Teaching load frequency control using

MATLAB and SIMULINK

Abstract In this paper, an attractive approach for teaching automatic load frequency
control of a single-area system is presented. This approach is based primarily on using
SIMULINK in building the system model and simulating its behaviour. A detailed design
example for such an application is also presented. 2 INTRODUCTION Automatic load
frequency control (ALFC) is usually a major topic in a power system control
undergraduate course. An attractive way for teaching such a topic is the use of MATLAB
and SIMULINK1. Both software packages are accessible to students in most colleges and
universities. SIMULINK is an interactive environment for modeling and simulating a
wide variety of dynamic systems, including linear, nonlinear, discrete-time, continuous-
time and hybrid systems. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for building models
as block diagrams, using click-and-drag mouse operations. The user can change model
parameters on-the-fly and display results 'live' during a simulation. SIMULINK is built
on top of the MATLAB technical computing environment. In this paper, the application
of SIMULINK to the analysis ALFC of a single-area system is introduced and a design
example for such an application is presented.

3 AUTOMATIC LOAD FREQUENCY CONTROL OF SINGLE-AREA SYSTEM The

basic role of ALFC is to maintain desired megawatt output of a generator unit and assist
in controlling the frequency of the larger interconnection. The ALFC also helps to keep
the net interchange of power between pool members at predetermined values. Control
should be applied in such a fashion that highly differing response characteristics of units
of various types (hydro, nuclear, fossil, etc.) are recognized. Also, unnecessary power
output changes should be kept to a minimum in order to reduce wear of control valves.

The ALFC loop will maintain control only during normal (small and slow) changes in
load and frequency. It is typically unable to provide adequate control during emergency
situations, when large megawatt imbalances occur. In such cases, more drastic
`emergency controls' must be applied.

3.1 Mathematical model

(ii) Determine the critical gain K^sub 1,crit^ for critical stability using MATLAB
function rlocfind (Fig. 2). Therefore, the range of k for a stable system is 0

(iii) Using SIMULINK, build the ALFC model of Fig. 1. Such a model, (Fig. 4), is
composed of three transfer functions, two gains, two sums and an integrator. The forcing
function is a step function representing a step change in the power demand. The change
in the system frequency is displayed during the simulation using a scope.

(iv) run SIMULINK using different values of Kr.

4.1 Discussion of simulation results

Fig. 5 displays transient time responses of the ALFC loop following a step change of 0.01
p.u. in the power demand. The following observations are worth noting:

K^sub 1^ = 0 represents the case with no integral control. The static frequency drop is
-0.0235 Hz.

The higher the integral control gain K^sub 1^ (within the stable range), the shorter the
time for the frequency to settle back to its original value (i.e., Of= 0).

K^sub 1^ = 0.95; the system is on the stability boundary and the response is oscillatory
with constant amplitude and frequency.

K^sub 1^ = 1.1 represents an unstable case. The system has two conjugate roots in the
right-hand side of the s-plane. The system response in this case is oscillatory with
exponentially growing amplitude.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, an attractive approach for teaching automatic load frequency control of a
single-area system has been presented. This approach is based primarily on using
SIMULINK in building the system model and simulating its behavior. An advantage of
using such an approach is that the student becomes familiar with some of the features of
SIMULINK and the whole power of the software is available to him for more advanced
courses or project work. Furthermore, the use of this type of educational methods will
significantly improve the student understanding of physical system behavior which is one
of the main objectives of engineering education.

6 REFERENCES

[1] MATLAB 5 and SIMULINK 2, The Math Works Inc., 24 Prime Park Way, Natick,
MA 01760-1500 (1997)

[2] Elgerd, O. I., Electric Energy Systems Theory - An Introduction, 2nd Ed., McGraw-
Hill,

pp. 299-362 (1982)

[3] Dorf, R. C. and Bishop, R. H., Modern Control Systems, 7th Ed., Addison-Wesley,
pp. 315-386 (1995)

ABSTRACTS - FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH

Enseignement du reglage frequence-puissance par l'utilisation de MATLAB et

SIMULINK
Cet article presente une approche attractive de l'enseignement du reglage automatique
frequence puissance d'une region isolde. Cette approche est basee sur l'usage principal de
SIMULINK dans la construction du module du systeme et la simulation de son
comportement. Un exemple detaille de la conception d'une telle application est aussi
presente.

Frequenz-Leistungs-Regelung mit MATLAB und SIMULINK lehren

In diesem Beitrag wird eine attraktive Methode fur das Lehren automatischer Frequenz-
LeistungsRegelung eines Einbereichsystems vorgestellt. Diese Methode beruht in erster
Linie auf dem Einsatz von SIMULINK beim Aufbau des Systemmodells und in der
Simulation seines Verhaltens. Ein detailliertes Designbeispiel fur eine solche Anwendung
wird ebenfalls vorgefuhrt.

Performance analysis of a steam power plant with

different governors
Abstract A comparative study of three steam plant governors is made using MATLAB.
Such an exercise trains students in using engineering software for simulation. It also adds
motivation to learning control as a subject by showing the practical application of the
theory taught in class.

1 INTRODUCTION

A governor is a control component which greatly influences the dynamic behaviour of a

power system and it is responsible in many respects for keeping the system stable. There
are different types of governor1 and since governor models exist in literature2-5, a study
of these different models can be very enriching to students and practising engineers.
However, a governor as a control device is rarely studied in either control or power
system courses so that students do not fully understand its use and function in a power
system. To-day, with the availability of software tools such as Matlab, it is easy to
analyse and simulate systems under different control strategies and the study of the
performance of a governor can be a very attractive, and self-learning exercise. Educators
use software tools6' to enhance student's learning capability or to encourage self study
through senior projects. This paper describes such a project in the fields of control and
power systems. It consists of comparing the performance of three governor models for
steam power plants.

The paper is organised as follows: Section 2 underlines the assumptions made for the
problem under consideration, Section 3 shows the block diagram models of the three
systems under study, while Section 4 presents the state space models for simulation.
Results are discussed in Section 5 and Section 6 gives a conclusion.
2 ASSUMPTIONS

The system models are derived to address power and frequency (pf) control and
accordingly the following assumptions are made:

(i) Small variations of variables permit the linearisation of system equations around an
arbitrarily operating chosen reference operating state.

(ii) For small changes in power demand, the two problems, load and frequency control
and reactive-power/voltage control, are decoupled and can be considered separately.

(iii) Low-order representation of turbine-generator dynamics.

The systems under consideration are exposed to a small change in load during their
normal operation so that linear models are sufficient for their dynamic representations.

3 SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM REPRESENTATION

Three models are analysed and each has the same turbine/generator group. The steam
turbine is modelled as a non-reheat single stage turbine and in modelling the generator,
the excitation system is neglected as justified in assumption (ii) above. In each case
different governors are used giving the following three models:

Model 1: Mechanical Hydraulic Governor System. In this model the time constant of the
relay is assumed to be negligible and it is shown in Fig. 1.

Model 2: System with Mechanical Hydraulic Governor with Speed Relay. In this model,
the delay introduced by the speed relay is taken into account in the model development as
shown in Fig. 2.

Model 3: System with Electro-Hydraulic Governor. The complete block diagram is

shown in Fig. 3 and it includes a turbine output feedback. It does not include a speed
relay, but instead the speed transducer signal is amplified by a gain K and fed directly to
the servomotor.

4 MATHEMATICAL MODELS

The incremental state space models of the three systems above are the following:

5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The following system data values are taken for analysis purposes:

The eigenvalues of the three models are shown in Table 1.

The time variations of frequency deviations of the three models are shown in Fig. 4. It is
found that Model 3 responds faster and settles to a steady value within lOs and has a
smaller overshoot compared to Models 1 and 2. As expected, the frequency of the three
systems does not return to its nominal value following a load demand since the
uncontrolled case is being studied and only the governor is taking any necessary action.
Since the generator slows down, this results in a negative frequency deviation.

The turbine output variations of the three models are shown in Fig. 5. The negative
deviation in frequency results in a positive deviation in turbine output power, following
the governor action, to cater for the load demand. This is so because the governor reacts
to the reduction in speed by further opening the valves to allow more steam to flow to the
turbine. Again, Model 3 has the best performance with a smaller overshoot and settling
time. It is found that the power output does not settle down to 0.1 pu because of the
frequency deviations that exist when steady state is attained. The offsets can be reduced
to zero by appropriately changing the reference input to the systems.

