According to the Smart Grid Priority Action Plan 2 (PAP2) report, released by the U.S. NIST, meter density is 100, 800 and 2000 per square kilometer for rural, suburban and urban areas respectively (NIST Priority Action Plan 2 Guidelines for Assessing Wireless Standards for Smart Grid Applications, 2011). Managing data from more than 50 million meters across 100+ energy and water companies on six continents. For the utilities, the deployment of the AMI platform immediately allows them to move from a traditional manual reading process, which is less accurate and can be run only a few times a year because of its cost, to an automated reading process providing the utilities with reliable and accurate consumption data on a daily basis. The European Standards Organization (ESO) is standardizing data communication interfaces, smart grid information security, dependability and functional safety, smart metering and a host of other aspects. R. Bago, M. Campos, in Eco-Friendly Innovation in Electricity Transmission and Distribution Networks, 2015. There are many other IT challenges that that must be addressed as organizations launch SG & DR programs. The utilities all around the world are turning towards AMI as a part of smart grid initiatives. configuration and connection status), and voltage distortion (e.g. Automatic meter infrastructure (AMI) differs from traditional AMR in that it may have two-way communication with the meters. The ambitious objectives of Smart Grid, when combined with some early warning signs from those whove embarked on the journey, indicate that the role and complexity of IT is being grossly under-estimated, and that IT is going to play a more prominent, if not dominant, role in making Smart Grid a reality. Typically, HANs need to cover areas of up to 200m2 and support from 10 to 100 kilobits per second (kbps) [85]. Smart Grid Architecture, the P2P Antidote. The wireless communication system helps reduce the cost associated with meter reading and also supports the billing process. The technologies mentioned are all cost intensive and require huge financial resources. The first is the, Restructuring of Electrical Power Systems, Smart buildings features and key performance indicators: A review, SM another important technological interface connected to the BEMS promotes communication between the smart grid and the buildings. This real-time or active data has significantly more value than the static and old data as it can be harnessed to make just-in-time decisions, such as automated outage detection through the last-gasp meter data for proactive customer service and proactive self healing of the grid; detection of current load and critical peak conditions to initiate automated load curtailment programs to curtail power at participating C&I customer premises, or to perform air conditioning load curtailment at participating retail households. The Power industry needs to take a careful, hard look at these indicators, do appropriate course correction and reconcile with the role that IT will play in Smart Grid and Demand Response programs. The challenge of application integration is increased by the diversity of the systems. AMI system data integration with other information and management systems, including the geographic information and outage management systems enable the utilities to create detailed outage maps; this helps the end-users to know about the service restoration progress. Efficiently operate the OpenWay solution across all devices and communications technologies. The PDC correlates data and controls and monitors the PMUs. Some are new, others old. MDM system includes a set of software tools and databases, built on top of the MDC system, whose primary functions include the validation, estimation, and editing (VEE) of meter data that are later passed to other utility systems, as billing systems, even in case of disruption of meter data flows. It is necessary to bring several aspects such as AMI, meter data acquisition system, data concentrator units, meter data management system (MDMS), and many others are to be integrated on to a single platform. Enable true interoperability and distributed intelligence to deliver business outcomes for utilities and smart cities. At a central control center, SCADA is provided. However, one final challenge for the purpose of this article is the issue of reporting and leveraging data warehouses. The plan foresees 15% of the total energy produced to be available in the interconnected grid, so that other members of EU can import wherever and whenever necessary. Currently, Automated meter reading used by the most of the utilities is not having two way communication, it does not meet the requirements of smart grid implementation. In addition, reporting off of transactional systems may reduce application performance and impact other critical systems. The tools and infrastructure that are required to realize the Smart Grid architecture and vision will vary from project to project and may include: SOA toolset, development tools, configuration management tools, a source control tool, infrastructure for development, testing and production, etc. In this case, MBE alludes to the capability where an abnormal condition, such as an exception, or an error requires special attention without any significant overhead or management on the rest of the system. Moreover, SMs are integrated into the BEMS and automatic functions are enabled when peak use approaches critical price thresholds or system constraints (Frderer, Lsch, Nver, Ronczka, & Schmeck, 2019). Padhy, in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016. If each transaction is 1,000 bytes (1Kb) then 1Kb x 1111 transactions = 1,111 Kb are required per second. Further, individual operators to overcome legal and other obstacles need government support so that appropriate legislative measures are taken. P.S.R. WANs provide continuous communication between the different components of the AMI platform, as data concentrators and the AMI MDC system, employing bidirectional communication channels. In this example, if there is 30 days worth of data in the database, then database records that will have