Wireless multihoming for smart grid high data rate applications

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are used extensively to monitor/control utility power distribution networks. However, the current SCADA systems cannot accommodate the demand of smart grid high data rate applications such as asset monitoring using video surveillance for fault prediction and self-healing purposes. Consequently, wireless networking is envisioned as a strong candidate to extend the monitoring capabilities of SCADA systems with easy-to-deploy high data rate devices. Nevertheless, the limited resources of a single wireless network may not allow transferring a large volume of delay-sensitive smart grid information while satisfying the packet delay requirements. This paper investigates, via a hardware measurement-based study, the packet delay performance of multihomed wireless transceivers. Multihomed transceivers are capable of sending different data packets (not packet replicas) over heterogeneous wireless networks simultaneously. The paper also offers a packet delay analysis for dual-homed wireless nodes connected to a WiFi network via one of their interfaces. A comparative experimental and analytical study is conducted for the delay performance of single-interface WiFi transceivers and multihomed transceivers. Our results show that the traffic load distribution among different interfaces has a significant impact on the effectiveness of using multihoming for smart grids.