An Optimal Uplink Scheduling in Heterogeneous PLC and LTE Communication for Delay-aware Smart Grid Applications

Smart grid is an energy network that integrates advanced power equipment, communication technology and control technology. It can transmit two-way power and data among all components of the grid at the same time. The existing smart grid communication technologies include power line carrier (PLC) communication, industrial Ethernet, passive optical networks and wireless communication,each of which have different advantages. Due to the complex application scenarios, massive sampling points and high transmission reliability requirements, a single communication method cannot fully meet the communication requirements of smart grid, and heterogeneous communication modes are required. In addition, with the development of cellular technology, long term evolution (LTE)-based standards have been identified as a promising technology that can meet the strict requirements of various operations in smart grid. In this paper, we analyze the advantages and disadvantages of PLC and LTE communication, and design a network framework for PLC and LTE communication uplink heterogeneous communication in smart grid. Then, we propose an uplink scheduling transmission method for sampling data with optimized throughput according to the requirements of system delay and reliability. Then, we use the formula derivation to prove the stability and solvability of the scheduling system in theory. Finally, the simulation results show that under the condition of satisfying the delay requirement, our proposed framework can optimally allocate the wireless communication resource and maximize the throughput of the uplink transmission system. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.