to be searched = 90 million x 30 days = 2.7 billion records. The phase measurement units (PMUs) are distributed all over the network. Meter data management system (MDMS): A meter data management system (MDMS) is a system or an application which imports, verifies, edits and processes on the AMI data before making it available for billing an analysis [88]. Linking all of these systems can be quite complicated. In some instances, to narrow down an outage, the last gasp meter data may need to be accessed from the ever-growing transactional database (as shown in Data Volume section) resulting in significant performance bottlenecks in database I/O. SM another important technological interface connected to the BEMS promotes communication between the smart grid and the buildings. Non real-time integration requirements via batch-data or passive flow of data can be leveraged appropriately for non real-time decision-making. Functional block diagram for future power system network (Fig. About 70% of installed smart meters must be made in Iran until that time. Application Interoperability & Centralization. For example, a brand-new AMI head-end may be connected to a 20-year-old legacy billing system. Such capabilities are possible only with a Real-Time Enterprise Integration Architecture (RTEIA), where immediacy of data is critical and data flows seamlessly between applications and systems (with appropriate governance and security controls). Provide the ability to calculate interval-based billing determinants, rate analytics, exception management and work management reporting. Murty, in Electrical Power Systems, 2017. Neighborhood area networks (NANs): Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) is one important component of communication network infrastructure that connected to smart meter in customer domain and some field gateways in distribution domain [87]. MDM functionalities can usually be distributed over other systems instead of being present as separate systems. The first is the meter data management system (MDMS), which is present inside the utility data and control center. The operation of all these functionalities can be remotely configured and customized in the metering devices, and they are also remotely managed and gathered either on demand or on a scheduled basis. To be proactive and have a strategy for managing Grid Operations & IT transformation through a strategic Smart Grid integration architecture; or. A variety of technologies such as WiMAX, 4G, and PLC could be used in WAN networks. Already mentioned services, as information and alarms for planned outages, information about hourly electricity prices, deployment of HAN infrastructure, etc., will provide customers with a good set of tools to increase the efficiency of their electricity use, accommodating it to the cheapest hours. Fig. With over 90 million records, the detection of a needle in a haystack must work day after day, month after month, with little to no room for error. There has to be a consistent policy formulation and setting up of regulations in this direction from the various players and mutual cooperation to realize smart grids. AMI features and capabilities include a Meter Data Management System, Consumer Awareness systems, Interactive Services for Regulation of Energy Demand, systems to assist with avoidance of Electricity-related fraud and time accurate billing services (Benzi et al., 2011). Successfully tackling these challenges will enable organizations to clearly execute on their vision of developing a Real-Time Integration Architecture that will serve as a foundation for all SG & DR programs. IT has never had the motivation, the business drivers or the budget to develop a strategic architecture or develop a standardized approach to integration. Moreover, technical interfaces differ, ranging from modern, XML-based, interfaces to traditional batch-based file exchanges. Improve demand response through dynamic pricing and demand response rate programs, managed by a single MDMS solution. This is equal to over 90 million transactions per day. Thus, for a large number of Smart Meters, providing network access within a short period of time is a crucial requirement of an AMR application (Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications study report, 2010). Transactional data collected from customer meters can quickly reach staggering proportions that will require significant storage capacity and an information life cycle management approach to managing the data based upon some strategic approach where the value of data or at least that level of granularity, will gradually diminish over time. For Meter Data Management, there are the inherent challenges of data volume, transaction performance, event handling and database performance as outlined below. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is a system that measures, collects, and analyzes the energy usage, and communicates with the metering devices such as electricity meters, gas meters, heat meters, and water meters, either on request or on a schedule. IHD also allows the consumer to customize their power usage profile in order to minimize their electricity bill. AMI technology made possible time of use pricing, demand response action, remotely we can connect or disconnect the load. In AMI technology a network is formed between the measurement devices and utilities control center. meter connection status, meter data, outage management etc). Such data can also be used to improve customer service, lower cost of operation, increase grid reliability, and improve market operations. It consists of two types networks: backhaul and core network. AMI is an integrated system of smart meters, data management systems and communication networks that enable two-way communication between the utilities and the customers. The Blockchain Technology for Secure and Smart Applications across Industry Verticals, Smart meters for improved energy demand management, Eco-Friendly Innovation in Electricity Transmission and Distribution Networks, Iranian smart grid: road map and metering program, AMI consists of three components. The Smart Grid Architecture