Enhancing the robustness of cyber-physical power systems against cross-domain cascading failures: Cyber-physical dynamic reconfiguration

Abstract

Cross-domain cascading failures represent one of the most significant risks to the safe and stable operation of Cyber-Physical Power Systems (CPPS). Traditional defense mechanisms focus on independent protection within either the physical or cyber domain, making it difficult to effectively address the complex cross-domain propagation process, where failures trigger, propagate, and amplify between the physical and information domains. This paper proposes an cyber-physical joint dynamic reconstruction method based on Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to block the cross-domain propagation of cascading failures, thereby enhancing the robustness of CPPS. First, an SDN-based CPPS architecture is developed, utilizing a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to represent the dynamic reconstruction process of communication network routing and quantify the impact of network reconfiguration on the observability and controllability of the power grid. Next, a cyber-physical joint reconstruction model with timeliness constraints is established: the cyber layer performs dynamic routing reconstruction to maximize the failure recovery index, while the physical layer triggers optimal power flow to minimize load shedding based on the reconstruction effect. Finally, using node observability, node controllability, and load shedding rates as evaluation metrics, a robustness assessment process based on “dynamic routing-optimal power flow” joint reconstruction for CPPS is proposed. Experimental results from IEEE-30 and IEEE-118 node systems show that during cascading failure propagation, the average load shedding rate under single failure is reduced by 4.59% and 7.46%, respectively, and the average load shedding rate under multiple failures is reduced by 4.22% and 8.32%, significantly improving the robustness of CPPS.