The effect of the time delay introduced in Model 2 clearly shows a deterioration in
performance. Here one can see the importance of accurate modelling of systems for
simulation and control purposes and neglecting significant delays in systems models can
give erroneous results. The simulations also give a better insight of the effects of
governor models on the overall stability of systems.

The eigenvalues of the three systems indicate that Model 3 has a faster response and is
more stable than the others since its eigenvalues are further to the left of the imaginary
axis in the s-plane. Comparing the eigenvalues of Model 1 with those of Model 2, it is
found that the introduction of the relay in Model 2 has decreased the system relative
stability.

The electro-hydraulic governor, with its feedback loop as shown in its block diagram
representation, provides improved performance as compared to mechanical-hydraulic
governors. The frequency overshoot is less. The frequency and the torque output
deviations settle down to a steady value within a reasonable period of 10 s as compared to
the larger settling time in the other models.

6 CONCLUSION

In this paper, three steam power systems incorporating different governors are modelled
and simulated. The effect of a sudden load disturbance on the frequency and power
output of the systems are studied.

The advantage of such simulations is that systems' parameters can very easily be
modified in the models so that students can use values from real systems to make analysis
more realistic and they can predict performance and make comparisons. Since control as
a subject is very mathematical and abstract to students, such an exercise can stimulate
their interest and they can see the practical application of the theory they learn in a
classroom. It can also become a tool for self study and a motivation to learn in other areas
where control principles can be applied.

REFRENCES

[1] Woodward Governor Company, The Control of Prime Mover Speed: Part IIA, Speed
Governor Fundamentals, Manual 25031 (1981)

[2] Elgerd, O. I. and Fosha, 'The megawatt-frequency control problem: a new approach
via optimal control theory, IEEE Transaction on Power Apparatus and Systems (April,
1970)

[3] IEEE Committee, Dynamic Models for Steam and Hydro Turbines in Power Systems
Studies. IEEE Transaction on Power Apparatus and Systems (Nov./Dec.,1973)

[4] Hovey, L. M. and Bateman, L. A., `Speed regulation tests on a hydrostation supplying
an isolated load', Trans. Am. Inst. Electr. Eng., 81, No. 3 (1962)

[5] Elgerd, O. I., Electric Energy Systems Theory: An Introduction, McGraw Hill (1977)

[6] Souza, R. F. and Caballero, C. A., `Observation of Solitons with

MATHEMATICATM', IEEE Trans. on Education, 39, No. 1 (Feb., 1996)

[7] Chau, K. T., 'A software tool for learning the dynamic behaviour of power electronic
circuits', IEEE Trans. on Education, 39, No.1 (Feb., 1996)

ABSTRACTS - FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH

Analyse des performances d'une centrale electrique thermique utilisant differents

regulateurs

Une etude comparative de trois regulateurs de vitesse de groupes thermiques est realisee
en utilisant MATLAB. Un tel exercice entraine les etudiants a l'utilisation de logiciels
scientifiques pour la simulation. II ajoute aussi une motivation a l'apprentissage du
controle comme sujet d'enseignement en montrant l'application pratique de la theorie
enseignee en classe.

Teaching load frequency control using MATLAB and

SIMULINK
Abstract In this paper, an attractive approach for teaching automatic load frequency
control of a single-area system is presented. This approach is based primarily on using
SIMULINK in building the system model and simulating its behaviour. A detailed design
example for such an application is also presented
2 INTRODUCTION Automatic load frequency control (ALFC) is usually a major topic
in a power system control undergraduate course. An attractive way for teaching such a
topic is the use of MATLAB and SIMULINK1. Both software packages are accessible to
students in most colleges and universities. SIMULINK is an interactive environment for
modeling and simulating a wide variety of dynamic systems, including linear, nonlinear,
discrete-time, continuous-time and hybrid systems. It provides a graphical user interface
(GUI) for building models as block diagrams, using click-and-drag mouse operations.
The user can change model parameters on-the-fly and display results 'live' during a
simulation. SIMULINK is built on top of the MATLAB technical computing
environment. In this paper, the application of SIMULINK to the analysis ALFC of a
single-area system is introduced and a design example for such an application is
presented.

3 AUTOMATIC LOAD FREQUENCY CONTROL OF SINGLE-AREA SYSTEM The

basic role of ALFC is to maintain desired megawatt output of a generator unit and assist
in controlling the frequency of the larger interconnection. The ALFC also helps to keep
the net interchange of power between pool members at predetermined values. Control
should be applied in such a fashion that highly differing response characteristics of units
of various types (hydro, nuclear, fossil, etc.) are recognized. Also, unnecessary power
output changes should be kept to a minimum in order to reduce wear of control valves.

The ALFC loop will maintain control only during normal (small and slow) changes in
load and frequency. It is typically unable to provide adequate control during emergency
situations, when large megawatt imbalances occur. In such cases, more drastic
`emergency controls' must be applied.

3.1 Mathematical model

(ii) Determine the critical gain K^sub 1,crit^ for critical stability using MATLAB
function rlocfind (Fig. 2). Therefore, the range of k for a stable system is 0

(iii) Using SIMULINK, build the ALFC model of Fig. 1. Such a model, (Fig. 4), is
composed of three transfer functions, two gains, two sums and an integrator. The forcing
function is a step function representing a step change in the power demand. The change
in the system frequency is displayed during the simulation using a scope.

(iv) run SIMULINK using different values of Kr.

4.1 Discussion of simulation results

Fig. 5 displays transient time responses of the ALFC loop following a step change of 0.01
p.u. in the power demand. The following observations are worth noting:

K^sub 1^ = 0 represents the case with no integral control. The static frequency drop is
-0.0235 Hz.
The higher the integral control gain K^sub 1^ (within the stable range), the shorter the
time for the frequency to settle back to its original value (i.e., Of= 0).

K^sub 1^ = 0.95; the system is on the stability boundary and the response is oscillatory
with constant amplitude and frequency.

K^sub 1^ = 1.1 represents an unstable case. The system has two conjugate roots in the
right-hand side of the s-plane. The system response in this case is oscillatory with
exponentially growing amplitude.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, an attractive approach for teaching automatic load frequency control of a
single-area system has been presented. This approach is based primarily on using
SIMULINK in building the system model and simulating its behavior. An advantage of
using such an approach is that the student becomes familiar with some of the features of
SIMULINK and the whole power of the software is available to him for more advanced
courses or project work. Furthermore, the use of this type of educational methods will
significantly improve the student understanding of physical system behavior which is one
of the main objectives of engineering education.

6 REFERENCES

[1] MATLAB 5 and SIMULINK 2, The Math Works Inc., 24 Prime Park Way, Natick,
MA 01760-1500 (1997)

[2] Elgerd, O. I., Electric Energy Systems Theory - An Introduction, 2nd Ed., McGraw-
Hill,

pp. 299-362 (1982)

[3] Dorf, R. C. and Bishop, R. H., Modern Control Systems, 7th Ed., Addison-Wesley,
pp. 315-386 (1995)

Using MATLAB, SIMULINK and Control System

Toolbox - A practical approach
Using MATLAB, SIMULINK and Control System Toolbox -- A practical approach: A.
CAVALLO, R. SETOLA and F. VASCA (Prentice Hall, 1996, 405 pp., L23.95)

This is a very useful book for students, researchers and technical professionals who wish
to use MATLAB to simulate continuous and discrete systems. Unlike MATLAB and its
toolbox manuals, this book contains a brief overview of the mathematical and
engineering background for MATLAB operations and many detailed examples.

This book is divided into three parts: The introduction of MATLAB; the use of
SIMULINK, and the use of the Control System toolbox.

The first part contains 9 chapters. In this part, the fundamentals such as input/output files,
matrix and scalar operations, polynomials and interpolation, and graphics are described.
MATLAB programming and debugging are also discussed. Further, a class of operators
for numerical analysis, for example, derivatives and integrals, optimizations of nonlinear
equations, solution of differential equations, are described.

