Monitoring and controlling smart grid assets in a timely and reliable manner is highly desired for emerging smart grid applications. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are anticipated to be widely utilized in a broad range of smart grid applications due to their numerous advantages along with their successful adoption in various critical areas including military and health care. Despite these advantages, the use of WSNs in such critical applications has brought forward a new challenge of ful lling the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of these applications. Providing QoS support is a challenging issue due to highly resource constrained nature of sensor nodes, unreliable wireless links and harsh operation environments. In this thesis we critically investigate the problem of QoS provisioning in WSNs. We identify challenges, limitations and requirements for applying QoS provisioning for WSNs in smart grid applications. We nd that the topic of data prioritization techniques at the MAC layer to provide delay bounds in condition monitoring applications is not well developed. We develop six novel QoS schemes that provide data di erentiation and reduce the latency of high priority tra c in a smart grid context. These schemes are namely; Delay-Responsive Cross layer (DRX), Fair and Delay-aware Cross layer (FDRX), Delay-Responsive Cross layer with Linear backo (LDRX), Adaptive Realistic and Stable Model (ARSM), Adaptive Inter-cluster head Delay Control (AIDC) and QoS-aware GTS Allocation (QGA). Furthermore, we propose a new Markov-based model for IEEE 802.15.4 MAC namely, Realistic and Stable Markovbased (RSM). RSM considers actual network conditions and enhances the stability of the WSNs. We show through analytical and simulation results that all of the presented schemes reduce the end-to-end delay while maintaining good energy consumption and data delivery values.

Monitoring and controlling smart grid assets in a timely and reliable manner is highly desired for emerging smart grid applications. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are anticipated to be widely utilized in a broad range of smart grid applications due to their numerous advantages along with their successful adoption in various critical areas including military and health care. Despite these advantages, the use of WSNs in such critical applications has brought forward a new challenge of ful lling the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of these applications. Providing QoS support is a challenging issue due to highly resource constrained nature of sensor nodes, unreliable wireless links and harsh operation environments. In this thesis we critically investigate the problem of QoS provisioning in WSNs. We identify challenges, limitations and requirements for applying QoS provisioning for WSNs in smart grid applications. We nd that the topic of data prioritization techniques at the MAC layer to provide delay bounds in condition monitoring applications is not well developed. We develop six novel QoS schemes that provide data di erentiation and reduce the latency of high priority tra c in a smart grid context. These schemes are namely; Delay-Responsive Cross layer (DRX), Fair and Delay-aware Cross layer (FDRX), Delay-Responsive Cross layer with Linear backo (LDRX), Adaptive Realistic and Stable Model (ARSM), Adaptive Inter-cluster head Delay Control (AIDC) and QoS-aware GTS Allocation (QGA). Furthermore, we propose a new Markov-based model for IEEE 802.15.4 MAC namely, Realistic and Stable Markovbased (RSM). RSM considers actual network conditions and enhances the stability of the WSNs. We show through analytical and simulation results that all of the presented schemes reduce the end-to-end delay while maintaining good energy consumption and data delivery values.

Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years the demand for bandwidth has dramatically increased because of new applications for data and multimedia, and wireless technology has prevailed as a prominent technology for data connectivity, especially for home, office and last mile services. As wireless communications are dependant upon spectrum availability, which is communal, this scarce commodity in communication has to be used as efficiently as possible. Some aspects of this requirement are addressed in this project. We chose the IEEE 802.11b standard for this particular investigation because of its widespread use, the vast amount of applicable literature, the variety of software simulation tools and the ease with which equipment can be obtained. The IEEE 802.11 standard specified the Point Coordination Function as the de- terministic protocol. Recently research into this aspect has stagnated, and it was the purpose of this project to investigate how existing infrastructure networks could be improved by optimising some modes of the 802.11 protocol. The investigation also hoped to determine when to change between Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) and Point Coordination Function (PCF), and to provide an adaptive protocol to do so. This thesis presents mathematical models for the operation of DCF and PCF modes, which is compared with results from a network simulator (ns2), for theoretical veri- fication. A protocol is also proposed to dynamically switch between DCF and PCF, to harness the advantages they present. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die afgelope paar jaar het die aanvraag na bandwydte dramaties verhoog as gevolg van nuwe toepassings vir data en multimedia, en draadlose tegnologie het voorgekom as ’n dominante tegnologie vir data konnektiwiteit, veral vir die huis, kantoor en laaste myl dienste. Omdat draadlose kommunikasie afhanklik is van spektrum beskikbaarheid, wat gemeenskaplik is, moet hierdie skaars kommoditeit in kommunikasie so effektief moontlik gebruik word. Sekere aspekte van die vereiste sal in die tesis ondersoek word. Dit is besluit om die IEEE 802.11b standard vir die spesifieke ondersoek te gebruik as gevolg van die wye toepassing, die groot hoeveelheid beskikbare literatuur, die verskeidenheid simulasie sagteware en die gemak waarmee die toerusting bekom kan word. Die IEEE 802.11 standaard spesifiseer the Punt Koordinasie Funksie (PCF) as die deterministiese protokol vir die betrokke standaard. Onlangs het navorsing oor hierdie aspek gestagneer, en dit is die doel van die projek om te ondersoek hoe bestaande infrastruktuur netwerke moontlik verbeter kan word deur optimering van sekere modusse van die 802.11 protokol. Die ondersoek hoop ook om te bepaal wanneer die oorgang van die Distrubusie Koordinasie Funksie (DCF) en Punt Ko- ordinasie Funksie sal plaasvind, en om ’n dienooreenstemmende protokol te on- twikkel. Die tesis verskaf wiskundige modelle vir die werking van die DCF en PCF modusse, wat vergelyk word met resultate uit ’n netwerk simulator (ns2), vir teoretiese ver- ifikasie. ’n Protokol word ook voorgestel om dinamies te wissel tussen DCF and PCF, om die voordele wat die protokolle verskaf te gebruik.