Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm, Bell Labs (News - Alert) has signed a joint research agreement with the Gachon Energy Research Institute (GERI) of Korea's Kyungwon University.

 

Under the research agreement, both partners will jointly design mission-critical communication infrastructure, comprehensive security systems, and develop innovative businesses models for the next-generation Smart Grid.

 

The joint research program will be called Grid 2.0, and its aim is to fundamentally enhance the efficiency, reliability, security, and intelligence of electric power grids.

 

In order to achieve this goal, researchers will focus on exploiting the convergence between electric power systems and information and communications technologies.

 

Grid 2.0 aims also to accomplish a number of objectives such as defining the base communications technologies for the intelligent management and control mechanisms of Smart Grid systems.

 

The project leverages Bell Labs’ research portfolios in networking technology and security and GERI's expertise in power grid systems and applications design.

 

Researchers will also develop methods to ensure secure and reliable flow of information among Smart Grid elements. In addition, they will create a viable mathematical and computational modeling platform for the study and analysis of the Smart Grid economic ecosystem.

 

 Dr. Randy Giles, director, Optical Subsystems and Advanced Photonics Bell Labs noted

Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) Bell Labs for its expertise and preeminent research in communications technology, security, mathematics and operations research. He stressed that all the elements are required to make a significant impact in the development of the Smart Grid.

 

“We entered into this collaborative project because we recognized that the complementary strengths of Bell Labs and GERI fit perfectly with the requirements of the envisioned Smart Grid and beyond,” said Professor Junhee Hong, president of GERI. “We anticipate that the results from this project will have widespread applicability and are confident that this collaboration will accelerate the innovations in Smart Grids and their adoption.”