Experiences on using a workstation cluster to implement a real-time digital transient network analyzer

A feasibility study of a real-time digital simulator, capable of analyzing electrical transients in generation, transmission and distribution systems, led to the identification of a cluster of high-end workstations, interconnected by means of a high-performance communication and I/O system, as the most promising architectural solution. To evaluate teh possibility of matching the real-time requirements of such a simulator, a testbed has been set up, constituted by two workstations sharing an external VME bus through suitable bus adapters. The adequacy of the envisioned architecture for the considered problem was assessed and the main areas requiring the design of dedicated devices identified according to several experiments on processing power and communication times described in the paper. A working simulator for simple test cases has also been set up and benchmarked.