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How the ‘middle mile’ could stall smart grid communications By Jesse Berst Sep 7, 2010 - 3:01:33 PM
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If the smart grid stalls, it may be because of the “middle mile” -- by the challenge of creating a wide area network (WAN) that gathers up the data and sends it back to the utility.
Traffic jams along the middle mile
Put simply, the middle mile may suffer from traffic jams unless utilities plan carefully. I’m hearing stories of utilities that have already had to upgrade or overlay their first communications solution because they didn’t plan for future expansion.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve organized a Webinar on Thursday, Sept. 16, titled “Optimizing Your 4G Smart Grid.” With help from communications experts from Alcatel-Lucent and Alvarion, it will explain how to assess your communications needs; and how to understand the pros and cons of the five major communications options. It will also cover: · Why some utilities are using “layered” communications solutions · When and whether to adopt a “converged” approach · How some utilities in Australia and Israel are using WiMAX to combine the last mile with the middle mile into a single network
Click the link above to read more about the Webinar or to reserve a spot. It’s free to SGN subscribers.
You might also be interested in ... . Alvarion announces open, flexible 4G network platform Smart grid standards wars: The battle over communications is heating up
Empowering the smart grid with WiMAX
. . How traffic jams can sneak up sooner than expected
Many utilities start their smart grid push with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), which doesn’t require much bandwidth. Or much speed. Or much prioritization.
Then they start adding new applications. And that’s when the middle mile starts to get overcrowded. They may add grid automation, which requires real-time speeds (low latency). Or outage management, which requires the ability to prioritize critical data. Or grid optimization and asset management, which require more bandwidth. Or grid security, which also needs a wider pipe (especially for video surveillance of physical assets).
And I don’t even want to think about the bandwidth that will be required when we someday have tens of millions of smart thermostats, appliances and electric vehicles talking back and forth all day.
Planning a future-friendly middle mile
The solution, of course, is to plan ahead. If you were planning a real highway, you’d have to determine the width, the speed limit, the distance and the mechanisms for prioritizing traffic (such as diamond lanes and rules that require cars to move over for emergency vehicles). And you’d want to plan for future needs. Even if you don’t build all the lanes immediately, you’d at least want to have the right of way to add them when needed.
The same things apply to your middle mile communications network. You need to determine the requirements for bandwidth, for latency, for range and for quality of service (prioritizing critical messages). And you need either a network that has lots of excess capacity, or at least a plan for expanding when needed.
Join us on Thursday, Sept. 16 to hear our experts give their advice (and to ask them your questions). But even if you can’t join our discussion, be sure that you carefully plan for your current and your future communications needs. Unless you get the middle mile right, your smart grid can turn into smart gridlock.
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