A Framework for Wide-Area Monitoring and Control Systems Interoperability and Cybersecurity Analysis

Wide-area monitoring and control (WAMC) systems are the next-generation operational-management systems for electric power systems. The main purpose of such systems is to provide high resolution real-time situational awareness in order to improve the operation of the power system by detecting and responding to fast evolving phenomenon in power systems. From an information and communication technology (ICT) perspective, the nonfunctional qualities of these systems are increasingly becoming important and there is a need to evaluate and analyze the factors that impact these nonfunctional qualities. Enterprise architecture methods, which capture properties of ICT systems in architecture models and use these models as a basis for analysis and decision making, are a promising approach to meet these challenges. This paper presents a quantitative architecture analysis method for the study of WAMC ICT architectures focusing primarily on the interoperability and cybersecurity aspects.