A Study on Green Energy Powered Cognitive Radio Network for Communication Network Architecture of Smart Grid

High information rate applications in smart grid can incredibly increase energy consumption, which has incited to an emerging trend of addressing the energy efficiency aspect of communication technology. Green energy powered cognitive radio (Green-CR) network is important technology to meet the high information rate prerequisites as well as to improve spectrum and energy efficiency. However, designing Green-CR networks for smart grid is challenging as it requires not only the optimization of dynamic spectrum access but also the optimal utilization of green energy sources. In this paper, spectrum aware and energy efficient Green-CR network model is introduced to overcome spatio-temporally varying spectrum characteristics and harsh environmental conditions for smart grid applications. Subsequent to presenting fundamental outline standards potential advantages and network architecture of Green-CR, a multi layered approach with small cells for efficient design methodology is proposed to provide energy efficient CR network at the smart grid utility.