The second part contains 9 chapters. In this part, the main features of SIMULINK are
described with examples of building and analysing SIMULINK schemes. SIMULINK is
described in further detail with special emphasis on modelling continuous and discrete
(or, hybrid) nonlinear systems, time-varying systems, and multivariable systems with
examples included. The methods of grouping SIMULINK blocks into multilevel or
hierarchical blocks and an overview of the functions of SIMULINK blocks are included.

The third part, containing 7 chapters, describes the use of the Control System toolbox.
This includes models of continuous-time linear time-invariant (LTI) systems, time-
domain and frequency domain responses, root locus, state feedback such as feedback gain
design, Kalman filter, and many more. The corresponding methods for discrete-time
systems are then described. Many practical examples are included in these chapters.

In Appendices, readers can find more details on advanced graphic functions, graphic user
interface design and writing S-functions. This book contains 404 pages, not so thick as
far as the coverage of its contents is concerned, yet, it contains most essential and useful
information for the user.

IRENE Y. H. GU Department of Applied Electronics, Chalmers University of

Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

Optimal decentralized load frequency control using

HPSO algorithms in deregulated power systems
Large-scale power systems are normally composed of interconnected subsystems or
control areas. The connection between the control areas is done using tie lines. Each area
has its own generator or group of generators and it is responsible for its own load and
scheduled interchanges with neighboring areas. Because loading of a given power system
is never constant and to ensure the quality of power supply, a load frequency controller is
needed to maintain the system frequency at the desired nominal value. It is known that
changes in real power affect mainly the system frequency and the input mechanical
power to generators is used to control the frequency of the output electrical power. In a
deregulated power system, each control area contains different kinds of uncertainties and
various disturbances due to increased complexity, system modeling errors and changing
power system structure. A well designed and operated power system should cope with
changes in the load and with system disturbances and it should provide acceptable high
level of power quality while maintaining both voltage and frequency within tolerable
limits (1-6).

During the last three decade, various control strategies for LFC have been proposed (1-
18). This extensive research is due to fact that LFC constitutes an important function on
power system operation where the main objective is to regulate the output power of each
generator at prescribed levels while keeping the frequency fluctuations within pre-defined
limits. Robust adaptive control schemes have been developed (4-7) to deal with changes
in system parametric under LFC strategies. A different algorithm has been presented (8)
to improve the performance of multi-area power systems. Viewing a multi-area power
system under LFC as a decentralized control design for a multi-input multi-output
system, it has been shown (9) that a group of local controllers with tuning parameters can
guarantee the overall system stability and performance. The result reported in (4-9)
demonstrates clearly the importance of robustness and stability issues in LFC design. In
addition, several practical points have been addressed in (10-15) which include recent
technology used by vertically integrated utilities, augmentation of filtered area control
error with LFC schemes and hybrid LFC that encompasses an independent system
operator and bilateral LFC.

The applications of artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and optimal
control to LFC have been reported in (16-18). The objective of this study is to investigate
the load frequency control and inter area tie-power control problem for a multi-area
power system taking into consideration the uncertainties in the parameters of system.

PI type and I type controllers are considered to LFC control. An optimal control scheme
based hybrid particle swarm optimization (HPSO) Algorithm method is used for tuning
the parameters of these PI and I controllers. The proposed controller is simulated for a
two-area power system.

To show effectiveness of proposed method and also compare the performance of these
two controllers, several changes in demand of first area, demand of second area and
demand of two areas simultaneously are applied. Simulation results indicate that HPSO
controllers guarantee the good performance under various load conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A two-control area power system, shown in Fig. 1 is considered as a test system (14). The
state-space model of foregoing system is as (1) (14).

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1)

Where:

u = [[DELTA][P.sub.D1],[DELTA][P.sub.D2] [u.sub.1][u.sub.2]]

y = [[y.sub.1],[y.sub.2]] = [[DELTA][f.sub.1],[DELTA][f.sub.2][DELTA],
[DELTA][P.sub.tie]

x = [[DELTA][P.sub.G1] [DELTA][P.sub.T1] [DELTA][f.sub.1] [DELTA][P.sub.tie]

[DELTA][P.sub.G2] [DELTA][T.sub.2][DELTA][f.sub.2]]

[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

The parameters of model, defined as follow:

[DELTA] = Deviation from nominal value

M = 2H = Inertia constant

D = Damping constant

R = Gain of speed droop feedback loop

[T.sub.t] = Turbine time constant

[T.sub.G] = Governor time constant

The typical values of system parameters for nominal operation condition are given in
appendix (12).

This study focuses on optimal tuning of controllers for LFC and tie-power control using
HPSO algorithm. The aim of the optimization is to search for the optimum controller
parameter setting that maximize the minimum damping ratio of the system. On the other
hand in this study the goals are control of frequency and inter area tie-power with good
oscillation damping and also obtaining a good performance under all operating conditions
and various loads and finally designing a low-order controller for easy implementation.

PSO AND HPSO ALGORITHMS

A novel population based optimization approach, called particle swarm optimization

(PSO), was introduced first in (19). In a PSO system, multiple candidate solutions coexist
and collaborate simultaneously. Each solution candidate, called a "particle", flies in the
problem space (similar to the search process for food of a bird swarm) looking for the
optimal position. A particle with time adjusts its position to its own experience, while
adjusting to the experience of neighboring particles. If a particle discovers a promising
new solution, all the other particles will move closer to it, exploring the region more
thoroughly in the process.

This new approach features many advantages; it is simple, fast and can be coded in few
lines. Also its strong requirement is minimal. Moreover, this approach is advantageous
over evolutionary and genetic algorithm in many ways. First, PSO has memory. That is,
every particle remembers its best solution (global best). Another advantage of PSO is that
the initial population of the PSO is maintained and so there is no need for applying
operators to the population, a process that is time-and memory-storage-consuming. In
addition, PSO is based on constructive cooperation between particles, in contrast with the
genetic algorithms, which are based on the survival of the fittest (19-22).

Steps of PSO: Steps of PSO as implemented for optimization are (19-29):

Step 1: Initialize an array of particles with random positions and their associated
velocities to satisfy the inequality constraints.

Step 2: Check for the satisfaction of the equality constraints and modify the solution if
required.

Step 3: Evaluate the fitness function of each particle.

Step 4: Compare the current value of the fitness function with the particles previous best
value (pbest). If the current fitness value is less, then assign the current fitness value is
less, then assign the current coordinates (positions) to pbestx.

Step 5: Determine the current global minimum fitness value among the current positions.

Step 6: Compare the current global minimum with the previous global minimum (gbest).
If the current global minimum is better than gbest, then assign the current global
minimum to gbest and assign the current coordinates (positions) to gbestx.

Step 7: Change the velocities.

Step 8: Move each particle to the new position and return to step 2.

Step 9: Repeat step 2-8 until a stop criterion is satisfied or the maximum number of
iterations is reached.

PSO and HPSO algorithm definition: The PSO definition is presented as follows (19),
(22), (26):

* Each individual particle i has the following properties:

[x.sub.i] = A current position in search space.

[v.sub.i] = A current velocity in search space.

[y.sub.i] = A personal best position in search space.

* The personal best position pi corresponds to the position in search space, where particle
i presents the smallest error as determined by the objective function f, assuming a
minimization task.

* The global best position denoted by g represents the position yielding the lowest error
among all the pi's.

Equation 2 and 3 define how the personal and global best values are updated at time k,
respectively. In below, it is assumed that the swarm consists of s particles. Thus, i
[member of] 1,...,s

[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (2)

[g.sup.k] [member of] {[p.sub.1.sup.k],[p.sub.2.sup.k],...,[p.sub.s.sup.k]} | f([g.sup.k]) =

min {f([p.sub.1.sup.k]), f([p.sub.2.sup.k])...f([p.sub.2.sup.k])} (3)

During each iteration, every particle in the swarm is updated using 4 and 5. Two
pseudorandom sequences [r.sub.1] ~ U(0,1) and [r.sub.2] ~ U(0,1) are used to affect the
stochastic nature of the algorithm.

