© 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Tim Godfrey Technical Executive Information and Communications Technology April 6, 2016 EPRI Telecom Initiative Research Areas

2 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Industry Drivers  Retirement of analog and TDM leased line services from carriers  Transition of applications to IP-based networks  Lack of private spectrum for critical operational links  Rapidly increasing bandwidth and geographic coverage requirements for intelligent field devices  Impending obsolescence and/or insecurity of legacy wireless systems  Reliability impacts from crowded unlicensed spectrum

3 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Shaping Emerging Technologies to Meet Industry Needs Industry Drivers Increased DER (PV, EV, etc.) Remote Access to Substations Increased Sensors including AMI Customer Connectivity Reliability & Security Telecommunications Drivers Retirement of analog leased lines Transition to IP-based networks Lack of private spectrum Increasing bandwidth requirements Impending obsolescence and/or insecurity of legacy wireless systems Reliability impacts from crowded unlicensed spectrum Emerging Technologies 4G to 5G evolution 3GPP emerging technologies Standards for 1 MHz licensed spectrum Shared spectrum Leveraging unlicensed spectrum Long Range “IoT” Wireless Services Software Defined Networking Network Function Virtualization Opportunity

4 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous projects related to Telecom Field Area Network Demo High Reliability Field Area Networks Implementing Private Wireless Networks Integrating Multiple Applications Sharing with Public Safety Reliability of Commercial Cellular Implementing QoS and Prioritization Spectrum Sharing Spectrum Assessment

5 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. EPRI Telecom Initiative – defining the project  In 2015, the EPRI ICT Council indicated telecommunications was a high research priority  The Telecom Initiative was defined to address the critical issues defined by the ICT Council and ICT advisors  The initial group of members formed the Executive Steering Committee, and further refined the scope and research priorities.

6 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Telecom Telecom Initiative Initial Topics Connecting to DER Field Area Networks Customer / Retail Broadband (1-8) Dynamic Spectrum Access (1-6) Serial/TDM to Packet (1-3) Fiber Active Resilience (1-9) Commercial Cellular (1-5) Distributed Intelligence (1-3) Net Mgmt and Operations (1-2) LMR (1-2) Lifecycle management (1-2) AMI Networks

7 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Telecom Initiative Research Topics 1.Approaches for migrating from serial to packet-based communication 2.Leveraging licensed, unlicensed, and shared spectrum for private networks 3.Public Network Operations and Network Sharing 4.Strategic Deployment of Fiber 5.DER Connectivity at the Edge of the Grid 6.Standards and Best Practices for Network Management and Reliability Metrics

8 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Serial to packet based network transition  Applying MPLS and IP networks for protection  Testing and demonstration of replacement technologies for Frame Relay, Copper Loop, and other retiring TDM technologies Actions:  Primary focus of research: Testing and demonstration of technologies for supporting protection over MPLS-TP, MPLS-IP, and Carrier Ethernet  Solutions matrix application requirements and supported applications for various replacement technologies  Business Cases and Rate Recovery aspects of packet migration  Protecting the remote port - Cyber Security guidance

9 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Leveraging licensed, unlicensed, and shared spectrum for private networks  Standards development, testing, and demonstration in 700 MHz upper A block and other narrow bands  Testing, feasibility, and demonstration of shared operation in 406 MHz and other bands that may be identified  Private LTE Networks in leased spectrum (AT&T / Nokia) Actions: –Private FAN – technology assessment and analysis  700 MHz and other narrow-channel FAN spectrum  Options for higher performance mesh FAN –Analysis of leased spectrum opportunity and business case –Sharing parameters and acceptable use cases for shared spectrum –Analysis and testing on improving wireless network operation in unlicensed spectrum (e.g. noise floor tracking and analysis)

10 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Public Network Operations and Network Sharing  Reliability validation, QoS, and operational strategy on commercial cellular  Testing and demonstration with utility-focused MVNOs –Development and demonstration of a utility Private VNO (PVNO)  RAN Sharing with Public Safety (e.g. FirstNet) Actions : –Testing and demonstration of QoS on commercial cellular network(s), possibly including guidelines for creation of utility PVNO –Testing and demonstration of commercial utility MVNO (for primary or redundant network strategies), and (if available) FirstNet –Public Cellular cyber-security considerations – implications of “Stingray” intercept systems, and related topics

11 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Strategic Deployment of Fiber  Utility owned fiber - business cases and justification – case studies, new applications  Best practices for installation, provisioning, physical security  Utilities offering public triple play services  Cooperation / sharing with existing fiber owners operators Actions: –Case Studies, analysis of technology options, standards, and roadmap for FTTx –Research and analyze shared fiber networks: Business Models, Best Practices and Roadmap Scenarios –Strategic Fiber Deployment:  Cost Benefit Analysis, Business Cases, Value Realized, Lessons Learned.  Evaluation of models for fiber deployment, e.g. universally installed OPGW or fiber in trenches FTTx: where “x” is anything -- Fiber to the Home, Business, Recloser, etc.

12 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. DER Connectivity at the Edge of the Grid Beyond the Meter  Technologies for Connectivity to Customer Owned DER  Leveraging Customer/Retail Broadband  Failover Techniques  Integrate IoT platforms to interconnect Smart Devices Actions: –Evaluate use cases and scenarios for DER connectivity –Development of reference design for multi-mode resilient broadband connection platform with backup connectivity and failover –Reliable, secure tunneling through customer broadband networks

13 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Network Management and Reliability Metrics  Application of “manager of manager” NMS systems  Development of best practices for gathering telecom network performance and availability metrics Actions: –Explore identification of cyber or physical threats through network performance metrics and correlative analysis –Analysis, testing and/or demonstration of  NMS systems and NOC architecture  Software Defined Networking technology and applications in utility telecom networks –Co-simulation of telecom with highly critical, low latency applications. –Identify best practices for telecom network management, identifying reliability metrics, recommend standards for telecom network reliability based on uptime

14 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

15 © 2015 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. Together…Shaping the Future of Electricity