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ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77

International Conference on Recent Advancement in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, RAAR

2016, 10-12 November 2016, Bhubaneswar, India

Phasor Estimation and Modelling Techniques of

PMU- A Review
Prabhash Nanda¹*, C.K.Panigrahi², Abhijit Dasgupta³
¹Research Scholar, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, India
²´³Professor, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, India

Abstract

The values of voltage / current signal at various places in a power network are measured by Phasor Measurement Unit(PMU).
The PMU's work on the phasor values of the data collected using Phasor estimation technique. This mechanism is essential for
analysis and interpretation of collected data in a correct manner. Therefore, a Phasor estimation process has a lot of importance in
design of control mechanism and various protection systems to be implemented.
Numbers of PMUs are being installed across the world for different applications such as post fault analysis, state estimation and
protection of power system. Since the cost of PMUs is very high, they are placed optimally in the power system such that
complete power system is observable. In this study, PMU along with techniques used for phasor measurement has been reviewed.
Some of the used phasor estimation techniques viz. zero crossing, DFT and SDFT are described to compute magnitude and phase
value of input signal.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2017 The Authors.Published by Elsevier Ltd.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility ofthe organizing committee of RAAR 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of RAAR 2016.
Keywords:Smart Grid (SG);Phasor Measurement Unit(PMU);Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS);Global Positioning System (GPS);
Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT).

1. Introduction

In a modern day power system, to gain more reliability Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) are being built

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 8763668801; .

E-mail address:prabhashn70@gmail.com

1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of RAAR 2016.
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.052
 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77 65

around the world to have continuous monitoring of the system where Synchrophasors are the vital part. Phasor
Measurement Units (PMU) are widely used in the day to day operation of contemporary power systems. PMU gives
phasor values of voltage and current which are GPS time stamped. Grid monitoring in real-time is essential for
ensuring stable operation of the grid. PMU help in making the grid completely observable, i.e., the voltages, currents
and power flow at each and every bus are available for complete analysis of the power system.PMU provides
monitoring of a large area grid network and thereby blackout conditions can be avoided. Hence, it is considered as
key element in the Smart Grid(SG) system. Power system monitoring, analysis, protection and control is done using
PMU.
The main objective of this paper is to review the work already attempted by various research personnel and
provide a consolidated information for Phasor Measurement Units (PMU), phasor estimation techniques and the
technology involved for its applications in accordance with IEEE C37.118 Standard..

2. Literature Survey

Presently, countries around the world are fully dependent on electric power supplies for their routine activities
from a power system which is considered as very unreliable till date. The motivation to make the power system
Smarter and reliable has attracted many researchers to have further development in this area. PMU is one of the key
elements to make the Grid smarter. The data gathered by PMU are time stamped i.e. all data gathered from different
PMU's are time synchronized which helps them to be used in checking the status of a large interconnected power
system. Therefore, PMU can measure voltage and current at any instant at any location in a power transmission
system. Time stamping of the PMU data is done by Global positioning System (GPS) [2,3]. This literature survey is
conducted on different available work related to this subject.
Phadke A.G. et. al.[1] in 1983 came up with concept for phase estimation by using Discrete Fourier
Transformation(DFT). He mentioned that how the conception of PMU came from Symmetrical Component
Distance Relay(SCDR) technology.
S.K. Soonee et. al.[2] member of PGCIL, in 2008 explained the need of Phase angle measurement and
synchrophasor technology in Indian electric Power systems for monitoring of a wide area grid. They reiterated that
the difference of phase angle between the nodes can be a measure of static stress or instability across the grid. With
respect to a predetermined threshold limit, Phase angle can be measured. The awareness of operations in gird
system, in Indian context, improved by the approach suggested by the authors.
In 2011, Bindeshwar Singh et. al[3] in his paper explained about the relevance of PMU in the grid. The review
work covered the R&D work in the field of application of PMU in power system control, monitoring and protection.
Rohini Pradip Haridas[4]in 2003 explained about the difference in technology of SCADA and PMU. The paper
describes about various continuing research, progress and implementation of PMU. The basic difference between
SCADA and PMU measurement was well explained.
Phadke A.G et. al. [5](2006) provided the history of PMU and mentioned about their commercial availability as
early as in early 1990's. By that time, their use in protection and control was theoretically established. However,
their use was limited to digital system disturbance recorders (DSDRs).
Zhenyu Huang et. al., Phadke et.al.[6,7] (2008) had mentioned that after 1996 and 2003 blackouts in US, PMU
technology was given high importance and they were recommended for safeguarding and better control in the power
system. As a result North American Synchrophasor Project (NASPI) was started. Thus history was created when
NASPI could do the wide-area monitoring on real-time basis.
Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO)[8] in December,2013 outlined the Initiatives of
synchrophasors in India. An overview of synchrophasor pilot projects installed till December 2013, were described.
The status of each project was discussed. In all, 60 PMUs were installed at pan India level which included three
numbers by independent power producers (IPPs). 14 PMU pilot projects were implemented in Northern India.
India Smart Grid Forum(ISGF) is an initiative by Ministry of Power, Government of India for progress and
development in Smart Grid technologies with Indian perspective. International Conference and Exhibition on Smart
Grids and Smart Cities is organized as a part of India Smart Grid Week (ISGW)[9] every year. The main objective
of ISGW is to present India as a significant market for smart grid and smart city technologies, goods and services at
66 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77

