MRI:Acquisition of a Network Emulator for Cyber Security Research of Electric Power Grids

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This NSF MRI project aims to seek funding for purchasing network communication and cyber-attack co-simulation tool to increase the power grid’s cybersecurity research capacity at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and its collaborators. The project will bring transformative change to secure the national defense by designing and creating cyber-attack detection and mitigation algorithms and techniques for power grids. This will be achieved by utilizing the requested co-simulation tool which facilitates high-fidelity and scalable modeling of cyber systems. The intellectual merits of the project include performing cybersecurity studies on the distributed control architectures, protection systems, advanced metering infrastructure, and phasor measurement units. Moreover, the requested co-simulation tool will be utilized to study the societal impacts of power grid cyber-attacks. The broader impacts of the project include enhanced cybersecurity research capability and competitiveness at UNM and its collaborators, enhancement of existing and development of new courses, research involvement of underrepresented students, and K-12 outreach. Modern power systems are highly exposed to cyber threats due to the deployment of communication and control technologies for different applications like microgrid distributed control, energy management systems, as well as wide-area protection, control, and monitoring. To perform research on the cybersecurity of a large-scale cyber-physical system (CPS) like a power grid, it is impossible to apply, study, and analyze cyber-attacks on a real system. To effectively study and analyze cyber threats in power grids, a real-time hardware-in-the-loop co-simulation platform that can simulate both the physical (i.e., power system) and cyber (i.e., communication network) layers is of paramount value. The requested co-simulation tool will provide us with a scalable solution to emulate the cyber layer of power grids in a digital twin platform and conduct a variety of different cybersecurity studies. The co-simulation tool will set the foundation for extending collaborative research activities with industry, national laboratories, and other universities in the area of power grid cybersecurity. This tool will be utilized by multiple faculties and their students and postdoctoral fellows across different institutions for education and research activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.