[v.sub.i.sup.k+1] = w x [v.sub.i.sup.k] + [c.sub.1] x rand[().sub.1] x ([p.sub.i.sup.k] -

[X.sub.i.sup.k]) + [c.sub.2] x rand[().sub.2] x ([g.sup.k] - [X.sub.i.sup.k]) (4)

[X.sub.i.sup.k+1] = [X.sub.i.sup.k] + [v.sub.i.sup.k+1] (5)

w = [w.sub.max] - [[w.sub.max] - [w.sub.min]]/[iter.sub.max] x iter (6)

[v.sub.max] = k X [x.sub.max] 0.1[less than or equal to]k[less than or equal to]1 (7)

Where:

[[v.sub.i].sup.k] = Velocity of ith particle at kth iteration.

[[v.sub.i].sup.k+1] = Velocity of ith particle at (k+1)th iteration.

w = Inertia weight,

[[X.sub.i].sup.k]= Position of ith particle at kth iteration.

[[X.sub.i].sup.k+1]= Position of ith particle at (k+1)th iteration.

[c.sub.1], [c.sub.2] = Positive constants both equal to 2.

iter, [iter.sub.max] = Iteration number and maximum iteration number.

rand[().sub.1], rand[().sub.2] = Random number selected between 0 and 1.

Evolutionary operators such as selection, crossover and mutation have been applied into
the PSO. By applying selection operation in PSO, the particles with the best performance
are copied into the next generation, therefore, PSO can always keep the best performed
particles. By applying crossover operation, information can be exchanged or swapped
between two particles so that they can fly to the new search area as in evolutionary
programming and genetic algorithms. Among the three evolutionary operators, the
mutation operators are the most commonly applied evolutionary operators in PSO. The
purpose of applying mutation to PSO is to increase the diversity of the population and the
ability to have the PSO to escape the local minima (19-28). HPSO uses the mechanism of
PSO and a natural selection mechanism utilizing genetic algorithm.

CONTROLLER DESIGN USING HPSO ALGORITHM

In this study P-I and I type controllers optimized by HPSO are designed for LFC and tie-
power control. The goals are control of frequency and inter area tie-power with good
oscillation damping, also obtaining a good performance. The structure of system with PI
controller is shown in Fig. 2 (26), (29). The area control error (ACE) for the ith area is
defined as:

<[DELTA][CE.sub.i] = [DELTA][P.sub.tiei] + [DELTA][f.sub.i] (8)

with PI controller, the conventional automatic generation controller has a control

equation of the form 9.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

[DELTA][PC.sub.i] = [K.sub.pi] ([DELTA][P.sub.tiei] + [DELTA][f.sub.i]) + [K.sub.Ii]

[integral] ([DELTA][P.sub.tiei] + [DELTA] [f.sub.i]) (9)

With I controller; the conventional automatic generation controller has a linear integral
control strategy as 10.

[DELTA][PC.sub.i] = [C.sub.i] = [K.sub.li][integral]([DELTA][P.sub.tiei] +

[DELTA][f.sub.i) (10)

Where [K.sub.pi] is the gain of the proportional controller and [K.sub.li] is the gain of the
integral controller for the ith area.

In this study, the optimum values of the parameters [K.sub.p] and [K.sub.I] for PI
controller and [K.sub.I] for I controller, who minimize an array of different performance
indices, are easily and accurately computed using a HPSO. In a typical run of the HPSO,
an initial population is randomly generated. This initial population is referred to as the 0th
generation. Each individual in the initial population has an associated performance index
value. Using the performance index information, the HPSO then produces a new
population.

In order to obtain the value of the performance index for each of the individuals in the
current population, the system must be simulated. The HPSO then produces the nest
generation of individuals using the reproduction crossover and mutation operators.

These processes are repeated until the population is converged and optimum value of
parameters found. To simplify the analysis, the two interconnected areas were considered
identical. The optimal parameter values are such that:

[K.sub.P1] = [K.sub.P2] = [K.sub.P] and [K.sub.I1] = [K.sub.I2] = [K.sub.I]

The nominal system parameters are given in appendix. The performance index
considered in this study is of the form:

[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (11)

To compute the optimum parameter values, a unit step load change is assumed in area 1
and the performance index is minimized using a HPSO algorithm. In the next section, the
optimum values of the parameters [K.sub.p] and [K.sub.I] for PI controller and [K.sub.I]
for I controller, resulting from minimizing the performance index are presented. In this
case performance index was considered with:

[alpha] = 1, [beta] = 1 [gamma] = 1

(frequency deviations in both areas and tie-power deviation are equally penalized).

It should be noted that the [alpha], [beta] and [gamma] are weighting coefficients chosen
by the designer. The optimum value of the parameters [K.sub.p] and [K.sub.I] for
performance index as obtained using HPSO algorithm is summarized in the Table 1. The
optimum value of the parameter [K.sub.I] for performance index as obtained using HPSO
algorithm is summarized in the Table 2.

Table 1: Optimum values of [K.sub.P] and [K.sub.I] for PI controller

[K.sub.P] 2.2264
[K.sub.I] 6.6567
Performance index 0.6146

Table 2: Optimum value of [K.sub.I] for I controller

[K.sub.I] 0.6812
Performance index 3.7226
Table 1 and 2 give the optimum values for [K.sub.p], [K.sub.I] and the corresponding
values of the performance index for the two cases considered.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this section different comparative cases are examined to show the effectiveness of
proposed HPSO method for optimizing controller parameters (PI and I type). These cases
have been evaluated extensively by time-domain simulation, using commercially
available software package (30).

It is clear that considering PI type controller results in a decrease of the optimum value of
the performance index. This in turn will lead to an increase damping in the dynamic
response of the system and clearly show that PI controller has a better performance in
compare to I controller in LFC control. In continue, the simulation result clearly shows
this subject.

Step increase in demand of the first area([DELTA]P.sub.D1]): As the first test case, a step
increase in demand of the first area ([DELTA]P.sub.D1] is applied at operating point 1
(nominal operating point). The frequency deviation of the first area
([DELTA][[omega].sub.1]) and the frequency deviation of the second area
[DELTA][[omega].sub.2] and inter area tie-power signals of the closed-loop system are
shown in Fig. 3 and 5. Using PI controller, the frequency deviations and inter area tie-
power are quickly driven back to zero and PI controller has the best performance in
control and damping of frequency and tie-power in compare to I controller. Also
responses without any controller cannot be driven back to zero and will have a steady-
state error.

Step increase in demand of the second area ([DELTA]P.sub.D2]): In this case, a step
increase in demand of the second area ([DELTA][P.sub.D1]) is applied at operating point
2. The frequency deviation of the first area [DELTA][[OMEGA].sub.1] and the frequency
deviation of the second area [DELTA][[OMEGA].sub.2] and inter area tie-power signals
of the closed-loop system are shown in Fig. 6-8. Using PI controller, the frequency
deviations and inter area tie-power quickly driven back to zero and PI controller has the
best performance in control and damping of frequency and tie-power in compare to I
controller. Also responses without any controller cannot be driven back to zero and will
have a steady state error.

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
Step increase in demand of the first and second area simultaneously: In this case, a 0.5
step increase in demand of the first area ([DELTA][P.sub.D1]) and step increases in
demand of the second area ([DELTA][P.sub.D2]) simultaneously are applied at operating
point 3. The signals of the closed-loop system are shown in Fig. 9-11. Using optimized PI
controller, the frequency deviations and inter area tie-power quickly driven back to zero
and PI controller has the best performance in compare to optimized I controller. Also
responses without any controller cannot be driven back to zero and will have a steady-
state error.

[FIGURE 10 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 11 OMITTED]

CONCLUSION

In this study HPSO has been successfully applied to tune the parameters of conventional
automatic generation systems of the P-I type and I type controller. A two-area power
system is assumed to demonstrate the proposed method. The performance index has been
considered as the integral of time-multiplied absolute value of the error. For performance
index, a digital simulation of the system is carried out and optimization of the parameters
of the automatic generation control (AGC) systems is achieved in a simple and elegant
manner through the effective application of HPSO algorithm. These results and the
suitability of HPSO to nonlinear problems, open the door to study the effect of the
generation rate constraints on the optimal value of the AGC parameters.

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Seyed Abbas Taher, Reza Hematti, Ali Abdolalipour and Seyed Hadi Tabei Department of
Electrical Engineering, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

Corresponding Author: Seyed Abbas Taher, Department of Electrical Engineering,

University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran

COPYRIGHT 2008 Science Publications

COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Referenses
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Utility frequency

The waveform of 230 volt, 50 Hz compared with 110 V, 60 Hz.

