Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulations and Verifications of Smart Power Systems over an Exo-GENI Testbed

In this paper we describe an advanced hardware-in- loop simulation facility for real-time demonstration and validation of power system monitoring and control algorithms, currently under construction at NC State University. This facility integrates a real-time power system emulation lab with the GENI network and its associated cloud testbeds. The dynamic responses from the power system emulator are captured via real hardware Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) that are synchronized with the time-scale of the simulations via a common GPS reference. These responses are then sent to the computing and storage resource in GENI using the IEEE C37.118 protocol, running the smart grid control and management application simulations via QoS-guaranteed communications channels, all provisioned in a dynamic fashion.