1.2.2.2.Critical infrastructure energy domain

Critical infrastructure domain encapsulates all infrastructure supply services, which are critical for customer domain. The most relevant infrastructures are: power supply, water supply, telecommunication service supply and etc.

Figure 1.4. Smart grid architecture increases the capacity and flexibility of the network and provides advanced sensing and control through modern communications technologies.

The electric power systems of the next generation - smart grids - have emerged last years. The existing grid has a lack of communication capabilities, while a smart power grid infrastructure is full of enhanced sensing and advanced communication and computing abilities as illustrated in Figure 1.4. Different components of the system are linked together with communication paths and sensor nodes to provide interoperability between them, e.g., distribution, transmission and other substations, such as residential, commercial and industrial sites.

In the smart grid, reliable and real-time information is becoming a key factor for reliable delivery of power from the generating units to the end-users. The impact of equipment failures, capacity constraints, and natural accidents and catastrophes which cause power disturbances and outages, can be largely avoided by online power system condition monitoring, diagnostics and protection. To this end, the intelligent monitoring and control enabled by modern information and communication technologies have become essential to realize the envisioned smart grid.

Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) are integrating advanced metering and two-way communication, automation technologies to their distribution systems. In addition to research and development projects, many electric utilities are also taking incremental steps to make the smart grid technology a reality. Most of them are signing agreements with telecom operators or smart meter vendors to carry out smart grid projects. All these agreements define the main requirements and features of the necessary communications infrastructure to provide online communication between smart meters and the utility’s back-haul system, i.e., the so-called advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). In general, the AMI is a two-way communications network and is the integration of advanced sensors; smart meters, monitoring systems, computer hardware, software and data management systems that enable the collection and distribution of information between meters and utilities

1.2.2.3.The utility business market communication domain

The utility business market communication domain aims to cover all business – to – business issues, like monitoring data transmission for needs of service Provider Company. As example the water distribution system is shown in Fig. 1.5 [21*].

Figure 2.4. Example of a block scheme of a system for integrated water resources management

The infrastructure (Fig. 1.4) is used for transmission of different kinds of service signals, as an example to provide data from end-users to central terminal in order to realise different service algorithms. The example of such algorithm is water distribution diagnostic algorithm (see fig. 1.5).

Figure 1.5. Algorithm of network diagnostic

Smart metering could incorporate data transmission in wireless environmental and by a wired network, or combination of both concepts.