The utility frequency (American English) or mains frequency (British English) is the
frequency at which alternating current (AC) is transmitted from a power plant to the end
user. In most parts of the Americas, it is typically 60 Hz, and in most parts of the rest of
the world it is typically 50 Hz. Precise details are shown in the list of countries with
mains power plugs, voltages and frequencies.

During the development of commercial electric power systems in the late 19th and early
20th centuries, many different frequencies (and voltages) had been used. Large
investment in equipment at one frequency made standardization a slow process.
However, as of the turn of the 21st century, places that now use the 50 Hz frequency tend
to use 220-240 V, and those that now use 60 Hz tend to use 100-120 V. Both frequencies
co-exist today (some countries such as Japan use both) with no technical reason to prefer
one over the other and no apparent desire for complete worldwide standardization.
Unless specified by the manufacturer to operate on both 50 and 60 Hz, appliances may
not operate efficiently or even safely if used on anything other than the intended
frequency.

Operating factors

Several factors influence the choice of frequency in an AC system. [1] Lighting, motors,
transformers, generators and transmission lines all have characteristics which depend on
the power frequency.

All of these factors interact and make selection of a power frequency a matter of
considerable importance. The best frequency is a compromise between contradictory
requirements. In the late 19th century, designers would pick a relatively high frequency
for systems featuring transformers and arc lights, so as to economize on transformer
materials, but would pick a lower frequency for systems with long transmission lines or
feeding primarily motor loads or rotary converters for producing direct current. When
large central generating stations became practical, the choice of frequency was made
based on the nature of the intended load. Eventually the improvements in machine design
allowed a single frequency to be used both for lighting and motor loads; a unified system
improved the economics of electricity production since system load was more uniform
during the course of a day.

[edit] Lighting

The first applications of commercial electric power were incandescent lighting and
commutator-type electric motors. Both devices operate well on DC, but DC cannot be
easily transmitted long distances at utilization voltage and also cannot be easily changed
in voltage.

If an incandescent lamp is operated on a low-frequency current, the filament cools on

each half-cycle of the alternating current, leading to perceptible change in brightness and
flicker of the lamps; the effect is more pronounced with arc lamps, and the later mercury-
vapor and fluorescent lamps.

[edit] Rotating machines

Commutator-type motors do not operate well on high-frequency AC since the rapid

changes of current are opposed by the inductance of the motor field; even today, although
commutator-type universal motors are common in 50 Hz and 60 Hz household
appliances, they are small motors, less than 1 kW. The induction motor was found to
work well on frequencies around 50 to 60 Hz but with the materials available in the
1890s would not work well at a frequency of, say, 133 Hz. There is a fixed relationship
between the number of magnetic poles in the induction motor field, the frequency of the
alternating current, and the rotation speed; so, a given standard speed limits the choice of
frequency (and the reverse). Once induction motors became common, it was important to
standardize frequency for compatibility with the customer's equipment.
Generators operated by slow-speed reciprocating engines will produce lower frequencies,
for a given number of poles, than those operated by, for example, a high-speed steam
turbine. For very slow prime mover speeds, it would be costly to build a generator with
enough poles to provide a high AC frequency. As well, synchronizing two generators to
the same speed was found to be easier at lower speeds. While belt drives were common
as a way to increase speed of slow engines, in very large ratings (thousands of kilowatts)
these were expensive, inefficient and unreliable. Direct-driven generators off steam
turbines after about 1906 favored higher frequencies. The steadier rotation speed of high-
speed machines allowed for satisfactory operation of commutators in rotary converters. [2]

Direct-current power was not entirely displaced by alternating current and was useful in
railway and electrochemical processes. Prior to the development of mercury arc valve
rectifiers, rotary converters were used to produce DC power from AC. Like other
commutator-type machines, these worked better with lower frequencies.

[edit] Transmission and transformers

With AC, transformers can be used to step down high transmission voltages to lower
utilization voltage. Since, for a given power level, the dimensions of a transformer are
roughly inversely proportional to frequency, a system with many transformers would be
more economical at a higher frequency.

Electric power transmission over long lines favors lower frequencies. The effects of the
distributed capacitance and inductance of the line are less at low frequency.

[edit] System interconnection

Generators can only be interconnected to operate in parallel if they are of the same
frequency and wave-shape. By standardizing the frequency used, generators in a
geographic area can be interconnected in a grid, providing reliability and cost savings.

[edit] History

Utility frequencies currently in use.

Many different power frequencies were used in the 19th century.

Very early isolated AC generating schemes used arbitrary frequencies based on

convenience for steam engine, water turbine and electrical generator design. Frequencies
between 16⅔ Hz and 133⅓ Hz were used on different systems. For example, the city of
Coventry, England, in 1895 had a unique 87 Hz single-phase distribution system that was
in use until 1906. [3] The proliferation of frequencies grew out of the rapid development of
electrical machines in the period 1880 through 1900. In the early incandescent lighting
period, single-phase AC was common and typical generators were 8-pole machines
operated at 2000 RPM, giving a frequency of 133 cycles per second.
Though many theories exist, and quite a few entertaining urban legends, there is little
certitude in the details of the history of 60 Hz vs. 50 Hz.

The German company AEG (descended from a company founded by Edison in Germany)
built the first German generating facility to run at 50 Hz, allegedly because 60 was not a
preferred number. AEG's choice of 50 Hz is thought by some to relate to a more "metric-
friendly" number than 60. At the time, AEG had a virtual monopoly and their standard
spread to the rest of Europe. After observing flicker of lamps operated by the 40 Hz
power transmitted by the Lauffen-Frankfurt link in 1891, AEG raised their standard
frequency to 50 Hz in 1891. [4]

Westinghouse Electric decided to standardize on a lower frequency to permit operation of

both electric lighting and induction motors on the same generating system. Although
50 Hz was suitable for both, in 1890 Westinghouse considered that existing arc-lighting
equipment operated slightly better on 60 Hz, and so that frequency was chosen.[5]
Frequencies much below 50 Hz gave noticeable flicker of arc or incandescent lighting.
The operation of Tesla's induction motor required a lower frequency than the 133 Hz
common for lighting systems in 1890. In 1893 General Electric Corporation, which was
affiliated with AEG in Germany, built a generating project at Mill Creek, California using
50 Hz, but changed to 60 Hz a year later to maintain market share with the Westinghouse
standard.

[edit] 25 Hz origins

The first generators at the Niagara Falls project, built by Westinghouse in 1895, were
25 Hz because the turbine speed had already been set before alternating current power
transmission had been definitively selected. Westinghouse would have selected a low
frequency of 30 Hz to drive motor loads, but the turbines for the project had already been
specified at 250 RPM. The machines could have been made to deliver 16⅔ Hz power
suitable for heavy commutator-type motors but the Westinghouse company objected that
this would be undesirable for lighting, and suggested 33⅓ Hz. Eventually a compromise
of 25 Hz, with 12 pole 250 RPM generators, was chosen. [6] Because the Niagara project
was so influential on electric power systems design, 25 Hz prevailed as the North
American standard for low-frequency AC.

[edit] 40 Hz origins

A General Electric study concluded that 40 Hz would have been a good compromise
between lighting, motor, and transmission needs, given the materials and equipment
available in the first quarter of the 20th Century. Several 40 Hz systems were built. The
Lauffen-Frankfurt demonstration used 40 Hz to transmit power 175 km in 1891. A large
interconnected 40 Hz network existed in north-east England (the Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Electric Supply Company, NESCO) until the advent of the National Grid (UK) in the late
1920s, and projects in Italy used 42 Hz.[7] The oldest continuously-operating commercial
hydroelectric power plant in the United States, at Mechanicville, New York, still produces
electric power at 40 Hz and supplies power to the local 60 Hz transmission system
through frequency changers. Industrial plants and mines in North America and Australia
sometimes were built with 40 Hz electrical systems which were maintained until too
uneconomic to continue. Although frequencies near 40 Hz found much commercial use,
these were bypassed by standardized frequencies of 25, 50 and 60 Hz preferred by higher
volume equipment manufacturers.

