This thesis aims to develop a reference design of an online security system approach embedded in a power electronic controller for cybersecurity purposes. Cybersecurity in power electronics focuses on reducing vulnerabilities in the system, where most reside in the communication with the hardware devices. Although methods to secure communications lessen the probability and effects of cyber-attacks, discovering vulnerabilities is inevitable. This thesis attempts to provide a fail-safe approach to securing the system by targeting the safety of the power-electronic controller. This approach applies an additional security layer in case of a malicious or accidental controller firmware malfunction.
The online security system is embedded in a controller board consisting of three main hardware components described in this thesis: Serial Communication Interface, Digital Signal Processors, and Field Programmable Gate Array. This security system consists of a real-time emulation and Hot-Patching approach to validate the power electronic controller firmware. This thesis will describe the fundamentals of real-time Hardware-In-Loop emulations and Hot-Patching and evaluate their combined contribution in securing this hardware controller. Under a controlled experiment, purposefully harmful firmware will be loaded and patched on the controller board to evaluate the efficacy of the controller malfunction detection. Parallel to the firmware validation process, the controller will continuously control a power electronics inverter with a known valid firmware. Conducting additional real-time test scenarios will demonstrate the efficacy of the emulation and Hot-Patch. The results from this experimental setup will establish the conclusions drawn, followed by recommendations for future work and discussion of enhancements.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis aims to develop a reference design of an online security system approach embedded in a power electronic controller for cybersecurity purposes. Cybersecurity in power electronics focuses on reducing vulnerabilities in the system, where most reside in the communication with the hardware devices. Although methods to secure communications lessen the probability and effects of cyber-attacks, discovering vulnerabilities is inevitable. This thesis attempts to provide a fail-safe approach to securing the system by targeting the safety of the power-electronic controller. This approach applies an additional security layer in case of a malicious or accidental controller firmware malfunction. </p> <p>The online security system is embedded in a controller board consisting of three main hardware components described in this thesis: Serial Communication Interface, Digital Signal Processors, and Field Programmable Gate Array. This security system consists of a real-time emulation and Hot-Patching approach to validate the power electronic controller firmware. This thesis will describe the fundamentals of real-time Hardware-In-Loop emulations and Hot-Patching and evaluate their combined contribution in securing this hardware controller. Under a controlled experiment, purposefully harmful firmware will be loaded and patched on the controller board to evaluate the efficacy of the controller malfunction detection. Parallel to the firmware validation process, the controller will continuously control a power electronics inverter with a known valid firmware. Conducting additional real-time test scenarios will demonstrate the efficacy of the emulation and Hot-Patch. The results from this experimental setup will establish the conclusions drawn, followed by recommendations for future work and discussion of enhancements. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Soria Pearson, Estefano"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["McCann, Roy A.","Farnell, Chris"],"advisors":["Mantooth, H. Alan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:59:40Z","subjects":["grid-connected devices","cybersecurity","grid reliability","cyber attacks","digital twins","vulnerabilities","Hardware-In-Loop (HIL)","Electrical and Electronics","Signal Processing","Systems and Communications","VLSI and Circuits, Embedded and Hardware Systems"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4230","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["McCann, Roy A.","Farnell, Chris"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Mantooth, H. Alan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Soria Pearson, Estefano"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["grid-connected devices","cybersecurity","grid reliability","cyber attacks","digital twins","vulnerabilities","Hardware-In-Loop (HIL)","Electrical and Electronics","Signal Processing","Systems and Communications","VLSI and Circuits, Embedded and Hardware Systems"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4230"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis aims to develop a reference design of an online security system approach embedded in a power electronic controller for cybersecurity purposes. Cybersecurity in power electronics focuses on reducing vulnerabilities in the system, where most reside in the communication with the hardware devices. Although methods to secure communications lessen the probability and effects of cyber-attacks, discovering vulnerabilities is inevitable. This thesis attempts to provide a fail-safe approach to securing the system by targeting the safety of the power-electronic controller. This approach applies an additional security layer in case of a malicious or accidental controller firmware malfunction.
The online security system is embedded in a controller board consisting of three main hardware components described in this thesis: Serial Communication Interface, Digital Signal Processors, and Field Programmable Gate Array. This security system consists of a real-time emulation and Hot-Patching approach to validate the power electronic controller firmware. This thesis will describe the fundamentals of real-time Hardware-In-Loop emulations and Hot-Patching and evaluate their combined contribution in securing this hardware controller. Under a controlled experiment, purposefully harmful firmware will be loaded and patched on the controller board to evaluate the efficacy of the controller malfunction detection. Parallel to the firmware validation process, the controller will continuously control a power electronics inverter with a known valid firmware. Conducting additional real-time test scenarios will demonstrate the efficacy of the emulation and Hot-Patch. The results from this experimental setup will establish the conclusions drawn, followed by recommendations for future work and discussion of enhancements.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Reference Design of an Online Emulation and Hot-Patching Approach for Power Electronic Controller Validation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["McCann, Roy A.","Farnell, Chris"],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Mantooth, H. Alan"],"dc:creator":["Soria Pearson, Estefano"],"dc:date":["2021"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis aims to develop a reference design of an online security system approach embedded in a power electronic controller for cybersecurity purposes. Cybersecurity in power electronics focuses on reducing vulnerabilities in the system, where most reside in the communication with the hardware devices. Although methods to secure communications lessen the probability and effects of cyber-attacks, discovering vulnerabilities is inevitable. This thesis attempts to provide a fail-safe approach to securing the system by targeting the safety of the power-electronic controller. This approach applies an additional security layer in case of a malicious or accidental controller firmware malfunction.
The online security system is embedded in a controller board consisting of three main hardware components described in this thesis: Serial Communication Interface, Digital Signal Processors, and Field Programmable Gate Array. This security system consists of a real-time emulation and Hot-Patching approach to validate the power electronic controller firmware. This thesis will describe the fundamentals of real-time Hardware-In-Loop emulations and Hot-Patching and evaluate their combined contribution in securing this hardware controller. Under a controlled experiment, purposefully harmful firmware will be loaded and patched on the controller board to evaluate the efficacy of the controller malfunction detection. Parallel to the firmware validation process, the controller will continuously control a power electronics inverter with a known valid firmware. Conducting additional real-time test scenarios will demonstrate the efficacy of the emulation and Hot-Patch. The results from this experimental setup will establish the conclusions drawn, followed by recommendations for future work and discussion of enhancements.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4230"],"dc:subject":["grid-connected devices","cybersecurity","grid reliability","cyber attacks","digital twins","vulnerabilities","Hardware-In-Loop (HIL)","Electrical and Electronics","Signal Processing","Systems and Communications","VLSI and Circuits, Embedded and Hardware Systems"],"dc:title":["Reference Design of an Online Emulation and Hot-Patching Approach for Power Electronic Controller Validation"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:59:40Z"}