Grouping-Based MAC Protocols for EV Charging Data Transmission in Smart Metering Network

The next-generation advanced metering infrastructure, with the aid of two-way smart meters, is expected to support advanced functions such as remote reading and control and demand response. In this paper, we thus focus on the design of a smart metering network (SMN) for a future scenario where data from residences/customer premises are dominated by electric vehicle charging traffic. Therefore, the well-suited multiple access control (MAC) protocol design for such event-driven data is an emerging research area. However, because the number of smart meters (communication nodes) involved in such a single SMN is much larger than those in today's local area networks, the traditional random access MAC protocol is unlikely to perform well. In order to solve this problem, we propose two grouping-based MAC protocols, namely, TDMA-DCF and group leader DCF-TDMA schemes, in this paper. These two schemes are directed at 802.11-type networks operating at frequencies below 1 GHz, which has been adopted by a new IEEE 802.11ah standardization task group. We also conduct the comprehensive throughput and delay analysis on these schemes for unsaturated traffic conditions and hidden node events. The numerical results show that these two grouping-based MAC protocols significantly outperform the traditional random access protocol DCF in a densely populated network with large coverage such as SMN.