A Co-Simulation Platform for Wireless LTE Networks in Smart Distribution Systems

Wireless long-term evolution (LTE) networks are considered as a viable option for deployment in smart distribution systems due to their reliability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Yet, co-simulation platforms with the ability to analyze the performance of wireless LTE networks are lacking in the existing literature. This paper, for the first time, presents a real-time co-simulation platform based on Typhoon HIL and OMNeT++ for wireless LTE networks in smart distribution systems. The performance of wireless LTE networks in smart distribution systems is investigated using the proposed co-simulation platform. A case study related to distribution automation is used to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed co-simulation platform for examining the performance of wireless LTE networks.