RT-METER: A Real-Time, Multi-Layer Cyber–Power Testbed for Resiliency Analysis

Hussain M. Mustafa, Mohini Bariya, K.S. Sajan, Ajay Chhokra, Anurag Srivastava, Abhishek Dubey, Alexandra von Meier, Gautam Biswas

9th Workshop on Modeling and Simulation of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems, MSCPES@CPSIoTWeek 2021

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Why This Matters

Modern power grids are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and natural disruptions, requiring advanced tools for validating resilience mechanisms. Existing testbeds often lack integration of all three critical layers (power, communication, and control) needed to understand system-wide impacts. RT-METER is innovative because it provides a unified platform for testing cyber-physical security mechanisms in power systems, enabling researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of protection strategies under realistic conditions with multiple interacting failure modes.

What We Did

RT-METER is a real-time, multi-layer cyber-power testbed designed for resilience analysis of power systems. The testbed integrates three core layers: a physical power system simulator using HYPERSIM, a communication network layer with NS3 for simulating network behavior, and a control layer with advanced algorithmic tools. The architecture enables comprehensive simulation of cyber-power scenarios with realistic sensor emulation and provides tools for event detection, failure diagnosis, and resilience monitoring.

Key Results

The testbed successfully demonstrates comprehensive cyber-power resilience analysis capabilities, supporting validation of algorithmic tools including resilience monitoring, event detection, and failure diagnosis systems. The architecture enables detailed evaluation of cyber-security mechanisms and their interaction with power system dynamics. Results show that the testbed can simulate complex cascading failures and evaluate mitigation strategies, providing valuable validation capabilities for power system protection and control algorithms.

Full Abstract

Cite This Paper

@inproceedings{rtmeter2021,
  author = {Mustafa, Hussain M. and Bariya, Mohini and Sajan, K.S. and Chhokra, Ajay and Srivastava, Anurag and Dubey, Abhishek and von Meier, Alexandra and Biswas, Gautam},
  booktitle = {9th Workshop on Modeling and Simulation of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems, MSCPES@CPSIoTWeek},
  title = {RT-METER: A Real-Time, Multi-Layer Cyber–Power Testbed for Resiliency Analysis},
  year = {2021},
  abstract = {In this work, we present a Real-Time, Multi-layer cybEr–power TestbEd for the Resiliency analysis (RT-METER) to support power grid operation and planning. Developed cyber-power testbed provides a mechanism for end-to-end validation of advanced tools for cyber-power grid monitoring, control, and planning. By integrating a host of features across three core layers---physical power system, communication network, and monitoring/ control center with advanced tools,---the testbed allows for the simulation of rich and varied cyber-power grid scenarios and the generating realistic sensor, system, and network data. Developing advanced tools to assist operators during complex and challenging scenarios is essential for the successful operation of the future grid. We detail a suite of algorithmic tools validated using the developed testbed for the realistic grid data.},
  category = {workshop},
  contribution = {colab},
  keywords = {smart grid, cyber-physical systems, power systems, resilience, testbed, cyber-power, monitoring and control, anomaly detection},
  project = {cps-reliability},
  tag = {platform,power}
}
Quick Info
Year 2021
Keywords
smart grid cyber-physical systems power systems resilience testbed cyber-power monitoring and control anomaly detection
Research Areas
energy CPS middleware ML for CPS
Search Tags

METER, Real, Time, Multi, Layer, Cyber–Power, Testbed, Resiliency, Analysis, smart grid, cyber-physical systems, power systems, resilience, testbed, cyber-power, monitoring and control, anomaly detection, energy, CPS, middleware, ML for CPS, 2021, Mustafa, Bariya, Sajan, Chhokra, Srivastava, Dubey, von Meier, Biswas