a global platform. This event provides exposure for Indian utilities, regulators and policymakers to have latest in
smart grid technologies, solutions and emerging trends.
US Department of Energy [10] in 2013 discussed about the success of Synchrophasor technology and its online
& offline deployment in its recovery act smart grid program referring to the America recovery and reinvestment Act
of 2009. Online applications included wide area monitoring for frequency stability, current stability , state
estimation and detection of any oscillation. Even during offline period PMU can do analysis of any fault/event or
visualization of data collected at a later stage.
G. Gajjar et. al.[11] (2011) expanded PMU application to a distributed system where various small functions
worked separately . The Pros and Cons of PMU were taken from their various applications. Eventually, when the
requirement of expanding the PMU network was felt, the question about its different functionality was studied for
the applications and synchronized phasor measurement characteristic.
In 2010, De La Ree et. al.[12] provided an introduction to the PMU and WAMS technology, data acquired by
them and discussed the use of such measurements for improved protection, monitoring, and control of power
networks .PMU’s were manufactured commercially by various international manufacturers and were installed
worldwide. With major blackouts taking place at different places, the importance of data provided by PMU’s was
acknowledged and thereafter, PMU installation in transmission lines of power networks worldwide has become an
imperative action to move towards a smarter grid.
Kezunovic M. et al [13,16] (2002, 2010) explained about the amalgamation of time interrelated information and
data captured from various sources such as PMU's, SCADA or any other devices viz. protective relays and digital
fault recorders. The use of such data and information location of fault, alarm processing and cascading post event
analysis is being described by the author.
W.U. Rahman et al [14] (2012) explained about the new solutions provided by PMU for wide area network The
information about a particular node towards control, monitoring and protection needs to be communicated to a
control station where all information should be in time synchronized form so as to neutralize the time difference
between information. By this way of time synchronization of all the field data, a complete real-time picture of the
power system can be achieved.
In 2006 at CIGRE Croatian National Symposium of Power Management Cavtat, Damir Novosel and Khoi Vu
[15] gave various PMUs applications. They mentioned that the PMU's could provide real time data to power system
working staff which was needed to avoid voltage and dynamic instability. This symposium provided a platform to
mark the advantages of PMUs for real time analysis of the field data and other applications thereafter.
IEEE standards C37.118.1-2011 mentions about the synchronized phasor measurements for power systems
[17].It said that PMU can be a stand-alone physical unit. The standard defined Synchrophasor, frequency, ROCOF
measurement for all type of working situation and also specified the methods to calculate the data acquired from
field for testing of the IEEE standards under steady-state and dynamic conditions. Time stamping were done using
GPS.
Phadke et. al.[18] (2008) explained the development and emerging applications of the Synchrophasor technology.
The authors explained the basics of Synchrophasor and phase difference with GPS and UTC time synchronization.
The engineers would find the explanations convenient for understanding and analyzing the synchronized phasor
measurement systems which will result in better monitoring, protection, and control.
D. Dotta et. al[19]. presented a MATLAB based PMU simulator. The aim of the paper was to develop a software
in MATLAB which can be used to realize the performance of algorithms related to PMU's and capture the factors
which affect the performance of PMU. This software has helped researchers, academicians and professionals to
grasp the importance of phasor estimation techniques carried out by PMU's. The estimation technique simulation
was compared with reference and phasor from real PMU's. The result was validated by comparing the simulator
performance using simulated and actual data.
D.G. Hart et. al. [20] (2001) gave the fundamental PMU design and explained the working of PMUs in the real
time framework with GPS. Broadly, PMU have three basic unit - Clock Synchronization Unit, Measurement Unit,
Data Transmission Unit .
Liang Du et. al. [21] explained that the effectiveness and accuracy of PMU's measurement results are directly
influenced by measurement unit. The paper explained a measurement unit of PMU by using DFT phasor
measurement algorithms and a main processor having a DSP chip.
 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77 67

