Review of communication technologies for smart homes/building applications

A customer premises network (CPN) is a critical element to support messaging exchange among smart meters, an energy management unit, load controllers, smart appliances and electric vehicles in a smart home/building environment. Smart grid applications in a CPN generally are driven by the need for Home/Building Energy Management Systems (HEM/BEM). Design of an effective energy management system requires the selection of a proper communication technology. The objective of this paper is to compare commonly used wired and wireless communication technologies for smart grid applications in a premises area network in terms of their standard/protocol, maximum data rate, coverage range, and adaptation rate. These communication technologies include both wired solutions (e.g., Ethernet, ITU-T G.hn, Power Line Communication (PLC), Serial, HomePNA, MoCA) and wireless solutions (e.g., Wi-Fi, ZigBee, ZWave, Bluetooth, 6LoWPAN, IEEE 802.15.3a, Enocean, Wave2M, RFID, ONE-NET).