Verifying interoperability and application performance of PDCs in synchrophasor system solution

This paper presents a new test methodology for verifying the interoperability and application performance of synchrophasor system solution containing PMUs, PDCs, and communication network. Two types of tests are defined to evaluate the performance of synchrophasors system components from two different aspects: design and application tests. The interoperability between PMUs and PDCs can be verified by a design test. A fault location algorithm using two-end synchronized measurement is used to evaluate the application performance. We have developed a special device, referred to as “Imparator.” that can emulate different network conditions by introducing impairments such as packet losses and delays. In addition, the imperator can measure performance characteristics of PDCs, such as data processing time. Nine commercial PMUs, three PDCs, and reference GPS receiver are selected to perform the tests. The test results at the end show that the PDCs meet the most of the functional requirements, and interoperability issues exist between the PMUs and PDCs of different vendors.