Advanced Metering Infrastructure for Real
Time Load Management in a Smart Grid
Suryatapa Roy, Biswajeet Bedanta
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology
Bangalore, India
Abstract— Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is an
active area of research for real-time load monitoring, dynamic
pricing of power and for regulation of peak loading to minimize
the stress on the electric grid caused by irregular loading patterns.
Thus, AMI promises to fulfill key requirements essential for the
realization of smart grids. This paper proposes a metering unit for
monitoring and controlling load on the distribution side for peak
load management in real time and addresses a few of the design
considerations necessary for such a metering infrastructure.
Further, data collected from the proposed automated metering
system are processed to generate patterns of loading such that
dynamic pricing schemes can be applied. In this work an
embedded controller is used for the hardware realization of the
metering unit and ZigBee wireless communication protocol is used
for building the network that connects these distributed meters to
the control tower that acts as the base station of the network. It is
the aim of this work that such a metering unit will provide a
practical design that is easy to implement and the proposed data
processing technique can be instrumental in the formulation of
versatile dynamic pricing policies.
Keywords— Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), smart
grids, Real-Time Load Monitoring, ZigBee, peak loading,
dynamic pricing policies, cost-to-customer.
I. INTRODUCTION
The smart grid architecture functions as a closed loop
control system where power delivered on the demand side is
the system output and data generated by monitoring loading
patterns on the distribution side provide the feedback to the
grid controller.[3] This closed loop power system model can
be represented as a hierarchical network architecture
consisting of Neighborhood Area Networks (NANs) where
load management and data collection take place, Wide Area
Networks (WANs) where data storage and processing take
place and the Master Data Management System (MDMS)
for big data management as shown in Fig 1. Advanced
Metering Infrastructure that lies at the foundation of the
NAN consists of systems that measure, collect, and analyze
energy usage and communicate with metering devices on a
schedule based scheme. AMI provides a two-way
communication framework for metering that sends power
consumption information from the utility side and receives
978-1-4799-8371-1/15/$31.00 2015
c IEEE
S. Dawnee
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology
Bangalore, India
pricing information from the base station of the network.
[17] It also receives control signals for load management to
allow demand management services. A key component of
AMI is the metering unit installed in independent buildings.
It should be able to measure power consumption
continuously and communicate the same to the network
controller. The metering device should also be able to
receive critical messages from the base station such as real-
time pricing information and control signals for load
management operations.
Fig 1. Closed loop Smart Grid network architecture
This type of a system demands a reliable, highly flexible
and efficient communication framework to support such
data transfer. [2] There are several performance criteria that
the selected communication protocol should meet viz. data
rate, range and bandwidth. ZigBee is one such protocol
under research for potential application in this type of a
metering system. [20] In this paper, the performance of
ZigBee protocol for an advanced metering unit has been
studied and design of a control and coordination scheme has
been implemented. Further the system has been observed to
check its capability of real-time load monitoring and data
generated by the system have been analyzed for the scope of
implementation of real-time pricing policies.
Section II describes the concept of AMI and its performance
requirements. Section III describes the communication
requirements for such a system. Section IV illustrates the
design of the proposed system in this paper. Sections V and
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VI deals with the hardware realization and results
respectively. Finally, in Section VII the results are analyzed
and the work is concluded in Section VIII.
II. ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE
Advanced Metering Unit is a smart device for load
monitoring and controlling operations. In the conventional
energy meters, power consumption is monitored and
information is gathered periodically only for billing purpose.
There is no real-time monitoring of loading patterns and it
does not support remote load switching operations. These are
the features that must be supported by the smart metering
device that lies at the core of the AMI which requires an
inbuilt capability to support wireless networks controllable
from a central base station. [17] These devices take
continuous readings to monitor the power consumption and
periodically send the gathered data to a network controller
where this information is processed. The network controller
acquires control instructions for load management during
peak loading periods and information regarding dynamic
pricing of power which it intimates to the metering devices
so that the same can be communicated to the consumer. [6]
This is done to increase user awareness and to motivate
consumers to reduce power wastage that can lead to an
efficient utilization of energy. This also provides a scope for
controlling the unnecessary loads remotely to reduce stress
