# Smart Grid Protection, Automation and Control: Challenges and Opportunities
## 3 Evolution of Substation Architectures and Digital Modernizations for Smart Substations
### Migration from Conventional to Digital Substations
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Aspect** & **Description** \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{Advantages} \\ \hline Network Management & Automatic topology detection \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Efficient management of multicast traffic (GOOSE, SV)} \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Logical partitioning (slicing) to improve QoS and prioritize critical traffic fast fault recovery} \\ \hline Security and & Global visibility and control \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Putting in place security measures that include the blocking of traffic or network segregation} \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{and} & Integration of lightweight machine learning within programmable switches for \\ Cybersecurity & intrusion detection \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Future-proofed platform for patching and cybersecurity upgrades} \\ \hline Automation and & Reduction in manual configuration \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{and} & Decrease in human errors \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Error Reduction} & In-band telemetry for real-time data collection and proactive maintenance \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{Unresolved Risks and Challenges} \\ \hline Implementation & The effective coordination and management of SDN and PDP present significant challenges, requiring substantial investment in infrastructure and training \\ \hline \multirow{5}{*}{Critical Time Requirements} & For some critical messages inside the substation, such as Type 1A GOOSE messages, the driving requirements are very strict in terms of time (3–10 ms); any such PDP integration should make sure these requirements are met without adding unacceptable latency \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Real-time performance in an SDN-based substation depends upon appropriate hardware: inappropriate switches or bad servers degrade operations. The loss of a GPS clock or weak time synchronization as a result of poor engineering will also make the protection systems disturbed, reducing stability and reliability} \\ \hline Security and & Although SDNs and PDPs improve security, both also introduce new attack surfaces. \\ Resilience & Consistency with rapid response without overloading the processing of traffic remains an open issue \\ \hline Lack of Datasets & Only a few datasets that can be used to train machine learning-based security models are \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{public, and thus, constructing generalized and effective security solutions is limited} \\ \hline \multicolumn{3}{c}{Future Research Lines} \\ \hline Standardized & Standardized frameworks that take into account the integration of security requirements in IEC 61850 with the demand for cybersecurity in programmable networks must \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{be developed} \\ \hline Telemetry and & Farther research in in-band telemetry techniques and real-time data analysis to forestall \\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{Data Analysis} \\ \hline Automated Network Management & Further investigate the aspects of the combination in the use of SDN and PDPs that will enable the complete automation of network management, including firmware updates, security patching, and incident response, autonomously \\ \hline Advanced & It should be carried out in the context of improved intrusion detection and response \\ Cybersecurity & techniques, specifically binarized neural networks, and other forms of Machine Learning that efficiently operate on programmable devices \\ \hline Power Quality, Line & One major future direction of research will be connected with the increase in the sampling rate up to 14.4 kHz in order to meet EN50160 [43] in the case of power quality monitoring and to reach Official Metering Class 0.2 S accuracy. Another technical challenge is given by the deployment of line differential protection over IP-based networks [44,45]. Plug-and-play merging units are foreseen to ease interoperability and expand system flexibility while reducing the engineering efforts and commissioning time. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 6: Advantages, unresolved risks and challenges, and future research lines in integrating SDN and PDP with the IEC 61850 standard in electrical substations.