Two-Core Parallel Network Solution: A Best Conference Paper – IEEE PES GM

RTDS Technologies is proud to have a paper selected among the Best Conference Papers at the 2022 IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting in Denver, Colorado! Two-Core Parallel Network Solution for NovaCor® Real-Time Digital Simulator by Yizhong Hu, Yi Zhang, and Trevor Maguire has been selected for the award.

The paper describes the techniques used to implement a two-core parallel network solution for the RTDS Simulator’s NovaCor hardware generation. This significantly increased (in fact, doubled) the size of the power system network solution that can be solved in real-time without decoupling the network into two subsystems.

Prior to the work described in the paper, it was possible to simulate a maximum of 300 single-phase power system nodes as one tightly-coupled network solution (solved on a dedicated core) in real time. With several cores licensed on NovaCor chassis, it was possible to dedicate two cores to this task, allowing for a total of 600 single-phase nodes to be simulated in two decoupled subsystems. Decoupling is achieved via travelling wave transmissions systems (I.E. systems with only short transmission lines) with more than 300 single-phase nodes.

A two-core parallel network solution was achieved via group bisection and coordination of the two cores to fulfill the network solution matrix decomposition process as well as the forward and backward operations together. These methods are described in more detail within the paper. The new network solution allows for two dedicated cores to achieve a 600 node network solution without decoupling. This improvement allows users to simulate much larger networks on one NovaCor chassis without requiring subsystem splitting via travelling wave transmission line. Spreading the network solution over two cores also reduces the simulation timestep for cases that were previously running with the single-core network solution.

If you’re attending the IEEE PES General Meeting in Denver, Colorado, don’t miss the Best Conference Papers session where you can learn more about this paper. We’re also co-hosting an exciting hospitality suite where you can learn about the latest and greatest advancements in real-time simulation! To learn more about both, visit our IEEE PES GM webage here.