Vinay K. Ingle et. al. [23] (2012) explained DSP based algorithms implementation to MATLAB. This has helped
for writing a software programming code for DSP technique in MATLAB.
Tadej TASNER et. al. [24] presented software tools for researchers and scientists to suit their work. They
explained that software's like LabVIEW and MATLAB are used in the areas of signal analysis and simulation of
dynamic systems. In 2012, the authors compared LabVIEW and MATLAB tools based on practical performed by
using four techniques and finally concluded that MATLAB is more efficient tool in evaluating equations.
V. Krishna et. al. [25] explained about the design of PMU based on DSP. For this proposed system, the algorithm
used was Recursive Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) algorithm. The authors used LabVIEW software for
simulation of the proposed algorithm and to obtain the results thereafter.
Kang H. et. al. [26] (2009) introduced a new tool for simulating the data acquired by PMU. The tool provided the
advantage of testing and studying operations in software before being installed in the field. This simulation
application allowed testing of Ethernet to assess data load and propagation delay of PMU data.
Mark Adamiak and William Premerlani [27] examined various hurdles faced in implementing measurements like
the sensor errors, component of off-nominal frequency, errors in time synchronization of data and harmonics in the
system. The paper presented simulations for the various systems transient signals and their output phasor responses.
A. G. Phadke [28] explained in the paper, the possible format to transmit the phasor measurements data from a
wide area by synchronized sampling. Various methods of synchronizing signals were explained by the author. It also
described the importance of time in synchronized sampling.
Milos Sedlacek [29] explained in the basic concept for finding the phasor using zero crossing. The paper also
mentioned that unless there is a reference signal, zero crossing phase of a signal cannot be computed .
Sourav Mondal et. al.[30] explained with the help of LabVIEW simulation, the Non-recursive and recursive DFT
phasor estimation algorithm and compared the result between recursive and non-recursive DFT using a test signal.
Proakis et. al.[31] explained the principles, algorithm and application of digital signal processing. Discrete
Fourier Transform(DFT) and its implementation to change a signal from one domain to other domain is briefly
explained.
Eric Jacobsen et.al.[32] described a sliding DFT(SDFT) process in which computation for finding result is less
when compared to DFT. For N point output computations required for SDFT is N as compare to (N²) for DFT. In
SDFT, for finding the result, the previous value of SDFT must be known.
Gopakumar et.al.[33] in 2015 proposed a support vector machine based fault-localization methodology to
accurately detect and localize any type of transmission line faults for the entire smart power grid. This methodology
use frequency-domain analysis of the equivalent voltage phasor angle and equivalent current phasor angle using fast
Fourier transform to identifies the transmission line fault in smart power grid and precisely pinpoints the bus to
which the faulty branch is connected.
In 2015, Mousavian, Seyedamirabbas et.al.[34] proposed a two-phase investment decision model for the optimal
placement of PMUs by formulating an integer linear programming problem considering N − 1 observability
reliability requirement . Results of this proposed system are validated on several IEEE test systems which show that
the proposed approach gives enhancement to the methods already available for the optimal placement of PMUs.
Alves, Guilherme O., et al.,[35] in 2016 presented a new methodology to solve for the state estimation problem in
radial distribution networks in an IEEE conference on Compatibility, Power Electronics and Power Engineering.
The state estimation process was formulated as a constrained optimization problem in which the non-monitored
loads are represented by a set of bounded inequality constraints. In addition to currents and voltages from the
PMUs, the zero current injections at the no-load buses were measured to be used in the phasor estimation technique
called weighted least square measurements errors. The methodology was validated by authors through simulations
on some IEEE radial test feeders.
Kumar,V et.al.[36] in a 2016 IEEE Transaction on Power Systems had proposed a probabilistic framework based
on proximity to instability to rank the generators/load buses in the order of vulnerability. Subsequently, the authors
proposed a binary integer linear programming formulation to identify the optimal locations for PMU placement
considering both stability and topological aspects. Results of the proposal on IEEE 39-bus system and 246-bus
equivalent system of an Indian southern grid were presented to illustrate the proposed approach.
Shiroei, M. et.al.[37] proposed in International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems (2016) about the
utilization of data measured by PMU's for low-order dynamic model for power systems stability studies. Here , use
68 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77

