Survey Paper A survey on the communication architectures in smart grid Wenye Wang ⇑ , Yi Xu, Mohit Khanna Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC 27606, United States article info Article history: Received 29 June 2011 Accepted 5 July 2011 Available online 27 July 2011 Keywords: Smart grid Power communications Communication networks Communication protocols Grid standards abstract The next-generation electric power systems (smart grid) are studied intensively as a prom- ising solution for energy crisis. One important feature of the smart grid is the integration of high-speed, reliable and secure data communication networks to manage the complex power systems effectively and intelligently. We provide in this paper a comprehensive sur- vey on the communication architectures in the power systems, including the communica- tion network compositions, technologies, functions, requirements, and research challenges. As these communication networks are responsible for delivering power system related messages, we discuss specifically the network implementation considerations and chal- lenges in the power system settings. This survey attempts to summarize the current state of research efforts in the communication networks of smart grid, which may help us iden- tify the research problems in the continued studies. Ó 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The current electric power systems have been serving us for more than five decades. They rely heavily on the fos- sil fuels, including oil, coal, and natural gas, as the energy sources. These fossil fuels are nonrenewable and the re- serves on the earth are being consumed rapidly. The emerging energy crisis has called for global attention on finding alternative energy resources that can sustain long-term industry development. The identified renewable energy resources include wind, small hydro, solar, tidal, geothermal, and waste [1], which are also called green en- ergy for the fact that they do not release carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into the atmosphere in the process of electric energy generation. The renewable energy resources are important complements to and replacements of the fossil fuels for their exploitation durability and environment friendliness. In fact, active research studies and deployment activities are underway across the world [1,2] for effective harness of the renewable energy resources. In the next-generation electric power systems that incorporate diversified renewable energy resources, auto- mated and intelligent management is a critical component that determines the effectiveness and efficiency of these power systems. The management automation and intelli- gence are envisioned to offer a variety of advantages over the current systems in terms of digitalization, flexibility, intelligence, resilience, sustainability, and customization [3], which entitles the name Smart Grid to the next- generation power systems. The smart control centers are expected to monitor and interact the electric devices remo- tely in real time; the smart transmission infrastructures are expected to employ new technologies to enhance the power quality; and the smart substations are expected to coordinate their local devices self-consciously [3]. Enabled by the significant advancements in system automation and intelligence, the concept of Energy Internet [4] has been proposed that envisions an exciting prospect of the future energy utilization paradigm throughout all the energy generation, storage, transmission and distribution phases. As one of the enabling technologies, a fast, reliable and secure communication network plays a vital role in the power system management. The network is required to connect the magnitude of electric devices in distributed 1389-1286/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2011.07.010 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 919 513 2549; fax: +1 919 515 5523. E-mail addresses: wwang@ncsu.edu (W. Wang), yxu2@ncsu.edu (Y. Xu), mkhanna@ncsu.edu (Mohit Khanna). Computer Networks 55 (2011) 3604–3629 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computer Networks journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comnet