Efficient State Synchronization in Distributed Electrical Grid Systems Using Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types

Modern electrical grids are evolving towards distributed architectures, necessitating efficient and reliable state synchronization mechanisms to maintain structural and functional consistency. This paper investigates the application of Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) for representing and synchronizing the states of Distributed Electrical Grid Systems (DEGS). We present a general structure for DEGS based on CRDTs, focusing on the Convergent Replicated Data Type (CvRDT) model with delta state propagation to optimize communication overhead. The Observed-Remove Set (ORSet) and Last-Writer-Wins Register (LWW-Register) are utilized to handle concurrent updates and ensure that only the most recent state changes are retained. An actor-based framework, "Vigilant Hawk," leveraging the Akka toolkit, was developed to simulate the asynchronous and concurrent nature of DEGS. Each electrical grid node is modeled as an independent actor with isolated state management, facilitating scalability and fault tolerance. Through a series of experiments involving 100 nodes under varying latency degradation coefficients (LDK), we examined the impact of network conditions on state synchronization efficiency. The simulation results demonstrate that CRDTs effectively maintain consistency and deterministic behavior in DEGS, even with increased network latency and node disturbances. An effective LDK range was identified (LDK effective=2,4), where the network remains stable without significant delays in state propagation. The linear relationship between the full state distribution time (FSDT) and LDK indicates that the system can scale horizontally without introducing complex communication overhead. The findings affirm that using CRDTs for state synchronization enhances the resilience and operational efficiency of distributed electrical grids. The deterministic and conflict-free properties of CRDTs eliminate the need for complex concurrency control mechanisms, making them suitable for real-time monitoring and control applications. Future work will focus on addressing identified limitations, such as optimizing message routing based on network topology and incorporating security measures to protect state information in critical infrastructure systems.