# Communication Network Standards for Smart Grid Infrastructures
## 1 Introduction  
Electricity networks are a point of friction in the current era which is characterized by the waste of natural resources, the destruction of the climate and economic austerity, as they can be a starting point for the beginning of a new era. Therefore, it is extremely important to support the transition from the outdated infrastructure of the existing electricity transmission networks to a new smart model of production, management and distribution of electricity [1]. Smart grids use digital technology, artificial intelligence, and advanced communication techniques to monitor, control, and manage electricity to meet the varying needs of their customers. In particular, smart grids are able to coordinate the needs and capabilities of all the market entities (i.e., producers, network operators, consumers), so that all parts of the system operate optimally, thus minimizing the financial and environmental costs and maximizing, at the same time, the stability and reliability of the provided services [2]. In this regard, the design and implementation of a secure and cost-effective electricity supply network requires the integration of an efficient, reliable, and interoperable communication system [3, 4, 5]. Based on the semantic approach of smart grids, standardization organizations guided by the object-mapping processes have adopted a holistic conceptual model of architecture, which classifies energy networks into seven sub-sectors. Specifically, these sectors are the generation (bulk and non-bulk), distribution, transmission, operation, service providers, customer, and markets. This conceptual approach provides the architectural background for describing and analyzing the interoperability of current standards, as well as for developing new ones. A conceptual representation of smart energy grid architecture based on distinct operating areas is shown in Figure 1.  
Within this architecture, the individual domains interact with each other, respectively, through electrical or communication flow, and by using several available communication architectures, including wired, wireless, or power line communication infrastructure networks, the corresponding interfaces, and the appropriate protocols. A brief description of the interconnection modes is shown in Figure 2.  
Figure 1: Smart Grid Domains. Figure 2: Communications paths between Smart Energy Grid domains. The five basic principles of designing an integrated and technically sound communication system for the application in smart grid networks are [2; 6; 7]:  
1. Interoperability: The architecture of smart grids and their components, both in terms of hardware and software, and refers to their ability to interact directly with each other. This allows easy and efficient exchange of information without disturbing the end user. 2. Interconnectivity: The ability to communicate through all available means of participants in the energy ecosystem (stations, substations, machines, devices, sensors, applications, and people). 3. Classified access to information: The provision of easy and instant access to useful information, to and from all points of the energy process. 4. System monitoring: The cyber-physical systems that support all processes, collecting and visualizing information in almost real-time. 5. Decentralized decision-making: The cyber-physical systems that usually take optimal decisions autonomously. A hierarchically higher level usually intervenes only in cases of conflicting objectives. Taking into account the above design principles, we can conclude that tasks such as data analysis, remote preventive/predictive maintenance, and on-demand use of equipment are essential functions for smart grids [5; 8; 9]. The work aims to clearly identify all the issues regarding the communication standards that have been established for smart grid networks in order offer interoperability, privacy, and confidentiality among their functional components.