The smartgridhasbeenconceivedasanevolutionofelec-
tric powersystemsduetotheincreasingdiffusionofdistributed
generation byrenewablesources,butwiththeadditionalaimto
enhance efficiency,reliability,andsafetyoftheexistingpower
grid. Tothisend,remoteandtimelyinformationgatheringabout
equipment failures,capacitylimitations,andnaturalaccidentsis
extremelycriticalforensuringproactiveandreal-timeandreli-
able diagnosisofpossiblefailuresinthesmartgrid.Thismakes
cost-effectiveremotesensingtechnologiesvitalforsafe,seam-
less, andefficientpowerdeliveryinthesmartgrid.
In thispaper,communicationstechnologiesandrequirements
for smartgridshavebeendiscussed.TheQoSmechanismisin-
troduced andstandardsarepresented.Clearly,therearemany
important openresearchissuesfortherealizationofsmartgrid
communications andapplications.Futureworkincludesdis-
cussion ofgridcharacteristics,architectures,keyplayers,pilot
projects, applications,andresearchchallengesonICTissues,in
order togiveacompleteoverviewonthesubject.