of PMU has been extended for estimating second-order equivalent of synchronous machine. Further, a new
approach for estimation of two-machine and single machine infinite bus (SMIB) equivalent systems were presented
by authors for analysis of electromechanical oscillations.
Chakrabarti et.al.[38] in 2016 IEEE International Conference on Control, Measurement and Instrumentation
(CMI) presented a mechanism to use PMU data within a particular frequency range for continuous observation of
the interconnected power system . Since, authors have used rate of change of frequency as main detector of
disturbances in interconnected grid in Gaussian plane, the proposal facilitate the continuous observation and
protection of the system in a more efficient manner thereby minimizing damages of the system equipments due to
sudden abnormal behavior in an interconnected electrical power system.
N. H. Abbasy and H. M. Ismail (2009) had proposed a unified approach for power system state estimation to
determine the optimal number and locations of PMUs by formulating a binary integer linear programming (BILP),
in which the binary decision variables (0, 1) determine whether to install a PMU at a bus keeping in consideration
the system observability and economy. The proposed unified approach consider the impacts of single or multiple
PMU loss into the decision strategy of the optimal PMU allocation problem.
B. Gou, in 2008 had proposed a generalized integer linear programming formulation for optimal PMU placement
under different cases of redundant PMU placement, full observability and incomplete observability. The proposed
formulation considering the situations with and without zero injection measurements, shows that the problem of
optimal PMU placement can be modelled linearly and can be solved by integer linear programming.
Mishra, Chetan, et al.(2016)[41] uses binary particle swarm optimization technique to minimize number of
substations in which PMU's are installed. PMU installations were proposed so that all the voltage levels are
observable subject to various practical constraints. Standard IEEE systems had been used to explain the technique.

