CLUSTERING-DRIVEN EQUIPMENT DEPLOYMENT PLANNER AND ANALYZER FOR WIRELESS NON-MOBILE NETWORKS APPLIED TO SMART GRID SCENARIOS
CLUSTERING ALGORITHMS, QUALITY OF SERVICE (QOS), SMART GRID, COMMUNICATION NETWORKS, MODEL, ANALYSIS
THE IMPROVED POWER GRID, KNOWN AS SMART GRID, RELIES ON VARIOUS ADVANCEMENTS, ONE OF THEM BEING THE INTRODUCTION OF BI-DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION. IN SOME CASES, DATA EXCHANGED IN THE NETWORK IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE. THE TRANSFERS NEED TO MEET SPECIFIC DELAY LIMITS SET BY THE REGULATORS IN ORDER FOR THE SMART GRID TO FUNCTION PROPERLY. MEETING THESE STANDARDS RESULTS IN MORE EFFICIENT, STABLE AND ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY LIFECYCLE OF ENERGY. THIS THESIS PRESENTS A MODEL OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION IN SMART GRID OR OTHER NETWORK WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS, SUCH AS PRESENCE OF ONLY NON-MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS OR FIXED COMMUNICATION PATTERNS. THE MODEL USES A CLUSTERING ALGORITHM TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMAL POSITIONS OF TWO TYPES OF NETWORK CELLS TO BE INSTALLED. AFTER, IT CALCULATES THE DELAY FOR EACH NETWORK SUBSCRIBER, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE INFLUENCES OF THE SURROUNDING COMMUNICATION. THIS WAY, AN ANALYSIS CAN BE MADE TO OBTAIN THE QUALITY OF SERVICE ACHIEVED BY A SPECIFIC NETWORK SETUP IN A SPECIFIC SCENARIO. THE RESULTS SHOW, THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEPLOY WIMAX-ENABLED EQUIPMENT IN A SMART GRID NETWORK WITH THE WORST CASE OF 97% TO 100% OF MESSAGES DELIVERED WITHIN THE MAXIMUM DELAY. ALSO, THE THESIS EXPLORES A RESTRICTED COMMUNICATION MODE THAT CAN TEMPORARILY SUSPEND THE TRANSFERENCES OF NON-CRITICAL DATA. THE RESTRICTED MODE DELIVERS THE CRITICAL DATA WITHIN THE MAXIMUM DELAY WITH THE SUCCESS RATE OF 100% IN ALL INSTANCES. MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE MODEL PRESENTED IN THIS THESIS IS CUSTOMIZABLE AND IS MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ONLINE AS AN OPEN-SOURCE PROJECT, SO THAT ANYONE, INCLUDING RESEARCHERS, OR PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COMPANIES, CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.