[edit] Standardization

In the early days of electrification, so many frequencies were used that no one value
prevailed (London in 1918 had 10 different frequencies). As the 20th century continued,
more power was produced at 60 Hz (North America) or 50 Hz (Europe and most of Asia).
Standardization allowed international trade in electrical equipment. Much later, the use of
standard frequencies allowed interconection of power grids. It wasn't until after World
War II with the advent of affordable electrical consumer goods that more uniform
standards were enacted.

In Britain, implementation of the National Grid starting in 1926 compelled the

standardization of frequencies among the many interconnected electrical service
providers. The 50 Hz standard was completely established only after World War II.

Because of the cost of conversion, some parts of the distribution system may continue to
operate on original frequencies even after a new frequency is chosen. 25 Hz power was
used in Ontario, Quebec, the northern USA, and for railway electrification. In the 1950s,
many 25 Hz systems, from the generators right through to household appliances, were
converted and standardized. Some 25 Hz generators still exist at the Beck 1 and Rankine
generating stations near Niagara Falls to provide power for large industrial customers
who did not want to replace existing equipment; and some 25 Hz motors and a 25 Hz
electrical generator power station exist in New Orleans for floodwater pumps [1]. Some
of the metre gauge railway lines in Switzerland operate at 16⅔ Hz, which can obtained
from the local 50 Hz 3 phase power grid through frequency converters.

In some cases, where most load was to be railway or motor loads, it was considered
economic to generate power at 25 Hz and install rotary converters for 60 Hz distribution.
[8]
Converters for production of dc from alternating current were larger and more efficient
at 25 Hz compared with 60 Hz. converters to produce DC Remnant fragments of older
systems may be tied to the standard frequency system via a rotary converter or static
inverter frequency changer. These allow energy to be interchanged between two power
networks at different frequencies, but the systems are large, costly, and consume some
energy in operation.

Rotating-machine frequency changers used to convert between 25 Hz and 60 Hz systems

were awkward to design; a 60 Hz machine with 24 poles would turn at the same speed as
a 25 Hz machine with 10 poles, making the machines large, slow-speed and expensive. A
ratio of 60/30 would have simplified these designs, but the installed base at 25 Hz was
too large to be economically opposed.
In the United States, the Southern California Edison company had standardized on 50 Hz
[9]
. Much of Southern California operated on 50 Hz and did not completely change
frequency of their generators and customer equipment to 60 Hz until around 1948. Some
projects by the Au Sable Electric Company used 30 Hz at transmission voltages up to
110,000 volts in 1914. [10]

In Japan, the western part of the country (Kyoto and west) uses 60 Hz and the eastern part
(Tokyo and east) uses 50 Hz. This originates in the first purchases of generators from
AEG in 1895, installed for Tokyo, and General Electric in 1896, installed in Osaka.

Utility Frequencies in Use in 1897 in North America [11]

Cycles Description
140 Wood arc-lighting dynamo
133 Stanley-Kelly Company
125 General Electric single-phase
66.7 Stanley-Kelly company
62.5 General Electric "monocyclic"
60 Many manufacturers, becoming "increasing common" in 1897
58.3 General Electric Lachine Rapids
40 General Electric
33 General Electric at Portland Oregon for rotary converters
27 Crocker-Wheeler for calcium carbide furnaces
25 Westinghouse Niagara Falls 2-phase - for operating motors

Even by the middle of the 20th century, utility frequencies were still not entirely
standardized at the now-common 50 Hz or 60 Hz. In 1946, a reference manual for
designers of radio equipment [12] listed the following now obsolete frequencies as in use.
Many of these regions also had 50 cycle, 60 cycle or direct current supplies.

Frequencies in Use in 1946 (As well as 50 Hz and 60 Hz)

Cycles Region
Canada (Southern Ontario), Panama Canal Zone(*), France, Germany, Sweden,
25
UK, China, Hawaii,India, Manchuria,
Jamaica, Belgium, Switzerland, UK, Federated Malay States, Egypt, West
40
Australia(*)
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, Monaco(*), Portugal, Romania, Yugoslavia,
42
Libya (Tripoli)
43 Argentina
45 Italy, Libya (Tripoli)
76 Gibraltar(*)
100 Malta(*), British East Africa
Where regions are marked (*), this is the only utility frequency shown for that region.

[edit] Railways
Main article: List of current systems for electric rail traction

Other power frequencies are used. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway
use traction power networks for railways, distributing single-phase AC at 16⅔ Hz. A
frequency of 25 Hz was used for the Austrian railway Mariazeller Bahn and some railway
systems in New York and Pennsylvania (Amtrak) in the USA. Other railway systems are
energized at the local commercial power frequency, 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Traction power may
be derived from commercial power supplies by frequency converters, or in some cases
may be produced by dedicated generating stations. In the 19th Century frequencies as low
as 8 Hz were contemplated for operation of electric railways with commutator motors [13]

[edit] 400 Hz

Frequencies as high as 400 Hz are used in aerospace and some special-purpose computer
power supplies and hand-held machine tools. Such high frequencies cannot be
economically transmitted long distances, so 400 Hz power systems are usually confined
to a building or vehicle. Transformers and motors for 400 Hz are much smaller and
lighter than at 50 or 60 Hz, which is an advantage in aircraft and ships.

[edit] Stability

[edit] Long-term stability and clock synchronization

Regulation of power system frequency for timekeeping accuracy was not commonplace
until after 1926 and the invention of the electric clock driven by a synchronous motor.
Network operators will regulate the daily average frequency so that clocks stay within a
few seconds of correct time. In practice the nominal frequency is raised or lowered by a
specific percentage to maintain synchronization. Over the course of a day, the average
frequency is maintained at the nominal value within a few hundred parts per million.[14] In
the continental European UCTE grid, the deviation between network phase time and
UTC is calculated at 08:00 each day in a control center in Switzerland, and the target
frequency is then adjusted by up to ±0.02% from 50 Hz as needed, to ensure a long-term
frequency average of exactly 3600×24×50 cycles per day is maintained.[15] In North
America, whenever the error exceeds 2 seconds for the east, 3 seconds for Texas, or 10
seconds for the west, a correction of ±0.02 Hz (0.033%) is applied. Time error corrections
start and end either on the hour or on the half hour.[16][17] A real-time frequency meter for
power generation in the United Kingdom is available online.[2] Smaller power systems
may not maintain frequency with the same degree of accuracy.

[edit] Frequency and load

The primary reason for accurate frequency control is to allow the flow of alternating
current power from multiple generators through the network to be controlled. The trend
in system frequency is a measure of mismatch between demand and generation, and so is
a necessary parameter for load control in interconnected systems.

Frequency of the system will vary as load and generation change. Increasing the
mechanical input power to a synchronous generator will not greatly affect the system
frequency but will produce more electric power from that unit. During a severe overload
caused by tripping or failure of generators or transmission lines the power system
frequency will decline, due to an imbalance of load versus generation. Loss of an
interconnection, while exporting power (relative to system total generation) will cause
system frequency to rise. AGC (automatic generation control) is used to maintain
scheduled frequency and interchange power flows. Control systems in power plants
detect changes in the network-wide frequency and adjust mechanical power input to
generators back to their target frequency. This counteracting usually takes a few tens of
seconds due to the large rotating masses involved. Temporary frequency changes are an
unavoidable consequence of changing demand. Exceptional or rapidly changing mains
frequency is often a sign that an electricity distribution network is operating near its
capacity limits, dramatic examples of which can sometimes be observed shortly before
major outages.

Frequency protection relays on the power system network sense the decline of frequency
and automatically initiate load shedding or tripping of interconnection lines, to preserve
the operation of at least part of the network. Small frequency deviations (i.e.- 0.5 Hz on a
50 Hz or 60 Hz network) will result in automatic load shedding or other control actions to
restore system frequency.

Smaller power systems, not extensively interconnected with many generators and loads,
will not maintain frequency with the same degree of accuracy. Where system frequency is
not tightly regulated during heavy load periods, the system operators may allow system
frequency to rise during periods of light load, to maintain a daily average frequency of
acceptable accuracy.

[edit] Audible noise and interference

AC-powered appliances can give off a characteristic hum (often referred to as the "60
cycle hum" or "mains hum"), at the multiples of the frequencies of AC power that they
use. This often occurs in poorly made amplifiers. Most countries have chosen their
television standard to approximate their mains supply frequency. This helps prevent
power line hum and magnetic interference from causing visible beat frequencies in the
displayed picture.

