CIMSpy

A CIM-based Model Exploratory Tool

CIMSpy is a standard-based model analysis and engineering tool designed to address the emerging open model exchange and information integration requirements in the power industry. Built upon Common Information Model (CIM) and its related IEC standards, CIMSpy provides comprehensive data engineering functions and rich user experience to help you understand and analyze your CIM-based power system models.

More specifically, CIMSpy is designed to provide an integrated data engineering environment in support of CIM-based model exchange, application integration, and information sharing. Users can load CIM-compliant models into the tool from various sources and perform a variety of data engineering functionalities, including model browsing, visualization, validation, editing, comparison, merging, partitioning, and incremental update. The engineered models can be further exported into various formats ready to be consumed by other CIM-compliant information infrastructures.

Designed as a model-driven enterprise application, CIMSpy provides a rich set of infrastructure and application modules that can be readily assembled or configured to meet various project needs, ranging from standard-based model exchange to centralized model management.

Architecturally, CIMSpy was built as a distributed enterprise application, enabling your CIM information to be shared within or among organizations. The standard release is configured as a desktop application to facilitate the installation and use on a local PC/laptop. The User Interface of CIMSpy is a rich client application, delivering high performance and interactive user experience. It offers many customization options, such as 8 color themes, 11 maps/views etc.

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Case Studies

CIMSpy is currently being leveraged by more than 80 grid coordinating organizations, transmission system operators, RTOs/ISOs, EMS/MMS vendors, and energy trading companies in support of multiple business practices.

Case A: CIM-Based Model Exchange

In support of CIM-based model exchanging, CIMdesk (a customized version of CIMSpy) was delivered to ENTSO-E and its 41 Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in 34 European countries in July 2009. Today passing CIMdesk validation is mandatory for TSOs to submit models to ENTSO-E.

Case B: External Network Modeling

Since 2010, some of the WECC Balancing Authorities have started the projects aimed to update their external EMS models using Peak RC’s West-wide System Model. CIMSpy provides comprehensive model analysis, engineering, and visualization functions, assisting project engineers to accomplish this challenging goal.

Case C: Exploratory Data Analysis

Analysts at energy trading companies rely on the powerful data analysis and visualization functions of CIMSpy to capture the patterns and insights from large and complex RTO data sets.

Case D: Real-Time Visualization

Schematic and geographical diagrams generated and maintained in CIMSpy have been successfully imported into utility real-time operational systems, providing much-needed situational awareness and decision support.

Key Features

User-Centered Design

CIMSpy puts the user, rather than the system, at the center, incorporating user concerns and advocacy from the beginning of the design process. It provides users a generic and user-centered framework, from which a variety of model-related custom solutions can be rapidly built to meet specific project requirements.

Model Driven Framework

CIMSpy separates business logic from business process and domain data from software architecture. Its business modules are fundamentally driven by a collection of metadata models. Designed as a model-driven framework, CIMSpy works with any versions of CIM and heterogeneous proprietary data models.

High Performance and Scalability

CIMSpy provides industry leading performance and scalability. It is capable of importing very large RTO/ISO CIM/XML files of GB size within a few minutes on a modern PC/laptop. Once model is loaded into CIMSpy workspace, model browsing becomes an instant effort, regardless of size of the loaded model.

Great Extensibility and Customizability

Realizing that it is infeasible to offer a “one-size-fit-all” solution to meet heterogeneous business requirements, CIMSpy provides a variety of mechanisms to enables users to customize and extend the tool to fit their special needs. Adding a new class/property, for example, can be easily accomplished by modifying the governing model profile.

Multi-Dimensional Data Presentation

CIMSpy transforms the domain model into a variety of presentation formats, including hierarchical, tabular, form, and graphical displays. It provides comprehensive model browsing and searching features to facilitate exploratory data analysis and help users seek the useful information from large volume of data.

Rich Data Visualization

CIMSpy leverages the cutting-edging data visualization techniques to help users understand data and gain insights. It transforms raw or processed datasets into different kinds of graphical charts, allowing users to visualize trends and abnormalities from complex datasets at a glance.

Broad Support for Model Sharing

CIMSpy offers broad engineering support for model sharing among utility organizations, including regional model merging and partition, model comparison, study case assembling, metadata-driven model transformation. The supported use cases ranges from external network modeling to synchronization of shared models.

Comprehensive Model Validation

CIMSpy provides both schema-driven and rule-based model validators, ensuring you receive the right data in the right format. It checks not only the standard conformance but also some domain-specific modeling constraints, such as those related to network topology modeling.

Schematic One-Line Auto-Generation

CIMSpy provides a state-of-the-art model visualization capability, enabling users to explore the model intuitively. In response to user's request, the tool auto-generates various types of schematic one-line diagrams to display the physical/electrical configurations of power grids at different levels.

Interactive User Experience

CIMSpy delivers users an interactive look-and-feel user experience. It yields the power of visualization to users, enabling users to explore the information at their own will. Additionally, it allows users to customize look and feel of the graphical displays and persist these customizations as a personal profile.

WYSIWYG Graphical Model Editing

The graphical model editing function of CIMSpy was designed to assist users to build and maintain the CIM-based power system models in a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get style. It provides advanced modeling features, such as templates and data entry wizards, enabling users to perform routine model maintenance effortlessly.

Visual Data Analytics

Designed to support BigData analytics, CIMSpy provides a rich set of infrastructural support and data mining techniques to help users seek business intelligence from large and multidimensional collections of information. Acting upon the findings, it creates data-driven visualizations to foster insight and enable knowledge discovery.

Standard-Based Diagram Exchange

CIMSpy supports schematic and geographical diagram exchange based on open industry standards, including IEC 61970-453 and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). The exported diagrams with embedded data links have been successfully imported into utility operational systems to enable real-time visualization.

Seamless Integration of Geographical and Schematic

CIMSpy seamlessly integrates geographical diagrams with schematic diagrams. While displaying power grid and its operation over wide geographical areas, it enables users to drill down into a substation to find highly detailed information. Additionally, CIMSpy provides a variety of mechanisms and wizards to facilitate visual information search.