Distributed algorithm for simulating dynamic interactions within a general cyber-physical system

Abstract

In this paper we exploit the structure of dynamic models for general cyber-physical systems (CPS). Key to this structure is a unifying notion of an interaction variable between components/subsystems and the neighbouring sub-systems within a multi-layered CPS. The higher-level aggregate model derived in terms of unifying energy and power dynamics explicitly captures dynamic interactions of interest. In this paper this structure is utilised further to formulate a distributed interactive algorithm for simulating dynamic interactions and for aligning them according to generalised Tellegen’s theorem. Proof of concept simulations are bench-marked against the centralised simulations of a simple DC circuit serving constant power load (CPL). Notably, the simulation results reflect the underlying physics and explicitly capture oscillations between neighbouring modules. This algorithm lends itself to multi-layered parallel implementation by means of minimal information exchange. As such, it supports simulating complex electric energy systems, in particular power-electronically controlled DC micro-grids, and, more generally multi-energy systems.