Energy-Efficient Signal Processing Techniques For Smart Grid Heterogeneous Communication Networks Prof. Naofal Al-Dhahir Prof. Brian L. Evans Univ. of Texas at Dallas Univ. of Texas at Austin SRC GRC ICSS S7.1 Smart Grid Applications Task ID: May 7, 2014 Project Kickoff Presentation

1 Task Description: Improve rate, reliability, and energy efficiency of two-way wireless and powerline communications (PLC) between smart meters & data concentrators in smart grids Anticipated Results: Signal processing algorithms and real-time prototypes to demonstrate enhanced performance of wireless and PLC transceivers for smart grids PI/Co-PI: Prof. N. Al-Dhahir (UT-Dallas) and B. L. Evans (UT-Austin) Current Students (with expected graduation dates): Ms. Jing LinPh.D. (May 2014) Summer 2013 intern at TI Mr. Karl NiemanPh.D. (May 2015) Summer 2013 intern at Freescale Mr. Mostafa Ibrahim Ph.D. (May 2017) Summer 2014 intern at TI Industrial Liaisons: Dr. Anuj Batra (TI), Dr. Anand Dabak (TI) and Dr. Khurram Waheed (Freescale) Starting Date: February 1, 2014 Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Central power plant Wind farm Houses Offices HV-MV Transformer Industrial plant Utility control center Integrating distributed energy resources Smart meters Automated control for smart appliances Grid status monitoring Device-specific billing 2 High Voltage (HV) 33 kV – 765 kV Medium Voltage (MV) 1 kV – 33 kV Smart Grid Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights

Smart Grid Goals Accommodate all generation types Improve operating efficiencies Scale voltage with energy demand Bill customer using real-time rates Reduce peak demand (duty cycling) Analyze customer load profiles Analyze system load snapshots Improve system reliability Monitor power quality Disconnect/reconnect remotely Notify outage/restoration event Inform customer 3 Source: Jerry Melcher, IEEE Smart Grid Short Course, 22 Oct. 2011, Austin TX USA Enabled by two-way smart meter communications ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/© SIGAL SUHLER MORAN Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights

Project Focus Focus: neighborhood-area smart utility network between a data concentrator and smart meters along two paths: 1) Low-voltage power lines in kHz band 2) Unlicensed MHz wireless band 4 PLC example: transformer in USA and rare elsewhere Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Task Deliverables 5 Date Task June 2015 Algorithms/software for low-complexity interference cancellation methods that exploit channel and interference characteristics to reduce bit error rate by 10x August 2015 Architecture/algorithm for PLC-wireless diversity combining method with at least 2x improvement in energy efficiency over state of the art January 2017 Efficient wireless coexistence mechanisms in the unlicensed MHz frequency band January 2017 Demonstrations on UT Austin wireless and PLC testbeds Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

PLC/Wireless Diversity 6 Simultaneous PLC/wireless transmissions are independent and experience different interference characteristics Goal: Improve reliability of smart grid communications using PLC/wireless receive diversity combining methods Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Unlicensed Wireless Comm. vs. PLC Systems 7 Unlicensed Wireless Communications Narrowband Powerline Communications (3-500 kHz) Power loss vs. distance d d – /2 is propagation constant e –  (f) d plus attenuation from transformers PropagationDynamicStatic (fixed grid topology) Additive noise/ interference model Gaussian noiseGaussian noise + Cyclostationary interference Asynchronous interference Uncoordinated users in unlicensed bands using same/other standards Power electronics and uncoordinated users using other standards Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) Enhance data rate (spatial multiplexing) & reliability (diversity); Adopted in Wi-Fi and cellular standards Enhance data rate through spatial multiplexing (not much diversity); Adopted in G.9964 standard for in-home broadband PLC Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Wireless Coexistence Mechanisms Interference avoidance and/or management Between IEEE ah and IEEE g smart utility networks in the unlicensed MHz band Receiver-based: channel sensing Enhanced low-power algorithms that exploit signal waveform properties Transmitter-based: dynamic spectrum management Adjust transmit power/bandwidth dynamically to reduce mutual interference Long successful track record in DSL and other standards Goal: Enable coexistence of IEEE ah and IEEE g smart utility networks 8 Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Interference Cancellation Interference limits performance Cyclostationary noise for PLC Period is half AC power cycle Spectrum varies with time Modeled as Gaussian noise feeding three different filters Asynchronous noise in unlicensed wireless bands Modeled as Gaussian mixture High-complexity receivers reduce bit error rates 10x-100x Goal: Find low-complexity methods using joint transmitter- receiver processing with similar reduction in bit error rates 9 Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

PLC and Wireless Testbeds Three PLC testbeds for earlier SRC GRC Task TI PLC modems controlled by NI hardware/software Collected and analyzed field measurements Demonstrated lack of diversity for transmitting over two phases Freescale PLC modems controlled by PC Collected and analyzed field measurements Developed bit allocation based on previous estimates of interference Xilinx FPGAs controlled by NI hardware/software Mapped interference cancellation algorithms onto FPGAs in realtime Goal: Develop testbeds to evaluate communication performance vs. complexity tradeoffs for the other tasks 10 Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Project Highlights PLC-wireless diversity combining task Completed characterization of wireless link and PLC link Investigating diversity combining schemes based on both average and instantaneous SNR measurements Low-power interference cancellation task PLC case: Ms. Lin completed PhD dissertation May 2014: Robust Transceivers for Combating Impulsive Noise in Powerline Comm. Plans for investigating wireless case in fall 2014 and spring 2015 Conference calls: TI (monthly) and Freescale (to start) Synergistic Activities Drs. Al-Dhahir, Batra (TI), Dabak (TI), Evans, Waheed (Freescale) organizing 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications in Austin, Mar. 29-Apr Task Summary | Smart Grids | Focus | Tasks | Highlights SRC GRC Task Al-Dhahir and Evans

Thank you for your attention… Questions? 12