Advance Metering Infrastructure and DLMS/COSEM Standards For Smart Grid
Advance Metering Infrastructure and DLMS/COSEM Standards For Smart Grid
Advance Metering Infrastructure and DLMS/COSEM Standards For Smart Grid
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International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
Vol. 1 Issue 10, December- 2012
Remote programming and gathering of load profile for separate ad-on unit. In multi-utility metering, meters for
energy management. different utilities can be different which may all be connected
Automatic adaptation to grid changes. to a common communication hub. Further, interfacing devices
other then meters may also be connected to the communication
Load management and energy balance through activation/ hub.
deactivation of the demand power control mode in meters.
Device management at customer end and prepayment Communication hub provides additional processing
options capabilities, memory and communication means for storage
Power quality management. and transmissions of data to the electricity meter. It facilitates
data transfer between in-home network devices and the
external AMI network. It may be directly connected to the
III. AMI SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND COMPONENTS Central system or may be connected through Data concentrator
unit (DCU). In either of the cases, Communication hub may
operate in two different modes viz. as a Gateway or a Proxy
AMI system architecture [3] is shown in Figure 1. It represents Gateway. The later is more suitable as most of the units that
the reference frame work that satisfies the functional, technical are connected to communication hub namely Multi-utility
and other general requirements of AMI. Though initiatives meter and interfacing devices generally are battery operated
towards AMI have been dominantly taken up by the power and “always on” status may not be possible for them. Thus,
utility sector, the architecture supports multi-utility metering. spontaneous interaction with these devices may not be
However, compared to other utility meters, electricity meters possible, which makes pure Gateway function less suitable. As
are directly connected to the electricity network, which may a Proxy Gateway, Communication hub buffers the periodic
conveniently be used as a media for data exchange. Thus, it is data received from connected devices and forward it to higher
expected that the largest penetration and the back-bone of level on demand. Similarly, commands received from higher
AMI for multi-utility metering will be in electrical network. level are buffered in Proxy Gateway before being delivered to
The main components of AMI system are discussed as follows. the connected devices. Additionally, Communication hub may
A. Electricity meter and Communication HUB also have a facility of local interface.
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This module performs two basic functionalities. First to
B. Data Concentrator Unit
measure and record electrical energy consumed/produced and
related parameters of interest, and second to act as a This module acts as an intermediate element between
communication hub. There can be more than one form in Communication hub and the Central system. Communication
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which electricity meter and communication hub may exist. In hub may be directly connected to the Central system; however
new installations a single smart meter performing both the this may not be always efficient particularly towards the tail of
functions of metering and communication is possible. On the distribution network. In such a scenario number of
other hand, for installations where old electricity meter are not Communication hubs may be connected to a single DCU.
to be replaced, then a communication hub can be as a Function of DCU will be to manage two way data exchange. It
will collect and mange information received from various
Electricity meters and Communication hub and sent it to
Central system and will also transfer commands received from
Central system to Electricity meter and Communication hub.
Similar to Communication hub, functioning of DCU may be
as a Proxy Gateway. It may also support facility of local
interface for local access of data. Further, it may optionally
also feed to systems other then Central system on the network
like SCADA.
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International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
Vol. 1 Issue 10, December- 2012
management of business processes such as meter registrations, system (OBIS)
remote meter reading, tariff adjustment, remote Green Book IEC 62056-21 Architecture and protocol to
connect/disconnect, billing, outage management, customer IEC 62056-42 transport the model
care etc. Legacy system is purely to support operational and IEC 62056-46
IEC 62056-47
business processes and operates independent of type of
IEC 62056-53
metering infrastructure and communication technologies.
Yellow Book -- Conformation testing process
Central system will execute the received request from the White Book -- Glossary of DLMS/COSEM
Legacy system over the network and also conveys back the terms
response received from meters thus completing the business
process. that define the standard method to model and transfer metered
data and other classified functions of the energy meter. These
D. Local Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Devices and protocols are officially endorsed and registered by the
External Devices International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under IEC
62056 [6]. DLMS standards are published as set of colored
These are portable devices used by the system operator’s
books details of which is shown in Table 1.
service personnel to locally configure, operate and maintain
DLMS protocol is based on OSI (Open System
various elements over the network. Local O&M facility is
Interconnection); however 7 layers of OSI are primarily
made available with Electricity meter and Communication hub,
collapsed in to 4 layer structure which are physical, data link,
Multi-utility meters and DCU. Local O&M facility is useful
transport and application. The physical layer defines the
particularly at the time of installation and later to perform
transfer method and a communication parameter to transfer
maintenance or reconfiguration if not possible remotely by
information with the meter. The data link layer provides the
Central System. O&M facility may also help to retrieve meter
communication with the meter and the messaging method to
data as a redundant measure in case of sustained
change data. The transport layer enables data transfer using
communication failure.
