Smart Grid Terminal Communication Mode Based on WLAN Authentication and Security Infrastructure Technology

An experimental study was conducted to design and evaluate a smart grid terminal communication model based on wireless local area network authentication and privacy infrastructure (WAPI) technology. The research was driven by the need to address rising security and reliability challenges in smart grid wireless communications. A WAPI based communication architecture was developed and implemented, incorporating a terminal, access point, and authentication server. Experiments were conducted to compare network performance with and without WAPI under varying distances. Results showed that enabling WAPI integration maintained sub second transmission times while boosting data accuracy from 97.7% to 99.1%. In addition, it provided robust encryption key management and certificate based mutual authentication. These findings demonstrate that WAPI can significantly enhance the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of smart grid data transmissions without compromising efficiency. The proposed framework offers secure, scalable smart grid deployments, supporting the sustainable development goals of the energy Internet.