3. Phasor Measurement Unit(PMU)

Phasor Measurement Unit (PMUs) is a monitoring device to measure the electrical waves on an electricity grid
using common time source for checking the condition of the grid. PMU gives the data as a Phasor which is a
complex number representation of both magnitude and phase angle of the sine waves found in power present at a
particular node. It helps to create a reliable power transmission and distribution infrastructure [13]. A PMU devices
that allows both magnitude and Phasor measurements at the same time are called synchrophasor. Normally, PMU
data are received from generally scattered locations in a power system network . These data are time stamped for
synchronization by a common time source therefore they are real-time data from remote locations on the grid. The
voltage and current data measured by the various PMU's are phasors and are time stamped as mentioned earlier,
hence are synchrophasors. Because these phasors are truly synchronized, synchronized comparison of two quantities
is possible in real time [10].
PMU can do monitoring, analysis, protection and control of a Power System. For accurate information of the
grid, GPS time signal are used for time stamping [10]. The importance of PMUs is to generate phasor data at
locations separated by thousands of miles, in a space of 1µs. This enables the utilities to utilize the gathered
information to check the power system condition and take action quickly to any system eventuality in a dynamic
fashion having a large number of PMUs installed in the field. This is possible due to ability of PMU's to compare
shapes of AC readings anywhere and everywhere on the grid [14].Therefore, inclusion of PMUs in the transmission
systems and major sub-stations will be critical and essential for achieving a smarter grid.
PMU can measure Phase voltage and phase current, positive sequence parameters and frequency, all in
tandem[12]. Online applications of PMU’s include monitoring of a large area for stability of frequency and current ,
detection of any oscillation in the grid. While Offline applications includes post event analysis, validating model and
Data compilation [10,13]. Post-event analysis, recreates the events that could have happened after any power system
disturbance by taking data from data recorders placed at various locations in the grid so as to take corrective
measures for the future [15].

3.1. Synchrophasor

A phasor is a complex quantity having magnitude as well as phase angle of the sinusoidal waves present in the
 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77 69

electrical signal. Synchronization of all the Phasor measurements is called "synchrophasors". A sinusoidal signal in
mathematical form is given in equation 3.1.
x(t ) Xm cos Zt  M (3.1)
Where, Xm = magnitude of the sinusoidal waveform,
ω= 2 *π* f where f is the frequency
φ= Angular starting point for the waveform
Since , relationship with the corresponding RMS value is desired, a scale factor of 1/√2 is multiplied to the
magnitude. Thus, we get the phasor as:
Xm Xm jM Xm
X ‘M e (cos M  j sin M ) Xr  jXi (3.2)
2 2 2

Synchrophasor use coordinated universal time (UTC) as an absolute time reference. Adding in the UTC-based
absolute time mark, a synchrophasor is defined as the magnitude and angle of a fundamental frequency waveform as
referenced to a cosine signal as illustrated in Figure 3.1[17,18].One pulse per second signal (PPS) generated by
some very precise clocks is taken as a reference for phasor measurement. If the peak of the measured waveform
coincides with the PPS signal as shown in first case of the figure 3.1, the phase difference is zero hence the phasor

Figure 3.1 Synchrophasor definition

representation becomes
(3.3)
Xm
X
2
While in the second case, where the phase difference between the reference peak and the measured signal peak is 60
degrees, the phasor representation is given by:

Xm  j S 3 (3.4)
X e
2
Since, the power system rarely operates at nominal frequency, we can consider that f ≠ f 0 and f < 2f0, where f0 is the
nominal/fundamental frequency of a sinusoidal waveform. The phasor, thus observed, will contain a uniform level
and phase angles of the phasor sequence { X0, X1, X2, X3, … Xn } which change at the following rate which is
represented as in figure 3.2 [17,18], where, T0 = 1/ f0
23( f  f 0 ) u T0
70 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77

Figure 3.2 A sinusoid waveform with increasing phase angle

3.2. Basic PMU Structure

Fig.3.3 shows the main components (or functions) necessary to compute Phasors by taking reference of GPS timing
signal with power system values. PMU is basically a monitoring device, which helps in checking the power
condition in a power system by measuring voltage and current phasor alongwith frequency at a particular node
[19,20].The basic structure of PMU(figure 3.3) consist of Synchronization Unit, Measurement Unit and Data

