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1. Distributed Virtual Time-Based Synchronization for Simulation of Cyber-Physical Systems

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3446237  

   Hannon, Christopher; Yan, Jiaqi; Jin, Dong (April 2021, ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation)

   null (Ed.)

   Our world today increasingly relies on the orchestration of digital and physical systems to ensure the successful operations of many complex and critical infrastructures. Simulation-based testbeds are useful tools for engineering those cyber-physical systems and evaluating their efficiency, security, and resilience. In this article, we present a cyber-physical system testing platform combining distributed physical computing and networking hardware and simulation models. A core component is the distributed virtual time system that enables the efficient synchronization of virtual clocks among distributed embedded Linux devices. Virtual clocks also enable high-fidelity experimentation by interrupting real and emulated cyber-physical applications to inject offline simulation data. We design and implement two modes of the distributed virtual time: periodic mode for scheduling repetitive events like sensor device measurements, and dynamic mode for on-demand interrupt-based synchronization. We also analyze the performance of both approaches to synchronization including overhead, accuracy, and error introduced from each approach. By interconnecting the embedded devices’ general purpose IO pins, they can coordinate and synchronize with low overhead, under 50 microseconds for eight processes across four embedded Linux devices. Finally, we demonstrate the usability of our testbed and the differences between both approaches in a power grid control application. 

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2. Cyber-physical simulation platform for security assessment of transactive energy systems

   https://doi.org/10.1109/MSCPES.2019.8738802  

   Zhang, Yue; Eisele, Scott; Dubey, Abhishek; Laszka, Aron; Srivastava, Anurag K. (April 2019, 2019 7th Workshop on Modeling and Simulation of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems (MSCPES))

   Transactive energy systems (TES) are emerging as a transformative solution for the problems that distribution system operators face due to an increase in the use of distributed energy resources and rapid growth in scalability of managing active distribution system (ADS). On the one hand, these changes pose a decentralized power system control problem, requiring strategic control to maintain reliability and resiliency for the community and for the utility. On the other hand, they require robust financial markets while allowing participation from diverse prosumers. To support the computing and flexibility requirements of TES while preserving privacy and security, distributed software platforms are required. In this paper, we enable the study and analysis of security concerns by developing Transactive Energy Security Simulation Testbed (TESST), a TES testbed for simulating various cyber attacks. In this work, the testbed is used for TES simulation with centralized clearing market, highlighting weaknesses in a centralized system. Additionally, we present a blockchain enabled decentralized market solution supported by distributed computing for TES, which on one hand can alleviate some of the problems that we identify, but on the other hand, may introduce newer issues. Future study of these differing paradigms is necessary and will continue as we develop our security simulation testbed. 

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3. Transpacific Testbed for Real-Time Experimentation

   https://doi.org/10.1109/5GWF52925.2021.00095  

   Ajayi, Oluwaseyi; Huseynov, Huseyn; Saadawi, Tarek; Tsuru, Masato; Kourai, Kourai (January 2021, IEEE 4th 5G world forum (5GWF))

   null (Ed.)

   The transpacific testbed is a generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunnel built between CUNY City College (CCNY), USA and Kyushu Institute of Technology (KYUTECH), Japan. The tunnel, built through internet2, originated from CCNY through the JGN network in Seattle and terminated at Kyutech in Japan. The testbed defines the future of the Internet by focusing on addressing research challenges associated with enabling trustworthy networks, supporting the Internet of Things (IoT), which encompasses everything connected to the Internet and cyber-physical systems (CPS) - a controlled mechanism monitored by computer-based algorithms. In this paper, we describe the setting up and testing of the testbed. Furthermore, we describe the real-time experiments conducted on the testbed and present the results. The experiments are classified into two: blockchain-based cooperative intrusion detection system (CoIDS) and Secure Virtual Machine introspection. In each of the experiments, we describe the method and present the results. Finally, we look into the ongoing works of extending the testbed to the COSMIC global testbed. 

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4. A Computationally Efficient, High-Fidelity Testbed for Building Climate Control

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4048895  

   Kircher, Kevin J.; Schaefer, Walter; Max Zhang, K. (February 2021, ASME Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities)

   Abstract Advanced building climate control systems have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs, but more research is needed to bring these systems to market. A key component of building control research is testing algorithms through simulation. Many high-fidelity simulation testbeds exist, but they tend to be complex and opaque to users. Simpler, more transparent testbeds also exist, but they tend to neglect important nonlinearities and disturbances encountered in practice. In this paper, we develop a simulation testbed that is computationally efficient, transparent and high fidelity. We validate the testbed empirically, then demonstrate its use through the examples of system identification, online state and parameter estimation, and model predictive control (MPC). The testbed is intended to enable rapid, reliable analysis of building control algorithms, thereby accelerating progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions at scale. We call the resulting testbed and supporting functions the bldg toolbox, which is free, open source, and available online. 

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5. Triton: A Software-Reconfigurable Federated Avionics Testbed

   Crow, Sam; Farinholt, Brown; Johannesmeyer, Brian; Koscher, Karl; Checkoway, Stephen; Savage, Stefan; Schulman, Aaron; Snoeren, Alex C; Levchenko, Kirill (August 2019, USENIX Workshop on Cyber Security Experimentation and Test (CSET))

   This paper describes the Triton federated-avionics security testbed that supports testing real aircraft electronic systems for security vulnerabilities. Because modern aircraft are complex systems of systems, the Triton testbed allows multiple systems to be instantiated for analysis in order to observe the aggregate behavior of multiple aircraft systems and identify their potential impact on flight safety. We describe two attack scenarios that motivated the design of the Triton testbed: ACARS message spoofing and the software update process for aircraft systems. The testbed allows us to analyze both scenarios to determine whether adversarial interference in their expected operation could cause harm. This paper does not describe any vulnerabilities in real aircraft systems; instead, it describes the design of the Triton testbed and our experiences using it. One of the key features of the Triton testbed is the ability to mix simulated, emulated, and physical electronic systems as necessary for a particular experiment or analysis task. A physical system may interact with a simulated component or a system whose software is running in an emulator. To facilitate rapid reconfigurability, Triton is also entirely software reconfigurable: all wiring between components is virtual and can be changed without physical access to components. A prototype of the Triton testbed is used at two universities to evaluate the security of aircraft systems. 

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