[edit] See also

• Mains electricity
• Mains power systems
 • List of countries with mains power plugs, voltages and frequencies
• Power connector

[edit] Further reading

• Furfari, F.A., The Evolution of Power-Line Frequencies 133⅓ to 25 Hz, Industry

Applications Magazine, IEEE, Sep/Oct 2000, Volume 6, Issue 5, Pages 12-14,
ISSN 1077-2618.
• Rushmore, D.B., Frequency, AIEE Transactions, Volume 31, 1912, pages 955-
983, and discussion on pages 974-978.
• Blalock, Thomas J., Electrification of a Major Steel Mill - Part II Development of
the 25 Hz System, Industry Applications Magazine, IEEE, Sep/Oct 2005, Pages 9-
12, ISSN 1077-2618.

[edit] References

1. ^ B. G. Lamme, The Technical Story of the Frequencies, Transactions AIEE

January 1918, reprinted in the Baltimore Amateur Radio Club newsletter The
Modulator January -March 2007
2. ^ Lamme, Technical story...
3. ^ Gordon Woodward ,City of Coventry Single and Two Phase Generation and
Distribution, retrieved from
http://www.iee.org/OnComms/pn/History/HistoryWk_Single_&_2_phase.pdf
October 30,2007
4. ^ Owen, ..Origins..
5. ^ Owen, E.L, The Origins of 60-Hz as a Power Frequency, Industry Applications
Magazine, IEEE, Volume: 3, Issue 6, Nov.-Dec. 1997, Pages 8, 10, 12-14.
6. ^ Lamme, Technical Story of the Frequencies
7. ^ Thomas P. Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society
1880-1930, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1983 ISBN 0-8018-
2873-2 pgs. 282-283
8. ^ Samuel Insull, Central-Station Electric Service, private printing, Chicago 1915,
available on the Internet Archive,page 72
9. ^ Central Station Engineers of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Electrical
Transmission and Distribution Reference Book, 4th Ed., Westinghouse Electric
Corporation, East Pittsburgh PA, 1950, no ISBN
10. ^ Hughes as above
11. ^ Edwin J. Houston and Arthur Kennelly, Recent Types of Dynamo-Electric
Machinery, copyright American Technical Book Company 1897, published by
P.F. Collier and Sons New York, 1902
12. ^ H.T. Kohlhaas, (ed.), Reference Data for Radio Engineers 2nd Edition, Federal
Telephone and Radio Corporation, New York, 1946, no ISBN
13. ^ B. G. Lamme, The Technical Story of the Frequencies, Transactions AIEE
January 1918, reprinted in the Baltimore Amateur Radio Club newsletter The
Modulator January -March 2007
 14. ^ Donald G. Fink and H. Wayne Beaty, Standard Handbook for Electrical
Engineers, Eleventh Edition,McGraw-Hill, New York, 1978, ISBN 0-07-020974-
X, page 16-15, 16-16
15. ^ Load Frequency Control and Performance
16. ^ Manual Time Error Correction

Retrieved from
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency"

Neural network
Traditionally, the term neural network had been used to refer to a network or circuit of
biological neurons[citation needed]. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial
neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes. Thus the term has
two distinct usages:

1. Biological neural networks are made up of real biological neurons that are
connected or functionally related in the peripheral nervous system or the central
nervous system. In the field of neuroscience, they are often identified as groups of
neurons that perform a specific physiological function in laboratory analysis.
2. Artificial neural networks are made up of interconnecting artificial neurons
(programming constructs that mimic the properties of biological neurons).
Artificial neural networks may either be used to gain an understanding of
biological neural networks, or for solving artificial intelligence problems without
necessarily creating a model of a real biological system. The real, biological
nervous system is highly complex and includes some features that may seem
superfluous based on an understanding of artificial networks.

This article focuses on the relationship between the two concepts; for detailed coverage
of the two different concepts refer to the separate articles: Biological neural network and
Artificial neural network

Overview

In general a biological neural network is composed of a group or groups of chemically

connected or functionally associated neurons. A single neuron may be connected to many
other neurons and the total number of neurons and connections in a network may be
extensive. Connections, called synapses, are usually formed from axons to dendrites,
though dendrodendritic microcircuits[1] and other connections are possible. Apart from the
electrical signaling, there are other forms of signaling that arise from neurotransmitter
diffusion, which have an effect on electrical signaling. As such, neural networks are
extremely complex.
Artificial intelligence and cognitive modeling try to simulate some properties of neural
networks. While similar in their techniques, the former has the aim of solving particular
tasks, while the latter aims to build mathematical models of biological neural systems.

In the artificial intelligence field, artificial neural networks have been applied
successfully to speech recognition, image analysis and adaptive control, in order to
construct software agents (in computer and video games) or autonomous robots. Most of
the currently employed artificial neural networks for artificial intelligence are based on
statistical estimation, optimization and control theory.

The cognitive modelling field involves the physical or mathematical modeling of the
behaviour of neural systems; ranging from the individual neural level (e.g. modelling the
spike response curves of neurons to a stimulus), through the neural cluster level (e.g.
modelling the release and effects of dopamine in the basal ganglia) to the complete
organism (e.g. behavioural modelling of the organism's response to stimuli).

[edit] History of the neural network analogy

Main article: Connectionism

The concept of neural networks started in the late-1800s as an effort to describe how the
human mind performed. These ideas started being applied to computational models with
Turing's B-type machines and the Perceptron.

In early 1950s Friedrich Hayek was one of the first to posit the idea of spontaneous
order[citation needed] in the brain arising out of decentralized networks of simple units
(neurons). In the late 1940s, Donald Hebb made one of the first hypotheses for a
mechanism of neural plasticity (i.e. learning), Hebbian learning. Hebbian learning is
considered to be a 'typical' unsupervised learning rule and it (and variants of it) was an
early model for long term potentiation.

The Perceptron is essentially a linear classifier for classifying data specified by

parameters and an output function f = w'x + b. Its parameters are adapted with an ad-hoc
rule similar to stochastic steepest gradient descent. Because the inner product is a linear
operator in the input space, the Perceptron can only perfectly classify a set of data for
which different classes are linearly separable in the input space, while it often fails
completely for non-separable data. While the development of the algorithm initially
generated some enthusiasm, partly because of its apparent relation to biological
mechanisms, the later discovery of this inadequacy caused such models to be abandoned
until the introduction of non-linear models into the field.

The Cognitron (1975) was an early multilayered neural network with a training
algorithm. The actual structure of the network and the methods used to set the
interconnection weights change from one neural strategy to another, each with its
advantages and disadvantages. Networks can propagate information in one direction only,
or they can bounce back and forth until self-activation at a node occurs and the network
settles on a final state. The ability for bi-directional flow of inputs between neurons/nodes
was produced with the Hopfield's network (1982), and specialization of these node layers
for specific purposes was introduced through the first hybrid network.

The parallel distributed processing of the mid-1980s became popular under the name
connectionism.

The rediscovery of the backpropagation algorithm was probably the main reason behind
the repopularisation of neural networks after the publication of "Learning Internal
Representations by Error Propagation" in 1986 (Though backpropagation itself dates
from 1974). The original network utilised multiple layers of weight-sum units of the type
f = g(w'x + b), where g was a sigmoid function or logistic function such as used in logistic
regression. Training was done by a form of stochastic steepest gradient descent. The
employment of the chain rule of differentiation in deriving the appropriate parameter
updates results in an algorithm that seems to 'backpropagate errors', hence the
nomenclature. However it is essentially a form of gradient descent. Determining the
optimal parameters in a model of this type is not trivial, and steepest gradient descent
methods cannot be relied upon to give the solution without a good starting point. In
recent times, networks with the same architecture as the backpropagation network are
referred to as Multi-Layer Perceptrons. This name does not impose any limitations on the
type of algorithm used for learning.

The backpropagation network generated much enthusiasm at the time and there was
much controversy about whether such learning could be implemented in the brain or not,
partly because a mechanism for reverse signalling was not obvious at the time, but most
importantly because there was no plausible source for the 'teaching' or 'target' signal.