Figure 3.3 Basic PMU Structure

Transmission Unit [42]. Clock Synchronization Unit consists of GPS receivers and phase-locked oscillators for
providing the sampling clock to the Measurement Unit. The complete network requires rapid data transfer within the
frequency of sampling of the phasor data. GPS time stamping can provide a theoretical accuracy of synchronization
better than 1micro-second [3,20]. A control system is provided to generates an output signal for comparing it with
the phase of an input signal. This control signal is generated by an electronic circuit having a variable frequency
oscillator and a phase detector. This phase detector compares the phases of generated signal and the input periodic
signal. The variable frequency oscillator helps in matching the phases of the two signals.
The Measurement Unit has three components i.e. Anti-aliasing filters, Analog-to-Digital Convertor and Phasor
measurement Unit/ Processor.
An anti-aliasing filter ensures that all the analog signals have the same phase shift and attenuation thus assuring that
the phase angle differences and relative magnitudes of the different signals are unchanged. Anti-aliasing filters made
up of an analog front end and a digital decimation filter are far more stable as far as aging and temperature
variations are concerned. IEEE C37.118 standards have made it mandatory to use the filter for avoiding any aliasing
errors [21]. Out of various filters, Butterworth BPF is preferred due to its flat response in pass-band as compared to
other filters (figure 3.4)[22].
 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77 71

Figure 3.4 Responses of various Anti-aliasing filters

After passing through Anti-aliasing filter, ADC converts the analog signal into a digital signal[43]. ADC is a device
that converts a continuous time and amplitude analog signal to a discrete time and discrete amplitude signal with a
pre defined sampling speed which depends on the sampling rate of the converter. Therefore, the output of ADC is a
sequence of digital values [3, 20]. PMU’s are deployed on a large scale to have more visibility of the network
system by use of these synchronized measurements. To achieve such large scale deployment of PMU’s, the PMU
function are integrated into modern technology which uses relays using microprocessors .
To check and test the algorithms meant for the phasor estimation techniques, simulation software's like MATLAB
or LabVIEW software can be used.[23][24].
Finally, the data received from the Measurement Unit with the help of a MODEM (modulator-demodulator) is
transmitted by the Data Transmission Unit. A MODEM modulates as well as demodulates a signal. At receiving
end, an analog carrier signal is modulated and encoded with digital information before transmission while at
receiving end signal is demodulated to decode the transmitted information. MODEM can be used for transmitting
more than one analog signals at a time[3,20].

3.3. Phasor Estimation Techniques

Phasor are complex number that represents both the magnitude and phase angle and are commonly used for
representing sinusoidal voltage signal in a AC network(figure 3.5).

Figure 3.5 Sinusoid signal and its phasor

72 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77

Phasor measurements that occur at the same time are called "synchrophasors". A synchrophasor is the metered
value whereas the PMU is the metering device. The stability issues in a grid can be monitored by monitoring and
measurement of these voltage phasor in real time so that operators can respond to any eventuality of fault in time.
The behaviour of the power system can be well described by phasor even in case of instable condition of the power
system. For example, when the voltage and current signals along with the frequency are not in steady state i.e. away
from their nominal value during power swings and electromechanical oscillations, phasor may be useful in
describing the network performance. The variations found can be treated as a sequence of steady state conditions
[21, 25].
Phasor represents both the magnitude and the angle of a signal. The magnitude of the phasor is equivalent to the
RMS value of the amplitude of the sinusoid signal while the phase angle of the phasor is arbitrary, depending upon
the choice of axis t = 0. The distance between the sinusoidal signal’s peak and a given specified reference fixed in
time domain(such that time t= 0) is termed as phase angle [25,27,28]. The phase angle is generally represented by φ
and expressed using a angular measure like degrees or radians as shown in figure 3.5. Therefore, the value of φ is
positive if it's on the right side of the peak value and vice versa[25]. Different methods for phasor estimation as
found in the literature [19] are mentioned below:
x Zero Crossing
x Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)
x Sliding Discrete Fourier Transform (SDFT)
x Least Error Squares
x Kalman Filters
x Demodulation
x Phasor measurement angle changing
Phasor estimation techniques broadly used are Zero crossing, DFT and Sliding DFT. Therefore, these are
explained in detail and rest of the estimation techniques are given in brief.

