A linear programming approach for K-resilient and reliability-aware design of large-scale industrial networks

Abstract

The profound transformation of large-scale Industrial Control Systems (ICS), e.g., smart energy networks (Smart Grids), from a proprietary and isolated environment to a modern architecture brings several new challenges. Nowadays, ICS network designers need to accommodate a variety of devices and communication media/protocols with industry-specific requirements pertaining to real-time delivery of data packets, reliability, and resilience of communication networks. Therefore, this work proposes a novel network design methodology formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. The developed problem accounts for different data flows routed across an overlay network of concentrators and embodies traditional ICS design requirements defined as linear constraints. Furthermore, the MILP problem defines a K-resilience factor to ensure the installation of K back-up paths, and a linear reliability constraint adapted from the field of fuzzy logic optimization. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of the proposed MILP problem.