should include an Event Driven Architecture (EDA) capability to process events as and when they occur with minimal human intervention. Smart meter: Smart meter is the advanced new generation of meters, which measures real-time consumption of energy, records and storages this measurement at predefined time intervals. Thus, the current tactical approach that served companies well in the past will not scale to support the larger vision of Smart Grid and Demand Response. In particular, between the energy consumer, meter operator, supplier of energy or utility and meter data management systems (Zivic, Ur-Rehman, & Ruland, 2016). Fig. With the help of this information available, both independent Energy producers and customers can be benefitted. At least 20% of domestic smart meter products must be exported. The deployment of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is one of the fundamental early steps to be taken in grid modernization, as it represents the direct inclusion of one of the main stakeholders of the electricity grid the consumers. In addition to collecting the data, an organization will need to manage performance and storage challenges. Increasing export capacity of engineering services and smart grid equipment. MV-PBS provides utilities a billing solution flexible enough to handle their most complex energy supply contracts. Most utilities focused exclusively on deploying Smart Meters, communication infrastructure and Meter Data Management (MDM) products in their pilot phases have not included developing a strategic integration architecture that ties MDM data with other enterprise applications such as Outage Management System (OMS), Customer Information System (CIS), Geographical Information System (GIS), Distribution Management System (DMS), and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). The second is the smart meters, which are located basically in the consumer's periphery. AMI is a complicated communication network and information technology infrastructure, which includes, A survey of smart grid architectures, applications, benefits and standardization, Journal of Network and Computer Applications, To exchange information between the end users and the utilities AMI creates a two-way communication network comprised of advanced sensors, smart meters, monitoring systems, computer hardware, software, and data management systems. Usually, an event is detected as data and message flows between applications. The first is the meter data management system (MDMS), which is present inside the utility data and control center. Within an AMI, smart meters are used to collect meter data or information on events via a periodic message exchange. Various functionalities of smart meters include quantitative measurement, communication, control and calibration, power management, synchronization, and display. Presence among well-known manufacturers and achieving the first position of the region in domestic, competitive industrial products of smart grid equipment, especially smart meters, smart energy management systems (MDMS), building management systems (BMS), and grid monitoring, control and protection systems. There is an International Smart Grid Action network where many nations are participating and sharing their expertise. Smart Grid and Demand Response initiatives will require real-time integration of applications and systems to enable real-time communication and timely sharing of data to make informed decisions. Distribution feeder automation allows, as pointed out earlier, utilities to create a comprehensive solution to smart grid operation. Moreover, the integration gap continues to widen over time as custom code is written for each P2P interface. The pictorial representation of AMI is as shown in Fig. The corresponding figures contemplated for the year 2030 stand at 40%, 27%, and 27%30%, respectively. Nazmus S. Nafi, Manoj Datta, in Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 2016. Hence, interactive services for regulation of energy demand, consumer awareness, more timely and precise billing and avoidance of electricity related thefts are some of the advantages of AMI [3840]. A large volume of transactions will also need to be written into the database. Simplify implementation and reduce IT/maintenance costs by minimizing the number of maintained interfaces between collection and billing systems, and improve the interoperability of applications with centralized interfaces to AMI and back-office systems. The clocks used are required to be accurate to the extent of 500ns so that the desired 1s standard is reached. Pankaj Gupta, Ashwani Kumar, in Advances in Smart Grid Power System, 2021. MV-90 xi is a proven multi-vendor solution for the collection, management and analysis of interval, register, and event data from complex metering devices. Wide area network (WAN): Wide area network (WAN) provides communication between smart grid and utility grid, which collects data from multiple NANs and sends it to control center [85]. India is fast progressing in developing smart grids to be integrated later into a giant smart network. Hence, by using the AMI system, the issuance or communication of commands or the price signal from utility to a meter or load controlling devices are also possible. The R&D support to develop, create, and supply compatible equipment for successful operation is another challenge. Utilities are therefore able to not only know current daily electricity use in a matter of hours but also to estimate in a much better and accurate way the expected electricity immediate future use from their customers, increasing the overall grid operation efficiency. Tony is the former Chairman of the IEEE; Past President of the IEEE Power Engineering Society; Chairman CISA/ISACA New England; and former President, CEO and Chairman of two venture capital-backed global technology companies. An event can be considered as any notable condition that happens inside or outside your IT environment or your business. TPC-C is a transaction processing benchmark that can be used to do performance related planning that might be required to manage the transaction load and throughput.