LoRa IoT-Based Architecture for Advanced Metering Infrastructure in Residential Smart Grid

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are opening new opportunities and services for different smart grid applications such as advanced meter infrastructures (AMI), distributed energy resources, and electric vehicles. Among these applications, AMIs represent the first step toward future smart grid implementation by enabling the reading and recording of electric power consumption on request or a schedule. In this study, the main focus is designing an IoT-based architecture to support AMIs' daily reporting and billing in a residential grid. First, the network modeling for AMI is discussed. Long range (LoRa) technology, as one of the promising candidates for long range low power wide area networks (LPWANs), has been studied and discussed. A comprehensive analysis of the LoRa-based architecture is given for a case study of an actual residential grid, Puerto Montt, Chile. The results are analyzed and discussed for packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, throughput, number of collisions, and frequency distribution.