SCADA Communication Redundancy in Electric Utility Networks: The Case for Gas Dual Cell Architecture
Kamsy Ibuoka
10.7753/IJCATR1412.1015
keywords : SCADA Communication Redundancy, Electric Utility Networks, Gas Dual Cell Architecture, Communication Resilience, Utility Network Reliability, Critical Infrastructure Communications
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems serve as the operational backbone of modern electric utility networks, enabling real-time monitoring, control, automation, and protection of critical power infrastructure. As electric grids become increasingly digitized and interconnected, the reliability of communication networks supporting SCADA operations has emerged as a fundamental requirement for maintaining grid stability, operational continuity, and cybersecurity resilience. Communication failures caused by network outages, cellular carrier disruptions, hardware faults, cyber incidents, or natural disasters can compromise situational awareness and delay critical operational decisions, thereby increasing risks to power system reliability. Consequently, electric utilities are increasingly adopting communication redundancy strategies to enhance network availability and ensure uninterrupted data exchange between field devices, substations, and control centers. This study investigates the application of Gas Dual Cell Architecture as a resilient communication redundancy framework for SCADA networks in electric utility environments. The proposed architecture utilizes dual independent cellular communication paths operating across separate carrier infrastructures to provide automatic failover and continuous connectivity during primary network disruptions. The research evaluates the architecture from operational, reliability, cybersecurity, and economic perspectives while examining its effectiveness in supporting critical utility functions. The findings demonstrate that Gas Dual Cell Architecture significantly improves communication availability, fault tolerance, and network resilience, offering a practical and scalable solution for strengthening SCADA communication infrastructures within modern electric utility networks.
@artical{k14122025ijcatr14121015,
Title = "SCADA Communication Redundancy in Electric Utility Networks: The Case for Gas Dual Cell Architecture",
Journal ="International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research (IJCATR)",
Volume = "14",
Issue ="12",
Pages ="160 - 173",
Year = "2025",
Authors ="Kamsy Ibuoka"}