3.3.1 Zero Crossing

The zero-crossing technique is one of the methods enabling to evaluate the delay time of propagating waves. The
main idea of this technique is that using some threshold level the half period of the signal exceeding this level is
determined. This is used with phase difference estimation algorithm. The time instance at which the measured and
reference signal crosses the zero level is estimated for finding the phasor estimation. However, in order to apply it
correctly all peculiarities of the method should be investigated, possible sources of the errors like additive noise and
harmonic components are analysed and the expected level of them is estimated before detection of zero level
crossing [29].
In this method , the measured sinusoid signal is multiplied by a reference signal of same frequency. By this
method, mean value of the product of the measured signal and the reference signal is found. The phase difference of
these two signals is found by using –ƒିଵ ሺ ‫ݔ‬௡ Ȁ‡‫ݔ‬௡ ሻfunction. In a similar way, the phase difference of the
second signal with respect to the reference signal is found. The difference between the phase shifts of the two
signals with respect to the reference signal is the measured phase difference. Thus the phase difference between two
buses is given as:
M M 2  M1 (3.5)

Phase difference between two synchronized 50 Hz reference signals generated by two buses at two remote
stations is then computed by sending the measured delays to a central point[29]. The main advantage of this
technique is that this zero-crossing instant does not depend on the amplitude of the signal.

3.3.2 DFT

The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is the equivalent of the continuous Fourier Transform for signals known
only at N instants separated by sample times T(i.e. a finite sequence of data). DFT transforms an input signal from
 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77 73

time domain to frequency domain while keeping all the information intact. If one domain is known, other can be
calculated. Recursive and non-recursive are two types of algorithms devised by using DFT. The non-recursive
algorithm is based on the theory where phasor estimate are calculated afresh and do not take reference of the data
from previous window [30].
Equation 3.6 below mention a waveform with frequency ω [29].
(3.6)
x(t ) 2 X (sin Zt  M )
The above sinusoid is represented in Phasor form by referring to equation 3.2 as
jM (3.7)
X Xme Xm(cos M  j sin M )
If, x(t ) is sampled M times per cycle of the 50 Hz signal then the sample set { xm} is produced as given in
equation below:
2Sm
xm 2 sin(  M) (3.8)
M

Then DFT of sinusoid ‫ݔ‬ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ in time domain mentioned above in equation 3.8, can be calculated using equation
below [31].
k
1  j 2Sm
¦
M 1
M
X (k ) m 0
x ( m)e
M (3.9)
The frequency domain, X(k) has two parts, real and imaginary . While in polar notation, Mag X[ ] gives the
amplitude, while Phase X[ ] is the measure of phase angle of the signal. The equations below gives the relation
between the rectangular and polar notation:

MagX (k ) (Re X (k )) 2  (Im X (k )) 2 (3.10)

Im X (k )
Phase tan 1 (3.11)
Re X (k )

To extract the fundamental frequency component from a signal corrupted with other frequency components, DFT
of { xm} obtained as given by equation below:
2 2Sm 2 2Sm
¦ ¦
M 1 M 1
Xm m 0
xm cos( ) j m 0
xm sin( ) (3.12)
M M M M

On the other hand, recursive algorithm takes reference of the data from preceding window for computation[30].
For the sinusoid given in equation (3.6), the fundamental frequency component is given in equation(3.13) below
[29]:
2
X m 1 Xm  ( xm  M  xm)e  jmT (3.13)
M
3.3.3 Sliding DFT

The Sliding DFT algorithm provides frequency domain updates on a per sample basis with significantly fewer
computations than the DFT or FFT for each update. Basically, the SDFT comes from the observation that for two
successive time instants, say n-1 and n, the windowed sequences x(n-1) and x(n) contain essentially identical
elements. The striking similarity between x(n-1) and x(n) is exploited in the SDFT for computational efficiency. The
sliding DFT (SDFT) algorithm uses DFT shifting theorem or the circular shift property to performs an N-point
DFT(N-DFT)on two consecutive windowed sequences x(n-1) and x(n) . The values of SDFT are computed from the
74 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77

result of the previous DFT directly [32]. Therefore, following the DFT property, if N-DFT of x(n) is X (k ) then
N-DFT then the DFT of that sequence circularly shifted by one sample becomes X (k ) ‡୨ଶ஠୩Ȁ୒ where k is the DFT
bin of interest. Thus it is concluded that the spectral components of a shifted time sequence are equal to the original
(unshifted) spectral components multiplied by ‡୨ଶ஠୩Ȁ୒ [44].By relating the DFTs of two successive windowed
sequence x(n  1) and x(n) , each of length N, SDFT can be computed using equation 3.14.
j 2Sk
X k ( n) [ X k ( n  1)  x( n  N )  x(n)]e N
(3.14)

