Resilience and Security: A Qualitative Survey of Urban Smart Grid Architectures

Smart grids require information and communication technology (ICT) in order to control dynamics in the power grid. However, adding ICT creates additional entry points in vulnerable hard- and software, increasing the attack surface, and provides distribution paths that can be used by malware for attacks. This paper provides a qualitative evaluation of smart grid architectures for urban environments, comparing four topology types based on six quality indicators: resource control, security, resilience, quality of service, compatibility, and cost. The impact of each power grid topology on the applicability of ICT components in communication topologies is also considered. We summarize the benefits and drawbacks of each topology with a focus on the implementation of decentralized and self-organizing structures.