With the transition towards a smart grid, the power system has become strongly intertwined with the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. The interdependency of both domains requires a combined analysis of physical and ICT processes, but simulating these together is a major challenge due to the fundamentally different modeling and simulation concepts. After outlining these challenges, such as time synchronization and event handling, this manuscript presents an overview of state-of-the-art solutions to interface power system and ICT simulators. Due to their prominence in recent research, a special focus is set on co-simulation approaches and their challenges and potentials. Further, two case studies analyzing the impact of ICT on applications in power system operation illustrate the necessity of a holistic approach and show the capabilities of state-of-the-art co-simulation platforms.@en

Hybrid systems such as Cyber Physical System (CPS) are becoming increasingly popular, mainly due to the involvement of information technology in different aspects of life. For analysis and verification of hybrid system models, simulation is used extensively. As parts of a common hybrid system may belong to different domains of study, it is sometimes beneficial to use specialized simulation packages (SPs) for each domain. In this case, parts of a system are simulated in different SPs. The idea may seem simple, but coupling more than one simulation component presents challenges related to numerical stability. The presented article suggests an implicit solver coupling technique enhanced to facilitate simulation of hybrid models using multiple simulation components. The technique is developed using two of the most popular simulation interoperability standards, namely, the High Level Architecture and the Functional Mock-up Interface. By using these standards, the developed algorithm will be useful for a large number of practitioners and researchers. The developed algorithm is described using a generic distributed computation model, which makes it reproducible even without using the standards. For the verification of results, the algorithm is tested on two case studies. The results are compared to a monolithic simulator and the proximity of results initiates the validity of the developed algorithm.@en

Distributed computing offers many advantages for all types of computational applications. Realizing heterogeneous simulation platforms may benefit from many facilities of distributed computing. However, distributing simulation components over a network raises many challenges concerning communications, data exchange, numerical stabilities and others. A well-known solution that addresses some of these challenges is the High Level Architecture (HLA). The HLA is an industry standard for distributed simulation and interoperability. So far the HLA has been used in industry for Discrete Event Simulations (DES). In this paper it is presented how the HLA can also be employed for continuous simulations. Two HLA specific algorithms for distributing explicitly coupled continuous simulation components over the network are presented. The simulation components follow the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) specification. The FMI is a specification for model exchange and co-simulation among simulation tools. Any simulation component conforming to FMI, generated from any of the more than forty simulation tools1 that are supporting or planning to support the FMI, can be considered in the proposed architecture.@en