Where X k (n) and X k (n  1) are the two successive spectral components of Sliding DFT. For the N-point
output, the computations done is N for the sliding DFT as compare to (N²) for the DFT and (N log (N²) ) for the FFT
[32].
3.3.4 Least Error Squares

This method of phasor estimation is a method of regression analysis to approximate solution of the over determined
systems i.e. number of equations are more than unknowns. In this approach, the overall solution minimizes the sum
of the squares of errors made in the results of each equation. By this method, a good estimation of parameter can be
found which fits the function, f(x), of a set of data, ‫ݔ‬ଵ ǡ ‫ݔ‬ଶ ǡ ǥ ǥ Ǥ ‫ݔ‬௡ so that the estimated function has to deviate the
least from f(x).
Mathematically,[45] it is presented as ܵ‫ ݉ݑ‬ൌ σ௜ୀ௡ ଶ
௜ୀଵ ‫ݎ‬௜ where, ‫ݎ‬௜ ൌ ‫ݒ‬௜ െ ݂ሺ‫ݔ‬௜ ሻ is the residual i.e. the difference
between the actual data and the regression line. Here, n different parameters are chosen for f(x), so that the
approximated function can best fit the data set. In the graph below (figure- 3.6)for example, residual ܴଷ is given by
ܴଷ ൌ ܻଷ െ ݂ሺܺଷ ሻand finally this method will minimize sum of square of each deviation(lines in red) i.e. (ܴଵଶ +ܴଶଶ ൅
ܴଷଶ ൅ ܴସଶ ൅ ܴହଶ ) should be least.

Figure 3.6 Least Error Squares method

3.3.5 Kalman Filters

A Kalman filter is an optimal estimator which chooses the best solution from indirect, inaccurate and uncertain
observations data. These are more suitable for noise rejection but are slow compared with the other methods.
 Prabhash Nanda et al. / Energy Procedia 109 (2017) 64 – 77 75

These filters are convenient form for online real time processing and easy to formulate and implement. Applications
includes, Determination of planet orbit parameters from limited earth observations, Tracking targets such as aircraft,
missiles etc. using RADAR.

3.3.6 Demodulation

Demodulation is the extraction of original information from a modulated carrier wave. The signal output from a
demodulator can be any type of signal, audio, video or digital. The main idea is to multiply the scalar input with a
sine and cosine signal with a known frequency . The drawback of this method is that its sensible to large negative
sequence component.

3.3.7 Phasor measurement angle changing

This method is based on the approximation that only positive sequence is used for phasor estimation. This method
gives satisfactory results under large frequency variations conditions and therefore finds its use in commercial
PMUs.

4. Summary

A detailed literature review from International and national journals indicates that, research work is already been
taken by various researchers towards various estimation techniques involved in collection of phasor values of the
data collected using PMU . These techniques are going to value add the smart technology of PMU in our present
power system. The present work can be summarized as a review work which takes into consideration PMU along
with techniques used for phasor measurement. The phasor estimation techniques such as zero crossing, DFT and
SDFT has been elaborately described to compute magnitude and phase value of input signal while rest of the
techniques are mentioned briefly. Up gradation of present grid towards Smart Grid depends on the advancement in
PMU amongst other constituent parts like smart meter, distributed generation, communication system (ICT)[46].

4.1. Future Scope

The challenges at present that can be summarized from the review work can be taken up for future studies. The
research on phasor estimation techniques can be done in future on following directions :
x By increasing the Sampling rate.
x Non-uniform sampling can be used
x Phasor estimation techniques other than discussed here which may be more efficient.

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