Simulators and Emulators

The Programme produced a range of testing software developed specifically for MHHS, to aid testing both in Pre-Integration Testing (PIT), Systems Integration Testing (SIT) and User Integration Testing (UIT).

Please see below for a breakdown of the tools that the Programme developed.

DIP Simulator

The Data Integration Platform (DIP) is the message orientated / event-driven middleware component that supports the flow of events and messages between industry participants as part of the MHHS Programme. The DIP Simulator is available to all participants to use in testing.

The DIP Simulator simulated some basic DIP functionality, such as format validation and routing which meant that it was a useful addition to a participant’s suite of testing tools.  

Following its launch on 29 March 2023, the Programme further enhanced the DIP Simulator to feature all DIP Programme interfaces and a subset of DIP report interfaces. Future Change Requests which introduced new interface requirements to the DIP and the DIP simulator in turn, were assessed on a case-by-case basis and, where applicable, were delivered and released in line with the Design Issue Notification (DIN) log release process.

To support Programme participant testing and participants operating on multiple versions of the Design, the Programme released the DIP Simulator in different versions. 

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Mutual Transport Layer Security (mTLS) added to DIP Simulator functionality
On 30 June 2023, we added Mutual Transport Layer Security (mTLS) functionality to the scope of the DIP Simulator.

mTLS is a type of mutual authentication, in which two parties at either end of a network connection authenticate each other using digital certificates. The DIP specification mandated that all network communication needed to be secured using mTLS. 
 
From 30 June, these changes impacted participants’ experience of the DIP Simulator:

  • Programme participants needed to download a certificate to use on the DIP Simulator. You can view instructions for how this was done on the Getting Started page of the DIP Simulator. This only needed to be done once for each Programme participant organisation.
  • The same certificate could be used for all DIP Simulator releases.  mTLS was in place for both inbound and outbound messages.
  • The offline code for the DIP Simulator could still be used if your organisation was not yet ready to test with mTLS. However, mTLS needed to be enabled for using the DIP Simulator to capture your test runs for Pre-Integration Testing (PIT) evidence.
  • We continued to publish the offline downloadable, executable code every fortnight. 

On 28 July 2023, the Programme released message signing functionality on the DIP Simulator. 

Data Generator

Launched on 24 May 2023, the Data Generator tool provided realistic test data for the following types of data to use during Pre-Integration Testing (PIT) and Systems Integration Testing (SIT):  

  • IF-021 - Directly consumable data, consumed by Elexon Central Systems (ECS) among others 
  • IF-041 - Directly consumable data, consumed by the Data Services

The Data Generator tool fully simulated the above-mentioned types of Meter and Settlement data and produces valid data for testing. If you wish to test invalid data, you must either manually edit the valid data provided or input your own data. 

You can find information on the Data Integration Platform (DIP) Simulator Source Code on the Simulators & Emulators page of the Collaboration Base.

Participants will need their own tool to transform and inject the data into the relevant Service, where appropriate.  

Sims & Ems Source Codes 
You can download a zip file containing the Source Code for the DIP Simulator and Data Generator from the Simulators and Emulators page of the Collaboration Base.

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