Evaluation of WiMAX Technology in Smart Grid Communications

摘要

This paper proposes a design of IEEE 802.16 Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) network to serve as a wireless communication platform for the smart grid. The grid traffic is classified into five priority classes. The traffic then is scheduled using three scheduling algorithms namely; Class-Based Weighted Fair (CB-WFQ), Class-Based Deficit Weighted Round-Robin (CB-DWRR) and class-based strict priority (CB-SPQ) scheduling. Simulation results show that no more than 450 smart grid devices should be used to satisfy the delay requirement of class 1 and class 2. The results also demonstrate that the CB-SPQ scheduling algorithm provides the best delay performance. As for class 3 applications, results show that in order to satisfy the latency requirements, the maximum number of smart grid devices that can be placed in a cell should not be more than 250. For this application class CB-WFQ outperforms the other scheduling algorithms. For class 4 applications, a cell can accommodate up to 450 smart grid devices, and CB-WFQ scheduling algorithm yields the smallest latency.