Reliability analysis of the PMU microwave communication networks using generalised stochastic Petri nets

The phasor measurement units (PMUs) have evolved as powerful extrapolations of the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems due to their profound application in the real time monitoring of the smart grid (SG). In the SG several such PMUs continuously generate the time tagged phasor measurements which are communicated to a central monitoring station known as the phasor data concentrator (PDC). The communication system plays a pivotal role in the transfer of the phasor measurements to the PDC and thus should be highly reliable. This article presents a detailed approach for the construction of the generalised stochastic Petri nets (GSPNs) for the reliability analysis of the synchrophasor microwave communication networks. These communication networks are optimally planned to achieve maximum reliability without compromising the system observability. Results from the case studies for the North Eastern power grid of India are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.