Smart grid communication assessment and co-simulation tool

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10382285-B2
Application number	US-201213570493-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2012
Priority date	Aug 25, 2011
Publication date	Aug 13, 2019
Grant date	Aug 13, 2019

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for modeling and simulating a communication network operating under at least one communication protocol, which supports a Smart Grid electricity network. Communication performance data of the communication network are generated by a processor based on operating behavior of the Smart Grid with a plurality of assets under a first condition. Devices in the Smart grid are grouped in bins for rapid modeling. One or more different configurations of the communication network are entered into the processor and related performance data is also generated. Network configurations are compared based on the generated performance data which may include end-to-end delay and reception rate. Processor based systems to perform modeling methods are also provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of modeling a smart grid communication system, comprising:
receiving, at a processor, a configuration of an electrical utility network to simulate a plurality of electricity power assets;
generating, by the processor, a topographical model of a geography including terrain and elevation data, wherein the topographical model comprises path loss information relating to signal attenuation of a wireless channel as a function of distance for the wireless channel with respect to one or more aspects of the terrain and elevation data;
receiving, at the processor, a first configuration of a network of communication devices in the geography, wherein the first configuration identifies at least one of a plurality of communication protocols and at least one smart grid application disposed on the communication devices; and
generating, by the processor, a first set of simulated communication data based on an operating behavior of the plurality of electricity power assets over a period of time under a first condition and based on the path loss information for the wireless channel in the topographical model, wherein the first set of simulated communication data represents a network performance of the first configuration of the network of communication devices under the first condition, wherein the network performance is based on a wireless communication characteristic of a communication link between the network of communication devices and a communication infrastructure device comprising at least one of; latency, jitter, packet loss, transmission range, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and reception rate,
constructing a scoring index from raw statistics relating to a smart grid application, supported by the smart grid communications system, the raw statistics comprising latency or reception rate, wherein the scoring index is indicative of the successfulness of an associated configuration of the smart grid communications system for supporting the application;
wherein the processor creates a model of a smart grid communication system based on the path loss information for a wireless channel with respect to the one or more aspects of the terrain and elevation data based at least in part on the constructed scoring index; and
visualizing differences between the first configuration and other configurations based on the scoring index of each configuration.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the processor, a second configuration of a network of communication devices in the geography, wherein the second configuration identifies at least one of a plurality of communication protocols and at least one smart grid application disposed on the communication devices; and
generating, by the processor, a second set of simulated communication data based on an operating behavior of the plurality of electrical power assets over a period of time under the first condition and based on the topographical model, wherein the second set of communication data represents a network performance of the second configuration of the network of communication devices under the first condition, and the second set of simulated communication data comprises a second index score.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
comparing the network performance of the first configuration of the network of communication devices with the network performance of the second configuration of the network of communication devices.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the communication protocol for the first configuration is different from the communication protocol for the second configuration.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one smart grid application is from the group consisting of Advanced Meter Reading, Remote connect/disconnect, Outage detection/last gasp, Feeder automation (FLISR), Feeder automation (NOP/load balancing), Volt/VAR optimization, FCI Telemetry, Voltage regulator bank control, Transformer monitoring, Substation RTU connectivity, Demand response—baselining and Demand response—load control.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first configuration of the network of communication devices includes a first plurality of Smart Meters which is part of a second plurality of Smart Meters and wherein the first plurality of Smart Meters is applied by the processor as representing the second plurality of Smart Meters in a discrete event simulation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication infrastructure device comprises one or more towers, one or more controllers, one or more concentration points, and one or more access points.

8. A system to model a smart grid communication system, comprising:
a memory to store data and computer executable instructions;
a processor to execute the computer executable instructions, wherein the computer executable instructions comprise:
receiving, at the processor, a configuration of an electrical utility network to simulate a plurality of electricity power assets;
generating a topographical model with terrain and elevation data of a geography, wherein the topographical model comprises path loss information relating to signal attenuation of a wireless channel as a function of distance for the wireless channel with respect to one or more aspects of the terrain and elevation data;
receiving, at the processor, a first configuration of a network of communication devices in the geography, wherein the first configuration identifies at least one of a plurality of communication protocols and at least one smart grid application disposed on the communication devices; and
generating a first set of simulated communication data based on an operating behavior of the plurality of electricity power assets over a period of time under a first condition and based on the path loss information for the wireless channel in the topographical model, wherein the first set of communication data represents a network performance of the first configuration of the network of communication devices under the first condition, wherein the network performance is based on a wireless communication characteristic of a communication link between the network of communication devices and a communication infrastructure device,
constructing a scoring index from raw statistics relating to a smart grid application supported by the smart grid communications system, the raw statistics comprising latency or reception rate, wherein the scoring index is indicative of the successfulness of the network performance of the first configuration of the smart grid communications system for supporting the application,
wherein the processor creates a model of a smart grid communication system based on the path loss information for a wireless channel with respect to the one or more aspects of the terrain and elevation data based at least in part on the constructed scoring index; and
visualizing differences between the first configuration and other configurations based on the scoring index of each configuration.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer executable instructions further comprise:
receiving, at the processor, a second configuration of a network of communication devices in the geography, wherein the second configuration identifies at least one of a plurality of communication protocols and at least one smart grid application; and
generating a second set of simulated communication data based on an operating behavior of the plurality of electrical power assets over a period of time under the first condition and based on the topographical model, wherein the second set of communication data represents a network performance of the second configuration of the network of communication devices under the first condition, and th

Assignees

• Patel Amar H
• Aparicio Juan
• Tas Nazif Cihan
• Loiacono Michael T
• Rosca Justinian
• Siemens Industry Inc

Inventors

• Patel Amar H
• Aparicio Juan
• Tas Nazif Cihan
• Loiacono Michael T
• Rosca Justinian

Classifications

• H04L41/145 Primary

  involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network · CPC title

• G06F30/13

  Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads · CPC title

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• G06F2119/06

  Power analysis or power optimisation · CPC title

• Y04S10/30

  State monitoring, e.g. fault, temperature monitoring, insulator monitoring, corona discharge · CPC title