A power distribution system control device and a smart meter concentration device are connected to a communication apparatus used for a communication system related to power distribution. The power distribution system control device is a device that controls a switch which is responsible for the switching between electric power distribution routes in a distribution line and voltage sensing, and implements a distribution line remote monitoring control system. The smart meter concentration device is a device that concentrates data from wattmeters installed in households and business facilities and that are capable of collecting information remotely. The communication network for power distribution plays a role of transmitting data to a data center, offices or the like of electric power companies.
Since such data relates to a steady supply of electric power and requires a high reliability, such data is often made redundant, and a communication route control system that switches between a plurality of communication routes is required for a communication system related to power distribution.
For example, a power distribution line remote monitoring control communication method that employs an IP (Internet Protocol) has been put to practical use. The network architecture of this method is a ring network in which nodes such as a parent node and child nodes are connected in a ring form, and redundancy is provided by a SW-HUB (switching hub). (For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).