The electric power cyber-physical system (CPS) is a space-time multidimensional heterogeneous system integrated with cyber system and power system. The event-driven discrete characteristic of communication system and the time continuous characteristic of power system make researches in the power and communication combined system more complex. The accuracy and practicality of researches on simplification of either system during simulation using a single simulation tool is open to question. Therefore

the hybrid simulation platform

which can be used to analyze complex dynamic performance of the power and communication combined system

has become the research hotspot in recent years. To summarize the research findings in this field

unified simulation methods

non-real time simulation methods and real time simulation methods are discussed

respectively. Simulation tools

system architecture and data synchronization are reviewed and analyzed in detail

with the time synchronization problem marked as one of the key issues in hybrid simulation research. A new time synchronization method based on state cache is proposed to provide an idea for further research. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51577030) and State Grid Corporation of China.