Modeling of Power System Communications—Recognition of Technology Maturity Levels and Case Study of a Migration Scenario

This paper describes a concept for modeling power system communication systems. The model emphasizes the external views of a communication system, where two views are identified. The information view illustrates the access part and the semantic capabilities at the interface of a communication system. The transport view illustrates the backbone and the introduction of more concurrent capabilities. In each of the views, the model classifies technology maturity levels in a few discrete steps. The approach has been successfully applied to describe a migration scenario in the information view, where higher levels of data abstractions are introduced to make power system communication and operation more effective. The modeling concept provides support, complementary to the traditional open systems interconnection (OSI) model, for gaining a holistic understanding of whether or not it is feasible to upgrade a power system control system with new communication technology.