Identifying and Analyzing Dependencies in and among Complex Cyber Physical Systems

Contemporary Critical Infrastructures (CIs), such as the power grid, comprise cyber physical systems that are tightly coupled, to form a complex system of interconnected components with interacting dependencies. Modelling methodologies have been suggested as proper tools to provide better insight into the dependencies and behavioural characteristics of these complex systems. In order to facilitate the study of interconnections in and among critical infrastructures, and to provide a clear view of the interdependencies among their cyber and physical components, this paper proposes a novel method, based on a graphical model called Modified Dependency Structure Matrix (MDSM). The MDSM provides a compact perspective of both inter-dependency and intra-dependency between subsystems of one complex system or two distinct systems. Additionally, we propose four parameters that allow the quantitative assessment of the characteristics of dependencies, including multi-order dependencies in large scale CIs. We illustrate the workings of the proposed method by applying it to a micro-distribution network based on the G2ELAB 14-Bus model. The results provide valuable insight into the dependencies among the network components and substantiate the applicability of the proposed method for analyzing large scale cyber physical systems.