The Multi-Tier Smart Grid Architecture

The electrical grid has a tiered architecture to supply energy to consumers. Energy starts from power generation and flows through transmission systems to distribution and eventually to consumers. Each tier of the electric grid is designed for a specific purpose.

A similar multi-tier architecture is used for the Smart Grid communication networks. Instead of enabling the one-way flow of energy, though, Smart Grid architecture enables the two-way flow of data to integrate the utility’s head-end systems with distribution, smart metering, and home devices. These sections of the grid correspond to communication tiers: a Wide Area Network (WAN) tier, which connects distribution devices and aggregates the Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) tier, which connects meters and aggregates the Home Area Network (HAN) tier, which connects in-home devices.

Smart Grid Communication Requirements

Although each tier within a Smart Grid architecture – WAN, NAN, and HAN – has requirements that are distinct from the other tiers, they also share some common networking requirements:

• Secure – a Smart Grid communications network must ensure end-to-end security. This includes complete privacy of the network from unauthorized access as well as confidentiality of communications across the network.
• Reliable – the network must also provide “always-on” communication that coincides with or exceeds the reliability of the electric gird itself. To ensure maximum availability, it needs fault tolerance and redundancy with self-healing failover at each tier.
• Flexible - since the electric grid spans across all geographies, from dense urban settings to sparse rural areas, the Smart Grid network must also be able to span the same coverage area. In order to extend coverage, it needs to have the flexibility to cover the same disparate territories as the grid itself.
• Scalable - the requirements for Smart Grid communications solutions are certain to continue to change over time. The simple meter reading solutions of today are bound to expand into multi-application requirements that span from demand-side management to distribution automation and everything in between. The network needs the scalability to meet current and future demands alike.
• Cost-Effective - like every utility capital expenditure, the communications network needs to provide financial feasibility and economics. A Smart Grid solution can provide substantial benefits through automation and peak demand shaving; therefore, the capital and operational expenses of a communications network needs to fit within the scope of potential savings.
• Future-Proof - the Smart Grid is still a nascent industry and need to provide an upgradeable and interoperable solution to ensure a future-proof solution. The requirements are bound to change and the communications infrastructure needs to gracefully adapt to those changes.

Trilliant Smart Grid Solutions

Trilliant’s multi-tier Smart Grid architecture provides an integrated communications solution coupled with head-end software to provide utilities with a solution to meet their Smart Grid networking demands. In addition, this multi-tier Smart Grid architecture also provides distinct components that are fine-tuned for each tier. Trilliant’s SecureMesh™ Communication Network provides the highest-performance NAN, a powerful and integrated HAN solution with two options for the WAN solution.  In addition to offering digital cellular WAN backhaul, Trilliant provides a high-bandwidth, low-latency WAN to support AMI and demand response solutions with enough bandwidth and latency headroom for distribution automation and more advanced customer-enablement applications including advanced demand response, distributed generation, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).  This integrated WAN option includes an end-to-end security model that addresses the vulnerabilities created at the linkage between the NAN and the WAN, securely linking the utility data center to every customer premise and grid device with a single, private, secure network.  In addition, this multi-tier Smart Grid architecture enables coverage of the entire utility territory with a single architecture and system and has the lowest life cycle total cost of ownership of any system on the market today. To provide comprehensive Smart Grid management, Trilliant implemented the UnitySuite™ Head-End Software (HES) to enable advanced demand-side management and smart metering solutions.

SecureMesh WAN

The SecureMesh WAN uses open standards to provide long-range wireless mesh coverage (up to 10 miles between WAN hops with multi-hop coverage expandability) with air data rates up to 54 Mbps and latency of ~10 ms/hop for communications to Smart Grid devices such as substations, capacitor banks, and voltage regulators. The SecureMesh WAN enables a variety of Smart Grid distribution solutions.

SecureMesh NAN

The SecureMesh NAN uses open standards to create a wireless mesh network among SecureMesh-enabled meters and in-home devices, offering an air data rate of 250 kbps, the highest AMI data rate in the industry. The SecureMesh NAN enables a variety of Smart Grid metering solutions.

SecureMesh HAN

Trilliant’s home-area solutions use open standards to provide customizable consumer solutions at low costs and enable a variety of Smart Grid consumer solutions.

UnitySuite HES

The UnitySuite software applications provide a scalable network operations and management package with a variety of configurable interfaces to integrate with back office applications.

For information on SkyPilot network products, please visit the SkyPilot website.