on the grid during periods of high consumption. The data
generated by such an infrastructure can be instrumental in
categorizing NAN specific loading patterns and can be
utilized in designing efficient generation schedules and
distribution policies.[1]Thus, such a system can especially be
useful in optimizing power management of industrial and
commercial regions. Further, the information can be
processed to impart intelligence to the grid to make it smarter
through learning and prediction algorithms.
III. COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS
A communication framework is an essential
component of this type of an infrastructure. It is extremely
crucial to have universally acceptable standards for the
communication requirements and to find the best
communication network for handling the output data to
deliver reliable, efficient and cost-effective services
throughout the entire system.[2] Such an infrastructure
requires a low throughput data network that performs with
high reliability and the latency tolerance is moderately high.
Conventionally, the communication networks used for the
study of such systems are wireless local area networks such
as WiMAX, 802.11b/g etc. But, even though ZigBee is
primarily used in home automation applications and is one of
the more unconventional technologies used in AMI, it shows
great promise for potential applications in a NAN. [14] Its
ability to form different peer to peer network architectures
can be utilized to extend its range and the speed, reliability
and bandwidth supported by this protocol are found to be
satisfactory for the designed AMI application.
2015 International Conference on Power and Advanced Control Engineering (ICPACE)
IV. PROPOSED DESIGN
In this paper, the proposed design is for an automated
metering device that takes readings of the power
consumption continuously and based on the designed
scheduling scheme it transfers the data to a central
coordinator. The control and coordination of the data
transfer mechanism in the communication network for the
AMI are achieved using ZigBee protocol in a broadcast
networking mode as shown in Fig 2. The data generated by
each metering device carry unique identification that is
essential to the end processing at the central controller
where the data are assembled to be fed into the processing
unit where pattern generation algorithms come into play.
There is an application that provides a Graphical User
Interface, running on the controller side that allows the
managing staff of the central coordinating station to easily
monitor the power consumption and feed the available
power supply information into the controlling algorithm.
The system algorithm, depending on the availability of
supply power and the real-time loading conditions of the
system takes measures for controlling the load on the
distribution side to avoid outages and faults. This will
ensure a higher reliability of the distribution system and will
reduce inefficiencies that are caused by reckless misuse of
power primarily due to ignorance of the user. The load
controlling operation is done such that a warning is issued
when percentage loading on the supply system reaches a
certain preset state and it is expected that users will reduce
consumption. But in case percentage loading keeps on
increasing and reaches a certain critical state then remote
load disabling operation is performed by the network
controller to get the percentage loading under the accepted
limit. Later, when excess power is available the operator of
the controller application can restore power. Thus, a
complete outage can be prevented and power failure and
damages can be reduced.
.
Fig 2. Design of Advanced Metering Infrastructure
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 V. SYSTEM REALIZATION accuracy. The working of the controller application is aided
The hardware realization of the design is done using an by a simple user interface that is designed to issue warning
embedded controller based metering unit. The prototype and notifications and the coordinated operation of the entire
model monitors common loads and measures voltage and system is achieved as can be seen in Fig 5. Data received by
current and calculates power consumption. The data, thus the application are found to be legible and the latency of
generated are sent to the central coordinator using the data acquisition was found to be within the limits of
ZigBee protocol. At the network base station, an application tolerance. The performance of the ZigBee protocol is found
continuously runs to capture the readings which it to be satisfactory and the developed system can be extended
segregates and processes. The embedded controller used is a and a much larger network framework can be supported in
low-cost atmega8 chip and for implementing the real time for metering operations.
communication protocol Digi’s XBee chip is used which is
a low power-consuming module supported by
microcontrollers as shown in Fig 3. At the consumer end,
the meter bears an LCD display providing an easy user
interface for the customer. The graphical interface provides
means of visual communication to the end user and acts as a
gateway between the central controller and the customer for
conveying messages. In the prototype model built during the
course of this work, houses are modelled such that each
house has some remotely controllable loads that can be
operated using a relay as per the signals received by the
meter from the control station. The remote load control
operation can be overridden by the user using a bypass
switch and the remotely controllable loads are to be set in
agreement with the consumer. Fig 4. Load Control Operation

