Modeling the Seismic Impacts on Communication Networks in Smart Grid

In Smart Grids, the real-time information measured by distributed sensors is transmitted through communication networks to create an automated energy delivery network. The communication reliability of communication networks in Smart Grids is of great importance, especially under the impact of natural disasters, which are the most common threats to the reliability of power grids. In this paper, the seismic impacts on communication networks in Smart Grids are analyzed, including the modeling of earthquakes, the fragility probability computing of power grids, and the seismic impacts on power line communication (PLC) channel. Based on these analyses, the network capacity is analyzed and the postearthquake network capacity is obtained through the formulations based on an arbitrary network model. The achievable data rates of a practical network are obtained through simulations on a simulated random topology according to practical parameters. To enhance the communication robustness of Smart Grids against earthquakes, a robust routing protocol based on greedy perimeter stateless routing (R-GPSR) is proposed. The simulation results show significant improvements in the reliability and expectation channel capacity of the communication network under the impacts of earthquakes with different magnitudes.