On the PMU Placement Optimization for the Detection of False Data Injection Attacks

The graph signal processing (GSP) approaches could facilitate the design of detectors for false data injection attacks (FDIAs) on smart grids. However, enhancing the performance of FDIA detection by optimizing the placement of phasor measurement units (PMUs) on smart grids remains an open problem. We formulate herein the detection of FDIAs as a binary hypothesis testing problem within the Grid-GSP framework and develop a subspace-based projection detection (SPD) algorithm, incorporating a quasi-optimal PMU placement strategy and two double thresholds. The proposed quasi-optimal PMU placement strategy enhances the performance of the SPD in FDIA detection. We further propose to enhance the SPD with the dynamic double threshold for high dynamic load profiles beyond a simple yet efficient static double threshold. Illustrative simulations based on the IEEE 118 bus test grid and the ERCOT dataset validate the superior performance of the proposed quasi-optimal PMU placement strategy along with the two double thresholds.