## 1 Introduction
Fifth Generation is a revolutionary mobile communication that delivers a ubiquitous and ultra-broadband fiber-like experience to customers to utilize emerging swift mobile services such as ultrahigh definition video sharing, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) [8], machine-type communications [9], and low latency. Fifth-Generation technology will no doubt offer smart and suitable servicing support for real-time applications necessary for the functional operation of an organization just like the ones envisaged for smart grids in evaluating performance [10]. In addition to the basic 20 Gbps downlink and the 10 Gbps uplink data rate that 5G promises, it can also successfully accommodate 1000 times more data traffic while hosting 60 billion or more \"online things\" such as smart home appliances, sensors, wearable devices, vehicles, and many more. This, however, makes 5G a suitable candidate to successfully introduce Internet of Things (IoTs) to smart grids where multiple devices can serve every user [11]. To ensure more than enough bandwidth, 5G is moving towards the mmWave spectrum and also opportunistically utilizing WiFi's unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band and also making use of MIMO technologies to ensure adequate spectral efficiency for more bits/s/Hz per node. One of the most crucial but challenging aspects of smart grid communications over 5G networks is usually task (resource) scheduling. Tasks (user request) submitted by a user equipment to the communication network are processed by a scheduling algorithm and distributed immediately for execution. This article aims to propose a novel algorithm called the Optimal Usage and Dropping Scheduling technique, and the motivation behind this work is as follows:  
* When static scheduling techniques are employed, the network load becomes quite heavy, rendering the resource utilization process less effective. * In smart grid communications, the priority of data flow is that the essence and service requirements must be met to avoid packet delay and ensure the reliable scheduling of packets. * As much as 5G networks aim to offer high-speed data transfer with low latency, the gradual increase in the number of active users, however, puts a strain on the resource distribution and allocation processes when employing conventional resource allocation techniques. * In assigning dedicated resources for transmissions and retransmissions in a typical smart grid, the unstable signal quality causes the resources required for retransmission to be uncertain. This can be a cause of great concern, especially when high-criticality packets or high-priority data cannot be transmitted. These, therefore, motivate the need to develop an optimal scheduling technique to increase the probability of assigning available Resource Blocks (RBs) to smart grid users. In a typical 5G-enabled network, the least allocatable resource unit in the network is known as a resource block which spans through the sub-1 GHz to millimeter wave bands with a frame duration of 10 ms consisting of 10 subframes, as seen in Figure 2, with scheduling decisions updated at each Transmission Time Interval (TTI). From the figure, the left-hand side depicts the waveform, numerology, and frame structure, while the right-hand side illustrates the resource carrier and bandwidth. It is seen that the duration of the slots of a subframe in milliseconds is dependent on the network numerology. Hence, for a 15 kHz subcarrier, a slot has the same structure as a typical 5G subframe. Each of the sub-frames consists of 2\({}^{\mu}\) slots of 14 OFDM symbols each. Resource management in a 5G-enabled network can be improved by enabling transmission to begin at any OFDM symbol and only last as many symbols as is needed for a specified communication. This no doubt brings about low latency for data and also minimal interference in the network. It is noteworthy to mention that the operation of 5G in millimeter wave bands benefits significantly when complemented by a low-frequency carrier to ensure good coverage, especially in the uplink (UL).