A Multipath Transmission and Switching Method for Distribution Automation Communication Network

This paper presents an innovative multi-channel transmission and switching methodology aimed at solving the problem of monitoring failures that may result from relying on a single network channel in distribution automation communication networks. The method enables quality and anomaly monitoring of multiple paths by deploying multifunctional channel switching devices at the master and distribution site ends. Through this mechanism, a switching process with the main station end as the primary and the distribution site as the secondary is realised, and channel switching is performed based on the optimal path selection principle. In the experimental validation phase, the actual channel switching time is first calculated by analysing the data loss during the switching process. The results show that the actual switching time is shorter than the preset channel detection period, which is consistent with the method design expectation. Second, three channels with different communication quality levels are simulated, and the experimental system successfully switches to the optimal channel several times. In addition, the testing of the master station and terminal simulator further confirms that the system is able to maintain more than 90% service online rate in real service applications, which fully meets the needs of distribution network monitoring. Finally, this paper also proposes a method for implementing channel switching in an acyclic network environment. When an outage occurs in a portion of the fibre optic network, the multi-channel switching device is able to quickly utilize multiple wireless channels to restore a relatively reliable communication channel. This strategy further enhances the robustness and reliability of the distribution network automation communication network.