Design and Implementation of a Smart Home Networking Simulation

Given the power grid technology, integrated with renewable power generation technologies, Demand-Response (DR) programs enabled by Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) were introduced into the power grid in the interest of both utilities and residents to achieve load balance and improved grid reliability by encouraging residents to reduce their power usage during peak load periods with extra premiums in return. From the perspective of energy saving and power efficiency in smart homes, a cost-effective Home Energy Management System (HEMS) is capable of automatically supervising energy-aware smart appliances, small-scale renewable energy generation facilities and plug-in vehicles around the houses in flexible cooperation with AMI to deliver time-based price messages from utilities to residences. However, lots of emphasis was placed on the energy management of the whole grid and the corresponding underlying communication infrastructures on a large scale mainly due to the unavailability of realistic test-beds and lack of support in existing software simulation environments feasible to smart homes. Inspired by the approaches of Multiple Interfaces and Multiple Channels (MIMC) in the literature, we designed and implemented a simplified networking simulation model in the Network Simulator Version-2 (NS-2) to explore the execution of DR programs and evaluate the network performance in smart homes. The model includes a Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) network and a combination of ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 plus HomePlug C&C with the support of multiple communication channels for each network individually. In addition to the node construction as well as the addressing scheme intended for nodes with multiple interfaces, this report mainly focuses on the node organization and management of communication channels, the mechanism of packet tagging through interfaces at the MAC/PHY layer, the implementation logic of routing protocols featuring various routing strategies associated with specific scenarios and the basic functionalities of the application layer from the bottom up. Also, a comprehensive guideline is presented here to help configure the simulation model with multiple networks specific to scenarios in a smart home.

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