IPv4 network. The application layer defines the energy meter
External devices refer to auxiliary equipments that may be
functions as objects so that the application program can access
optionally connected to the DCU which utilizes network
it.
facilities to support objectives of AMI. Example of such
COSEM defines standards to model metering equipment as
RRTT
facility can be SCADA system or other similar system related
a set of logical devices, hosted in a single physical device.
to substation automation.
Each logical device models a subset of the functionality of the
metering equipment in terms of attributes and methods and is
E. Multi-utility Meters and End Customer Devices
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International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
Vol. 1 Issue 10, December- 2012
1) 3 layer correction oriented High-level Data Link Control given in Table. 2. As Legacy system works almost independent
(HLDC) based communication profile: This comprises of of the communication technologies used in interface of other
COSEM application layer, HDLC based data link layer and elements in AMI, the interface between Central system and
the physical layer for correction oriented asynchronous data Legacy system can have number of options and hence not
exchange. It supports data exchange via a local optical or mentioned in the Table.
electrical port, leased lines and PSTN or the GSM network.
A. IEEE 802.11 Standards
2) TCP-UDP/IP based communication profile: These profiles IEEE 802.11 is a set of IEEE standards that govern wireless
support data exchange via the Internet over various physical
networking transmission methods [8]. They are commonly
media like Ethernet, ISDN, GPRS, UMTS, PSTN/GSM
used today in their 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n versions to
using PPP etc. In these profiles the COSEM application
provide indoor wireless local area network (WLAN) and home
layer is supported by the COSEM transport layer(s),
area network (HAN). They can be used in AMI for HAN and
comprising a wrapper and the Internet TCP or UDP
home automation. Use of these standards supports design of
protocol. Lower layers can be selected according to the
low cost application devices to be used at consumer end. Use
media to be used as the TCP-UDP layers hide their
of this however is up to 100m and security issues arising due
particularities.
to multiple networks operating in the same locations has to be
resolved.
3) S-FSK PLC based communication profiles: These profiles
IEEE 802.11s is amendment to IEEE 802.11 for mesh
support data exchange via power lines using S-FSK
networking in WLAN, popularly known as wireless mesh
modulation. In these profiles, the COSEM application layer
network (WMN). This consists of radio nodes organized in a
is supported by the connectionless Logical link control
mesh topology. In AMI this can be an option for defining how
(LLC) sublayer as specified in IEC 61334-4-32, or the LLC
wireless devices can interconnect to create a WLAN mesh
sublayer using the data link layer based on the HDLC
network, which may be used for static topologies and ad-hoc
protocol as specified in IEC 62056-46. The MAC and the
networks. This can act as an AMI backhaul particularly at
Physical layers are as specified in IEC 61334-5-1.
distribution end supporting automation, demand response and
remote monitoring. It is easily scalable and allows improved
RRTT
coverage around obstacles, node failures and path degradation.
TABLE II
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR VARIOUS AMI INTERFACES
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B. IEC 61334
IEC 61334 is a standard for low-speed reliable power line
Fig. 2. DLMS/COSEM communication profile.
communications. It is also known as S-FSK (Spread Frequency
Shift Keying). A typical PLC system in AMI may consist of a
V. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR AMI backbone-coupled DCU close to a MV/LV transformer. All
traffic on the line is initiated by the DCU, which acts on behalf
of Central system. More recent narrowband PLC technology
Communication technologies used for various interfaces in include sophisticated techniques such as OFDM (Orthogonal
AMI should be evaluated against number of factors like Frequency-Division Multiplexing) to provide higher data rates,
bandwidth, latency in communication, network coverage, and focuses on broadband solutions operating in the 1-30 MHz
reliability against failure, security and installation and band [9]. Further, installation of filters highly improves SNR
operational cost. For the AMI architecture discussed in ratios. Despite the difficulties, PLC technologies are at a clear
previous section, communication technologies that can be advantage for utility companies as no separate communication
proposed to be used for interface between various elements is
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International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
Vol. 1 Issue 10, December- 2012
channel is required and it can prove to be relatively cheaper opportunities lie for the researchers and market in general in
[10]. the mammoth work of smart grid implementation as it requires
a heterogeneous solution that allows integrating various
C. ZigBee existing open technologies and achieving interoperability and
co-existence of various communication protocols.
