  A smart grid based Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), is a technology
that enables the utilities to monitor and control the electricity consumption
through a set of various smart meters (SMs) connected via a two way
communication infrastructure. One of the key challenges for smart grids is how
to connect a large number of devices. On the other hand, 4G Long Term Evolution
(LTE), the latest standard for mobile communications, was developed to provide
stable service performance and higher data rates for a large number of mobile
users. Therefore, LTE is considered a promising solution for wide area
connectivity for SMs. In this paper, a grouped hierarchal architecture for SMs
communications over LTE is introduced. Then, an efficient grouped scheduling
technique is proposed for SMs transmissions over LTE. The proposed architecture
efficiently solves the overload problem due to AMI traffic and guarantees a
full monitoring and control for energy consumption. The results of our
suggested solution showed that LTE can serve better for smart grids based AMI
with particular grouping and scheduling scheme. In addition, the presented
technique can able to be used in urban areas having high density of SMs.
