13
MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching
Layer 2: Ethernet which can
carry IP packets, but only over
simple LANs or point-to-point
WANs
Layer 3: Internet-wide
addressing and routing using
IP protocols
MPLS sits between these
traditional layers, providing
additional features for the
transport of data across the
network (Layer 2.5)
Slide I 14
Label Switching
In a traditional IP network:
Each router performs an IP lookup (routing), determines a next-hop based
on its routing table, and forwards the packet to that next-hop
Rinse and repeat for every router, each making its own independent routing
decisions, until the final destination is reached
MPLS does label switching instead:
The first device does a routing lookup, just like before, but instead of finding
a next-hop, it finds the final destination router and it finds a pre-determined
path from here to that final router
The router applies a label based on this information
Next router use the label to route the traffic without needing to perform any
additional IP lookups
At the final destination router the label is removed and the packet is
delivered via normal IP routing
Slide I 15
Architecture
Slide I 16
MPLS Basics
Customer Edge
(CE) router
managed by
customer
Provider Edge
(PE) router
managed by
service provider
Provider (P) router
managed by
service provider
Slide I 17
Combined CE/PE
Slide I 18
QoS per VRF
VRF = virtual route forwarding; tables created and used to create traffic separation
Implementing QoS guarantees complete control of resources (bandwidth, priority, and so
on)
Implementing QoS allows peaceful coexistence of several traffic types (network
management, physical security management) with missioncritical traffic (SCADA, PMU,
GOOSE)
Slide I 19
MPLS VPN
By properly provisioning one physical MPLS VPN capable
infrastructure, several network overlays are possible
SCADA
PMU
GOOSE
Slide I 20
Communications considerations
Bandwidth (cost)
Latency (end-to-end delays)
Latency Control and QoS
Reliability (cost redundancy)
Monitoring
Management
Security
What is the availability requirements for the application
If data are lost, what are the consequences?
Slide I 21
Bandwidth
Slide I 22
Latency versus utilization
Slide I 23
Latency
Slide I 24
Traffic segmentation
Slide I 25
Special Protection Scheme Example
PMU
Slide I 26
Conclusions
Properly engineered MPLS promises to provide QoS suitable
for real-time data
Testing is needed
Base communications requirements on application needs
Do not send more data or more often than the application will use
High availability (=redundancy) may not be needed in all parts of the
network and at all locations
Low latency may not be needed for all types of data
Engineer the telecom network to provide the best
performance / cost ratio
Slide I 27
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