Colored Petri Net modeling of communication systems based on IEC 61850

This paper presents a methodology to analyze the performance of a switched IEC 61850-9-2 network using the formalism of Colored Petri Nets (CPN). In order to decrease the complexity of the network analysis, it is assumed a model with distinct hierarchical levels, and this model allows describing the function and interaction of each element in an easy way. After the modeling process, the proposed methodology is validated by an implementation of an IEC 61850 scenario where the transfer of Sampled Value messages is put in a critical condition. As the simulations show, this methodology allows the evaluation of message latency and capacity limits using just modeling based on discrete events.