Smart
Grid Communications
Although some communications
systems are up-to-date, they may
not be fully integrated because they
have been developed in an incremental
fashion. In most cases, data is being
collected via modem rather than direct
network connection. These data applications
include:
Sensing
and Measurement
Core duties are evaluating congestion
and grid stability, monitoring equipment
health, energy theft prevention,
and control strategies support.
Smart Meters
A smart grid replaces analog mechanical
meters with digital meters that
record usage in real time. Smart
meters provide a communication
path extending from generation
plants to electrical outlets (smart
socket) and other smart grid-enabled
devices.
Phasor
Measurement Units
High speed sensors called Phasor
Management Units (PMU’s) are distributed
throughout the network and are used
to monitor power quality and respond
automatically to power irregularities.
Wide-Area
Measurement Systems (WAM’s)
A Wide Area Measurement system (WAM) is a network of PMU’s that perform real-time
monitoring on a regional and national scale. Many in the power systems engineering
community believe that the Northeast blackout of 2003 would have been contained
to a much smaller area if a WAM network was in place.
Advanced
Control
Power system automation enables rapid
diagnosis of and precise solutions
to specific grid disruptions or outages.
Areas
for Smart Grid improvement include:
Substation automation, demand response,
distribution automation, Supervisory
Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA),
energy management systems, wireless
mesh networks and other technologies,
power-line carrier communications,
and fiber-optics. Integrated communications
will allow for real-time control,
information and data exchange to
optimize system reliability, asset
utilization, and security. |
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Encore
Networks and the Smart Grid
One of the challenges
facing many of today’s utility companies
is how to effectively monitor and
control the critical functions of
their SCADA networks over slow analog
lines. To create an effective communications
‘highway’ capable of monitoring the
status of the grid and, for example,
take the quick actions required to
prevent a localized problem from
developing out of control, utilities
must take advantage of today’s faster
and more reliable transmission services.
Encore’s family of
industrially hardened (rugged) routers,
the BANDIT™, enables these utilities
to seamlessly upgrade their legacy
SCADA networks to these services
including Frame Relay, Internet Protocol
(IP), VSAT, cellular wireless, cable
modem, DSL, fiber and microwave.
The BANDIT™ ensures
secure system data and SCADA network
connections directly to a Wide Area
Network (WAN) and/or Local Area Network
(LAN), or a commercial cellular data
IP service. The BANDIT™ is a rugged
security router with integrated firewall,
terminal server, serial-to-IP conversion,
legacy-protocol conversion, and VPN
functionality. Its hardened construction
allows for operation over the wide
temperature ranges found at remote
substations.
Encore’s carrier class,
host site solution, the VSR 1200™
provides high performance, end-to-end
Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions
that include standard features such
as IP routing via Encore’s patented
Selective Layer Encryption (SLE),
advanced QoS capabilities, a stateful
packet inspection firewall, compression
and optimized bandwidth utilization,
and embedded address management capabilities
such as NAT and PrAT. In addition
to its unique VPN features like SLE,
the VSR 1200™ also interoperates
with standards-based routers using
well-known formats for IPsec and
GRE.
A high-port-density
Remote Data Unit (RDU) module makes
the VSR 1200™ an ideal fit for the
smooth migration of legacy data applications
to broadband IP networks. By performing
protocol conversion and spoofing,
the VSR 1200™ optimizes the utilization
of satellite bandwidth.
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