Designing optimal wireless-based ICT platform for smart grid— CDMA450 proof-of-concept

Electricity grid is one of the most critical national infrastructures. Therefore, governments around the world make the smart grid as one their priorities, in order to guarantee a safe, reliable and environment friendly energy. The smart grid can only be built on a two-way communication infrastructure, which in its turn must be safe, reliable and green as well. Wireless communications build an attractive solution for the utilities, because of the ease of deployment, even in geographically rough and remote locations. However, the decision about which wireless technology to use or deploy is a multi-criteria decision problem. So, in this papers, we give an overview about the different wireless technologies and discuss the main challenges imposed by the smart grid applications. Then, we give a detailed analysis of the characteristics, advantages and drawbacks of CDMA450. Finally we propose deployment strategies that should minimize the risks of the investment based on some conclusions from real-life European projects.