Frequency domain transfer function identification using the computer program SYSFIT

Because the primary application of SYSFIT for BPA involves studying power system dynamics, this investigation was geared toward simulating the effects that might be encountered in studying electromechanical oscillations in power systems. Although the intended focus of this work is power system oscillations, the studies are sufficiently genetic that the results can be applied to many types of oscillatory systems with closely-spaced modes. In general, there are two possible ways of solving the optimization problem. One is to use a least-squares optimization function and to write the system in such a form that the problem becomes one of linear least-squares. The solution can then be obtained using a standard least-squares technique. The other method involves using a search method to obtain the optimal model. This method allows considerably more freedom in forming the optimization function and model, but it requires an initial guess of the system parameters. SYSFIT employs this second approach. Detailed investigations were conducted into three main areas: (1) fitting to exact frequency response data of a linear system; (2) fitting to the discrete Fourier transformation of noisy data; and (3) fitting to multi-path systems. The first area consisted of investigating the effects of alternative optimization cost functionmore » options; using different optimization search methods; incorrect model order, missing response data; closely-spaced poles; and closely-spaced pole-zero pairs. Within the second area, different noise colorations and levels were studied. In the third area, methods were investigated for improving fitting results by incorporating more than one system path. The following is a list of guidelines and properties developed from the study for fitting a transfer function to the frequency response of a system using optimization search methods.« less