Where We Started: Global Real-Time SuperLab (Text Version)

This is the text version of the video Where We Started: Global Real-Time SuperLab. It describes the results of the first Real-Time SuperLab demonstration.

[Narrator speaks]

The idea to connect power grid research assets via high speed internet started with the Global Real-Time RT SuperLab project. The goal of RT SuperLab was to prove the concept: Could research equipment separated by thousands of miles work together like it was next door? The answer at the time: sort of.

The RT SuperLab demonstration showed that the underlying network connections worked.

It successfully connected 80 devices across 53 U.S. and international universities and 3 national DOE labs. It was the first-of-its-kind achievement for NREL and DOE national labs.

But this demonstration surfaced some flaws in the approach. It used a standard internet connection with a virtual private network, VPN, built with firewalls. This approach created unpredictable delivery performance, so transmitting research data across these networks and through VPNs resulted in inconsistent latency, leading to poor performance of the data transfer.

This variability in the latency made it impossible to synchronize across devices.

Think of it this way: Have you ever had a video call in which the audio didn't match the video? That's what happened with the SuperLab experiment. Data made it through, but it was choppy. Large amounts of the data being exchanged competed with other traffic on the internet connection. Additionally, the VPN firewall slowed down data transfers, making it difficult for researchers to see the picture clearly. To successfully connect research assets at multiple labs, steady, consistent latency would be critical.

Now, the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems, or ARIES platform, is connecting labs across the country to simulate energy grids. But it won't work unless researchers can overcome these latency problems. And that would mean finding a dedicated, secure, end-to-end connection that also enabled consistent, near real-time data transfer performance.

[Narration ends]