Performance evaluation of AMR simultaneous polling strategies in a PRIME PLC network

Abstract

PLC is gaining prominence as a solution for Smart Grid developments. However, several aspects still require further research and analysis. Among the different solutions, PRIME (PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution) standard is one of the most popular and extended implementations. This paper analyses the performance of an Auto Meter Reading (AMR) process for a PRIME PLC network regarding two aspects. Firstly, the impact caused by the polling strategy utilized. In particular, the number of connections that the Master Node manages simultaneously is studied. Secondly, the influence of the positions of the Switch Nodes in the network is examined. The time required to read all the meters in the network is utilized as performance metric. In order to replicate the performance of a PRIME network, a co-simulation framework that combines Matlab and OMNeT++ has been used. This architecture allows to take into account both physical phenomena and control and application message management. Simulated topologies represent a general European low-voltage network. Results highlight the importance of selecting an adequate number of simultaneous connections in order to optimize the use of the channel, as well as the impact of the logical structure of the network.