Further the system is monitored for a long period of time

and different loading conditions are tested and the data, thus
obtained are analyzed to check the fitness of the proposed
system to meet real-time load monitoring and real-time
pricing requirements.

Fig 3. Block Diagram of Designed System

VI. RESULTS
Results are obtained by first testing the controller
application and the hardware models separately and then by
testing the complete operation of the designed system. The
power is varied by using different load combinations. For
different percentage loading, the control operation was
performed and the accuracy and latency of data transmission
were observed. In the results shown in Fig 4, for the sake of Fig 5. Working of Controller Application
demonstration the warning signal is issued for a percentage
loading of 50 and the remote load control operation takes
VII. ANALYSIS OF DATA
place at a percentage loading of 87.5. Similarly, the system
can be operated for different combinations of critical The system is monitored by the control application and
percentage loading depending on the type of Neighborhood data stored in the database are analyzed to check for the
Area Network. The designed control operation is achieved precision of recorded data and system response during
and found to be working with satisfactory speed and transitions between different control operations. The results

106 2015 International Conference on Power and Advanced Control Engineering (ICPACE)
of real-time monitoring of percentage loading on the system
are shown in Fig 6. The recorded loading information is
found to be accurate having satisfactory precision. The
transitions during remote load control operations are found
to be stable and the data generated by the system are found
to be suitable for further processing to develop improved
scheduling policies and efficient distribution schemes like
real-time pricing.
Fig 6. Real Time Load Monitoring of designed system
One of the more conventional dynamic pricing policies is
the one in which price of power for a distribution network
varies with time of day or with the availability of supply
power. Such a scheme is tested for the proposed system and
the projected cost-to-customer is shown in Fig 7.
Fig 7. Real Time Pricing Scheme for designed system
An algorithm is developed such that the price of power
varies with percentage loading on the system and cost thus
varies. In this type of a policy, the price does not vary with
the consumption of each house and thus it does not support
an incentive-based tariff structure for each unit. But in the
proposed AMI an incentive-based pricing policy can be
implemented where each unit can be rewarded for
regulating its consumption pattern in such a way that it
helps the grid in peak load management and also during the
valley periods when power transmission is extremely
2015 International Conference on Power and Advanced Control Engineering (ICPACE)
inefficient. In such a pricing policy, a base price can be
maintained during normal conditions and an increased price
is applicable during peak loading conditions that vary for
each house. If the consumption is comparatively less for a
particular unit during peak loading hours the unit can be
rewarded with a comparatively lower price of power during
that period and as consumption of a unit increases during
this period its price of power also comparatively increases.
On the other hand, during valley periods a unit consuming
comparatively more power is awarded a reduced price. The
proposed pricing policy that can be implemented for the
designed system is shown in Fig 8. In the MDMS of this
model, the data generated by the prototype are fed to the
designed algorithm where variable pricing is generated for
each house as shown in Fig 9. Similar algorithms can be
developed differentially based on the type of supply whether
industrial or domestic and different schemes can be applied
as per requirement. This type of a system can motivate
better utilization of energy on the demand side and help in
reducing power wastage and misuse. The load control
operation designed for the proposed AMI becomes crucial
for the implementation of such an incentive-based pricing
policy.
Fig 8. Incentive Based Tariff Structure for Each Metering Unit
For flexible power consumption according to the grid
conditions, home automation applications need to be
interfaced with such automated metering systems for
controlling the different appliances as per the instructions
received from the generation and supply end. The home
automation devices that are conventionally programmed as
per convenience by the user can be configured by the smart
metering unit as per the instructions received from the
network controller.
Fig 9. Snapshot of the Variable Pricing Table in the MDMS
107
Similarly for industrial loads, a priority based scheme can
be mapped out for remote load controlling operations for
different times of the day depending on the requirements of
the particular industry. Thus, a smooth operation can be
ensured by preventing outages and maintaining quality.
VIII. CONCLUSION
The work of this paper aims at designing a monitoring
and controlling architecture for enabling the Advanced
Metering Infrastructure for a smart grid application and
analyzing the performance of the ZigBee protocol for this
purpose. The performance of the controlling framework is
found to be efficient and meets all the design specifications
taken up in the design phase. The performance of the chosen
communication protocol also meets all the standards and
lives up to its promise. Such a system can be implemented
on a large scale as both the controlling application and the
data network are capable of supporting a much larger
system. The developed system is found to be capable of
real-time load monitoring such that the data generated by
the system are suitable for further processing in the MDMS
of a smart grid. The different dynamic pricing policies that
can be supported by the proposed system have also been
studied and analyzed and the inferences thus obtained
indicate the suitability of real-time application of such
schemes. The next phase of the work is to integrate the
design with existing energy meters to achieve practical
implementation.
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