A hardware in the loop module in an IEC61850 co-simulation platform for advanced substation automation system tests

The testing of architectures is nowadays a critical issue for Substation Automation System world. Various aspects, related to the IEC61850 requirements, should be tested and checked in order to validate architecture. The first aspect consists in validating the conformity of the IEC61850 implementation inside devices according to the standards requirements. The second aspect consists in validating IEC61850 applications compliance according to the predefined functional specifications. Some devices and parts of the architecture can of course be tested “physically” but in the design phase or when the actual architecture cannot be checked directly, modeling is helpful. In our research study we propose a co-simulation approach based on several components allowing the realization of substation automation system advanced tests. This paper describes the importance and the design implementation of hardware in the loop component which allows the combination of real and virtual devices.