[edit] The brain, neural networks and computers

Neural networks, as used in artificial intelligence, have traditionally been viewed as

simplified models of neural processing in the brain, even though the relation between this
model and brain biological architecture is debated.

A subject of current research in theoretical neuroscience is the question surrounding the

degree of complexity and the properties that individual neural elements should have to
reproduce something resembling animal intelligence.

Historically, computers evolved from the von Neumann architecture, which is based on
sequential processing and execution of explicit instructions. On the other hand, the
origins of neural networks are based on efforts to model information processing in
biological systems, which may rely largely on parallel processing as well as implicit
instructions based on recognition of patterns of 'sensory' input from external sources. In
other words, at its very heart a neural network is a complex statistical processor (as
opposed to being tasked to sequentially process and execute).

[edit] Neural networks and artificial intelligence

Main article: Artificial neural network
An artificial neural network (ANN), also called a simulated neural network (SNN) or
commonly just neural network (NN) is an interconnected group of artificial neurons that
uses a mathematical or computational model for information processing based on a
connectionistic approach to computation. In most cases an ANN is an adaptive system
that changes its structure based on external or internal information that flows through the
network.

In more practical terms neural networks are non-linear statistical data modeling or
decision making tools. They can be used to model complex relationships between inputs
and outputs or to find patterns in data.

[edit] Background

An artificial neural network involves a network of simple processing elements (artificial

neurons) which can exhibit complex global behaviour, determined by the connections
between the processing elements and element parameters. Artificial neurons were first
proposed in 1943 by Warren McCulloch, a neurophysiologist, and Walter Pitts, an MIT
logician.[1] One classical type of artificial neural network is the Hopfield net.

In a neural network model simple nodes, which can be called variously "neurons",
"neurodes", "Processing Elements" (PE) or "units", are connected together to form a
network of nodes — hence the term "neural network". While a neural network does not
have to be adaptive per se, its practical use comes with algorithms designed to alter the
strength (weights) of the connections in the network to produce a desired signal flow.

In modern software implementations of artificial neural networks the approach inspired

by biology has more or less been abandoned for a more practical approach based on
statistics and signal processing. In some of these systems neural networks, or parts of
neural networks (such as artificial neurons) are used as components in larger systems that
combine both adaptive and non-adaptive elements.

The concept of a neural network appears to have first been proposed by Alan Turing in
his 1948 paper "Intelligent Machinery".

[edit] Applications

The utility of artificial neural network models lies in the fact that they can be used to
infer a function from observations and also to use it. This is particularly useful in
applications where the complexity of the data or task makes the design of such a function
by hand impractical.

Real life applications

The tasks to which artificial neural networks are applied tend to fall within the following
broad categories:
 • Function approximation, or regression analysis, including time series prediction
and modelling.
• Classification, including pattern and sequence recognition, novelty detection and
sequential decision making.
• Data processing, including filtering, clustering, blind signal separation and
compression.

Application areas include system identification and control (vehicle control, process
control), game-playing and decision making (backgammon, chess, racing), pattern
recognition (radar systems, face identification, object recognition, etc.), sequence
recognition (gesture, speech, handwritten text recognition), medical diagnosis, financial
applications, data mining (or knowledge discovery in databases, "KDD"), visualization
and e-mail spam filtering.

[edit] Neural network software

Main article: Neural network software Neural network software is used to simulate,
research, develop and apply artificial neural networks, biological neural networks and in
some cases a wider array of adaptive systems.

[edit] Learning paradigms

There are three major learning paradigms, each corresponding to a particular abstract
learning task. These are supervised learning, unsupervised learning and reinforcement
learning. Usually any given type of network architecture can be employed in any of those
tasks.

Supervised learning

In supervised learning, we are given a set of example pairs and the aim is to find a
function f in the allowed class of functions that matches the examples. In other words, we
wish to infer how the mapping implied by the data and the cost function is related to the
mismatch between our mapping and the data.

Unsupervised learning

In unsupervised learning we are given some data x, and a cost function which is to be
minimized which can be any function of x and the network's output, f. The cost function
is determined by the task formulation. Most applications fall within the domain of
estimation problems such as statistical modeling, compression, filtering, blind source
separation and clustering.

Reinforcement learning

In reinforcement learning, data x is usually not given, but generated by an agent's

interactions with the environment. At each point in time t, the agent performs an action yt
and the environment generates an observation xt and an instantaneous cost ct, according to
some (usually unknown) dynamics. The aim is to discover a policy for selecting actions
that minimises some measure of a long-term cost, i.e. the expected cumulative cost. The
environment's dynamics and the long-term cost for each policy are usually unknown, but
can be estimated. ANNs are frequently used in reinforcement learning as part of the
overall algorithm. Tasks that fall within the paradigm of reinforcement learning are
control problems, games and other sequential decision making tasks.

[edit] Learning algorithms

There are many algorithms for training neural networks; most of them can be viewed as a
straightforward application of optimization theory and statistical estimation.

Evolutionary computation methods, simulated annealing, expectation maximization and

non-parametric methods are among other commonly used methods for training neural
networks. See also machine learning.

Recent developments in this field also saw the use of particle swarm optimization and
other swarm intelligence techniques used in the training of neural networks.

[edit] Neural networks and neuroscience

Theoretical and computational neuroscience is the field concerned with the theoretical
analysis and computational modeling of biological neural systems. Since neural systems
are intimately related to cognitive processes and behaviour, the field is closely related to
cognitive and behavioural modeling.

The aim of the field is to create models of biological neural systems in order to
understand how biological systems work. To gain this understanding, neuroscientists
strive to make a link between observed biological processes (data), biologically plausible
mechanisms for neural processing and learning (biological neural network models) and
theory (statistical learning theory and information theory).

[edit] Types of models

Many models are used in the field, each defined at a different level of abstraction and
trying to model different aspects of neural systems. They range from models of the short-
term behaviour of individual neurons, through models of how the dynamics of neural
circuitry arise from interactions between individual neurons, to models of how behaviour
can arise from abstract neural modules that represent complete subsystems. These include
models of the long-term and short-term plasticity of neural systems and its relation to
learning and memory, from the individual neuron to the system level.

[edit] Current research

While initially research had been concerned mostly with the electrical characteristics of
neurons, a particularly important part of the investigation in recent years has been the
exploration of the role of neuromodulators such as dopamine, acetylcholine, and
serotonin on behaviour and learning.

Biophysical models, such as BCM theory, have been important in understanding

mechanisms for synaptic plasticity, and have had applications in both computer science
and neuroscience. Research is ongoing in understanding the computational algorithms
used in the brain, with some recent biological evidence for radial basis networks and
neural backpropagation as mechanisms for processing data.

[edit] Criticism

A common criticism of neural networks, particularly in robotics, is that they require a

large diversity of training for real-world operation. Dean Pomerleau, in his research
presented in the paper "Knowledge-based Training of Artificial Neural Networks for
Autonomous Robot Driving," uses a neural network to train a robotic vehicle to drive on
multiple types of roads (single lane, multi-lane, dirt, etc.). A large amount of his research
is devoted to (1) extrapolating multiple training scenarios from a single training
experience, and (2) preserving past training diversity so that the system does not become
overtrained (if, for example, it is presented with a series of right turns – it should not
learn to always turn right). These issues are common in neural networks that must decide
from amongst a wide variety of responses.

A. K. Dewdney, a former Scientific American columnist, wrote in 1997, "Although neural

nets do solve a few toy problems, their powers of computation are so limited that I am
surprised anyone takes them seriously as a general problem-solving tool." (Dewdney,
p.82)

Arguments against Dewdney's position are that neural nets have been successfully used to
solve many complex and diverse tasks, ranging from autonomously flying aircraft[2] to
detecting credit card fraud[3].

Technology writer Roger Bridgman commented on Dewdney's statements about neural

nets:

Neural networks, for instance, are in the dock not only because they have been hyped to high
heaven, (what hasn't?) but also because you could create a successful net without understanding
how it worked: the bunch of numbers that captures its behaviour would in all probability be "an
opaque, unreadable table...valueless as a scientific resource". In spite of his emphatic declaration
that science is not technology, Dewdney seems here to pillory neural nets as bad science when
most of those devising them are just trying to be good engineers. An unreadable table that a
useful machine could read would still be well worth having.[2]