Performance evaluation of MPLS-enabled communications infrastructure for wide area monitoring systems

In order to obtain the transient power system measurement information, Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS) should be able to collect Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) data in a timely manner. Therefore along with the continual deployment of PMUs in Great Britain (GB) transmission system substations, a high performance communications infrastructure is becoming essential with regard to the establishment of reliable WAMS. This paper focuses mainly on evaluating the performance of the real-time WAMS communication infrastructure when Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) capability is added to a conventional IP network. Furthermore, PMU communications from geographically distributed substations to a Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC) are investigated over different transport protocols. Using OPNET Modeler, simulations are performed based on the existing WAMS infrastructure as installed on the GB transmission system. The simulation results are analyzed in detail in order to fully determine the different characteristics of communication delays between PMUs and PDC

A Gossip Algorithm based Clock Synchronization Scheme for Smart Grid Applications

The uprising interest in multi-agent based networked system, and the numerous number of applications in the distributed control of the smart grid leads us to address the problem of time synchronization in the smart grid. Utility companies look for new packet based time synchronization solutions with Global Positioning System (GPS) level accuracies beyond traditional packet methods such as Network Time Proto- col (NTP). However GPS based solutions have poor reception in indoor environments and dense urban canyons as well as GPS antenna installation might be costly. Some smart grid nodes such as Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs), fault detection, Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) etc., requires synchronous accuracy as low as 1 ms. On the other hand, 1 sec accuracy is acceptable in management information domain. Acknowledging this, in this study, we introduce gossip algorithm based clock synchronization method among network entities from the decision control and communication point of view. Our method synchronizes clock within dense network with a bandwidth limited environment. Our technique has been tested in different kinds of network topologies- complete, star and random geometric network and demonstrated satisfactory performance

Design and assembly of a magneto-inertial wearable device for ecological behavioural analysis of infants

There are recent evidence which show how brain development is strictly linked to the action. Movements shape and are, in turn, shaped by cortical and sub-cortical areas. In particular spontaneous movements of newborn infants matter for developing the capability of generating voluntary skill movements. Therefore studying spontaneous infants’ movements can be useful to understand the main developmental milestones achieved by humans from birth onward. This work focuses on the design and development of a mechatronic wearable device for ecological movement analysis called WAMS (Wrist and Ankle Movement Sensor). The design and assembling of the device is presented, as well as the communication protocol and the synchronization with other marker-based optical movement analysis systems

Evaluation of power generation operations in response to changes in surface water reservoir storage

We used a customized, river basin-based model of surface water rights to evaluate the response of power plants to drought via simulated changes in reservoir storage. Our methodology models surface water rights in 11 river basins in Texas using five cases: (1) storage decrease of existing capacity of 10%, (2) storage decrease of 50%, (3) complete elimination of storage, (4) storage increase of 10% (all at existing locations), and (5) construction of new reservoirs (at new locations) with a total increase in baseline reservoir capacity for power plant cooling of 9%. Using the Brazos River basin as a sample, we evaluated power generation operations in terms of reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability. As simulated water storage decreases, reliability generally decreases and resiliency and vulnerability remain relatively constant. All three metrics remain relatively constant with increasing reservoir storage, with the exception of one power plant. As reservoir storage changes at power plants, other water users in the basin are also affected. In general, decreasing water storage is beneficial to other water users in the basin, and increasing storage is detrimental for many other users. Our analysis reveals basin-wide and individual power plant-level impacts of changing reservoir storage, demonstrating a methodology for evaluation of the sustainability and feasibility of constructing new reservoir storage as a water and energy management approach.Mechanical Engineerin

Polynomial Meshes: Computation and Approximation

We present the software package WAM, written in Matlab, that generates Weakly Admissible Meshes and Discrete Extremal Sets of Fekete and Leja type, for 2d and 3d polynomial least squares and interpolation on compact sets with various geometries. Possible applications range from data fitting to high-order methods for PDEs