Title: A testbed for power system security evaluation

Authors: David M. Nicol, Charles M. Davis, Tom Overbye

Addresses: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Trust Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1308 West Main Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. ' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Trust Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1308 West Main Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. ' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Trust Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1308 West Main Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract: This paper describes a project that integrates real devices used in the electric power grid with a simulation of electrical power generation and distribution, and a computer/communication simulator. The testbed is designed to evaluate the cyber-security of power grid control systems. Through a combination of simulation and emulation, the testbed seamlessly integrates virtual and real components, allowing for the evaluation of both high-level design descriptions on large-scale models, and precise measurements taken from production code executing on real hardware.

Keywords: simulation; emulation; power security; power systems; testbed; electricity grid; electrical power generation; control systems; modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICS.2009.028809

International Journal of Information and Computer Security, 2009 Vol.3 No.2, pp.114 - 131

Published online: 03 Oct 2009 *

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