Smart Grids and Software Testing Process Models

A Smart Grid (SG) is a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) idealized with the ultimate goal to reach optimal energy efficiency, a key enabler for the Smart City concept. SG reliability needs to be ensured by an in-depth testing process, involving software/ hardware components, network communication, together with quality concerns such as security of the overall infrastructure. While there are many models for modelling/designing SGs (e.g., SGAM), there is no specific testing process model customized for the SGs needs. As such, the aim of this paper is to identify a set of software testing process models developed over the years and investigate their adaptability to SG testing requirements. To reach the goal, we categorize SG requirements from related works with the help of a concept map. Afterwards, the most popular testing process models from literature are discussed in the context of the identified requirements. From a list of 17 main testing models, six testing models (TPI Next, TMMi, Test SPICE, TIM, ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119, and MTPF) are considered as potentially adaptable to the SG domain.