MAC Protocols Design for Smart Metering Network

The new generation of power metering system - i.e. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) - is expected to enable remote reading, control, demand response and other advanced functions, based on the integration of a new two-way communication network, which will be referred as Smart Metering Network (SMN). In this paper, we focus on the design principles of multiple access control (MAC) protocols for SMN. First, we list several AMI applications and its benefits to the current power grid and user experience. Next, we introduces several features of SMN relevant to the design choice of the MAC protocols, including the SMN architecture and candidate communication technologies. After that, we propose some performance evaluation metrics, such as scalability issue, traffic types, delay and etc, and give a survey of the associated research issues for the SMN MAC protocols design. In addition, we also note progress within the new IEEE standardization task group (IEEE 802.11ah TG) currently working to create SMN standards, especially in the MAC protocols aspect.