Coexistence of heterogeneous and homogeneous wireless technologies in smart grid-home area network

Abstract

In a home environment, a Smart Grid Home Area Network (SG-HAN) platform facilitates collection and delivery of power consumption information for load profiling and informed decisions on energy management. However, one of the main challenges in HAN is the overcrowded unlicensed 2.4-GHz ISM frequency band, occupied by several types of radio technologies such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, and WiFi. It is crucial that those technologies coexist peacefully to allow each user of the radio technology to fulfill their communication goals. In this paper, we present a potential coexistence scenario in SG-HAN for homogeneous and heterogeneous wireless technologies. The coexistence impact on SG-HAN performance is then modeled and analyzed. The numerical results show significant performance degradation due to the interference for devices in close proximity with the interfering sources in a spectrum sharing environment where in the worst case scenario, SG-HAN communication is almost impossible.