ZigBee is a low-cost, low-power communication standard
maintained and published by ZigBee Alliance [11] and is
REFERENCES
suitable particularly for personal area network. It is based on
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and medical (ISM) radio bands. One of the important for metering and suitability of DLMS-COSEM, Available: https://
www.kalkitech.com.
advantages of ZigBee is that it supports mesh-networking. This
[2] D. C. Klaas and D. Geert, (2010), Analysis of state-of-the-art smart
provides high reliability and more extensive range. For AMI,
metering communication standards, Available:
ZigBee is very suitable for realizing Home Area Network https://lirias.kuleuven.be.
(HAN) that includes interface between the Electric meter and [3] Open Public Extended Network Metering (2010), Available:
communication hub with other elements like Multi-utility http://www.openneter.com.
meter, Local O&M device, End customer device etc. [4] DLMS/COSEM: Architecture and protocols, Ed. 7.0, DLMS UA,2009.
Currently, under ZigBee Smart Energy profile [12], number of [5] COSEM: Identification system and interface classes, Ed. 10.0, DLMS
agencies is jointly working to develop a standard for 2010.
interoperable products that monitor, control, inform and [6] IEC smart grid standardization roadmap, Ed 1.0, Smart grid strategic
automate the delivery and use of energy to support goals of group, IEC 2010.
smart grid. [7] List of standard OBIS codes and COSEM objects, Ed. 2.5, DLMS UA
2011.
[8] IEEE 802.11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and
D. IEC 61850 Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, IEEE Standard Association, 2009.
IEC 61850 [13] is primarily designed for intra-substation [9] W. Liu, H. P. Widmer, J. Aldis, and T. Kaltenschnee,” Nature of power
line medium and design aspects for broadband PLC system, Broadband
communication for substation automation. The standard
Communications,” Proc. Int. Zurich Seminar 2000, pp. 185-189.
defines the application layer and is thus independent of the [10] G. Deconinck, “An evaluation of two-way communication means for
underlying communication medium. All services and models advanced metering in Flanders (Belgium),” Proc. IEEE Conf.
RRTT
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Communication Service Interface) which then can be mapped
[11] The ZigBee Alliance (2011), Available: http://www.zigbee.org.
to protocols such as MMS (Manufacturing Message [12] ZigBee smart energy profile specification (2008), Available:
Specification) and TCP/IP over Ethernet. Typical use of this
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www.zigbee.org/Products/DownloadTechnicalDocuments/tabid
standard in AMI is for interface between DCU and External /465/Default.aspx.
devices e.g. a SCADA system. [13] C. Brunner, “IEC 61850 for power system communication,” Proc.
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E. Cellular Technologies [14] B.A. Akyol, H Kirkham, S.L. Clements and M. D, Hadley (2010), A
survey of wireless communications for the electric power, Available:
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Area Network) cellular technologies are one of the best
available options. With evolution of cellular technology from
2G (GSM) to 3G (GPRS/UMTS) and presently towards 4G
(LTE) it has became possible to achieve higher data rates,
better security and wide coverage [14]. Scalability is another
important advantage that these technologies provide. These
technologies can be used for interface between DCU and
Central system or where Electricity meter and communication
hub is directly connected to Central system. Because of
continuous rapid growth in this domain the major concern in
use of these technologies is their life span.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper key functions and system architecture for AMI
has been discussed. DLMS/COSEM standards, which is the
closest current solution to the requirements of AMI and smart
grid is studied. Method to model the metering equipment and
OBIS naming is studied. Communication profile proposed
based on client-server architecture proposed in DLMS
standards is reviewed. Various communication technologies
that can be used for different interfaces in AMI has been
discussed and evaluated. The study reveals that enough
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