Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on High Assurance Systems Engineering (IEEE). Jan. 2015.
DOI: 10.1109/HASE.2015.24

Abstract: The communication infrastructure is a key element for management and control of the power system in the smart grid. The communication infrastructure, which can include equipment using off-the-shelf vulnerable operating systems, has the potential to increase the attack surface of the power system. The interdependency between the communication and the power system renders the management of the overall security risk a challenging task. In this paper, we address this issue by presenting a mathematical model for identifying and hardening the most critical communication equipment used in the power system. Using non-cooperative game theory, we model interactions between an attacker and a defender. We derive the minimum defense resources required and the optimal strategy of the defender that minimizes the risk on the power system. Finally, we evaluate the correctness and the efficiency of our model via a case study.

Proceedings of the International Workshop on Intelligent Energy Systems (IEEE). Oct. 2014.
DOI: 10.1109/IWIES.2014.6957044

Abstract: We consider demand response solutions having the capability to monitor different variables at users’ premises, like presence and temperature, and to control individual appliances. We focus on the optimal control of the appliances during time periods where the available capacity is not enough to satisfy the demand generated by houses operating freely. We propose an approach to define the utility of appliances as a function of monitored variables, as well as control schemes to optimize this utility. Global optimums can be reached when a centralized entity (i.e., an aggregator) can gather information from each user and control each individual appliance. This may not be always possible, for example for privacy and/or scalability reasons. We therefore consider, in addition, a system where decisions are taken partially at a centralized site (global power allocation per home) and partially at customer premises (sharing of the allocated power among local appliances). Performances of proposed control mechanisms are evaluated and compared. We show the potential value of introducing demand response mechanisms at fine granularity.

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Model-Driven Engineering and Software Development (SCITEPRESS). Jan. 2014.
Contents

Abstract: Business rules are defined, specified and validated by business experts but they are designed and implemented by technical implementers. Each of them uses languages adapted to their activity and skill. Verbalization of business rules permits to business experts to get a semi-natural expression of rules designed by technical implementers thus facilitating their task of validation. A transformation tool is proposed to automate verbalization and applied to OCL (Object Constraint Language) constraints in the Utility domain.