MAC-Sim: A multi-agent and communication network simulation platform for smart grid applications based on established technologies

The smart grid has been the main focus of development in recent years. It is central to its idea to build a more decentralised system and make extensive use of digital communication. There is a definite trend among researchers and industry to build the smart grid on established communication technologies (e.g. DSL, GSM, GPRS, WiMAX, ZigBee; TPC/IP based) and multi-agent system applications are proposed to deal with the complexity and decentralisation of control and decision making. However, it is difficult to validate the new applications and communication networks prior to deployment. Especially time-critical applications for control and protection demand deep understanding and accurate modelling. This paper presents the design and implementation of a software platform, which is called MAC-Sim, that can co-simulate multi-agent applications and communication networks. We extended a multi-agent system framework and communication network simulator and combined them via a distributed simulation modelling architecture. The feasibility of this approach has been demonstrated by implementing and simulating an agent-based zone 3 remote backup relay supervision scheme and its communication infrastructure. This simulation platform can help to design, develop, and validate agent-based smart grid applications and communication networks.