Introduction

This chapter reviews the emerging paradigm of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications in the context of smart grids. Commencing here with an introduction to the topic at hand, we then introduce in subsequent sections available M2M communications technologies as well as the applicability of said technologies. We then dwell in greater detail on M2M architectural standards bodies, such as ETSI M2M and 3GPP MTC. We finally position the use of M2M in smart grids and identify open challenges for a symbiotic development of both technologies.

A machine-to-machine network is defined to be a network formed by devices that communicate with each other without (or with very little) human intervention in order to accomplish some specific task(s). The prime driver for this networking paradigm is the ability of a large number of devices/machines to execute tasks in an autonomous (and often distributed) manner which is beyond the ability of humans. From a technical point of view, it requires the system to be scalable, power-efficient, autonomous, intelligent; among many other properties, some of which are discussed below. Indeed, as highlighted throughout this book as well as below in Section 6.5, a huge number of points in the power grid need to be constantly monitored and controlled to ensure smart operation of the system.

Although the above design aims have been conceptually the core to various prior networking design efforts, the idea of M2M is currently receiving great attention from both academia and industry.