CORBA-based interoperation in substation automation systems

Computers in Industry, 2015

IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics

Automation system engineering becomes more complex, due to the trend towards more flexible, reconfigurable, and modular design approaches, like Industry 4.0. For the modeling and design of the according software, two standards are present: IEC 61131-3 and IEC 61499. In order to satisfy the requirements for modern, large scale, highly-distributed applications while also supporting still existing legacy systems, the demand for a combined development framework arises, where the best of breed tool can be chosen for a given automation task. Considering that, the IEC 61499 model is extended to allow the dual development and execution of IEC 61131-3 programs, and enabling easy and correct interaction between the two paradigms. In order to verify the validity of the chosen approach, an IEC 61499 development tool and a runtime environment is modified to support IEC 61131-3. A sample application is implemented, which comprises a pure IEC 61131-3 part with a 1 ms cycle time, a pure IEC 61499 part, and a part with interaction between both subparts, in order to evaluate possible interference between the runtime parts. Experimental results show that no interference is occurring, and the chosen development approach allows the seamless integration of IEC 61131-3 and IEC 61499 in one combined development framework. Index Terms-IEC 61499, IEC 61131, interoperability I. INTRODUCTION I N CURRENT automation systems, control software is the main driver for functionality and innovation, and therefore is a significant component. Hence, its development makes a large share of the overall costs. Considering nowadays trend towards Industry 4.0, the requirements regarding interoperability, flexibility, and reconfigurability gain importance [1]. Currently, when developing such systems, engineers have to choose between two prominent standards: the IEC 61131-3-Programmable controllers: Programming languages [2] and the IEC 61499-Function blocks [3]. The IEC 61131-3 standard's main focus was on easy-to-use programming languages, and single Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) systems, each controlling a defined section of the production process. With the move to modern large scale applications, the control software development had to deal with features like adaptability, reusability, and distributability. IEC 61131-3 evolved (e.g., object-oriented extensions, IEC 61131-5 for communication) to meet these new needs, though it was never Manuscript

Electric power system substations are being modernized to better serve user requirements for more efficient communication and more comprehensive protection and to facilitate future expansion by installing and applying higher-performance IEDs. There is a demand for a substation automation system (SAS) that is simple to integrate and provides high performance and flexibility. IEC 61850 capacities provide interoperability and advanced communications capabilities in substation protection, coordination, control, monitoring, metering, and testing. IEC 61850 is the result of the efforts of IEC Technical Committee 57 (TC57) to produce an open standard for substation modeling and communications. Substation configuration description language (SCL) is used in IEC61850-based substations to create substation configuration description files that contain full information about the substation. The main purpose of this format is to ensure that IED capability and substation descriptions are exchanged in a compatible way between the IEDs.

2009

Automation systems according to IEC 61850 are a powerful solution for station automation. Engineering of such distributed systems is however a non-trivial task which requires different approaches and enhanced tool support. In this paper the authors (i) present how IEC 61850 is viewed and is being adopted by a utility and vendor,(ii) discuss its engineering potential and current issues,(iii) point-out global requirements for next generation tools,(iv) present the InPACT project which is tackling some of these concerns ...

2008

International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) has developed a new global standard, IEC 61850 for communication systems in power substations. This standard provides interoperability among the all communication devices within the substation. This paper presents basic features of communication systems proposed by IEC 61850, such as functional hierarchy, OSI-7 layer based communication, and process bus. To obtain complete advantages of the standard, it is important to consider all the major issues related to practical implementation. This paper discusses challenges for implementing new communication architecture, such as process bus and station bus. Further, the overall substation functional issues, and planning issues are also explained. Some possible solutions to several major implementation issues are suggested. I. INTRODUCTION he success of a Substation Automation System (SAS) relies on the use of an effective communication system to link the various protection, control, and monitoring elements within a substation. The major challenge faced by substation automation design engineer is to provide interoperability among the protection, control, and monitoring devices from the various manufacturers. Up until recently, all the manufacturers are/were using their own proprietary communication protocols. Huge investment is needed to develop costly and complicated protocol converters [1]. To address these SAS issues, IEC working group TC57 has published IEC 61850 named as "Communication Networks and Systems in Substation" in 2003 [2]. IEC 61850 standard covers not only how to communicate but also what to communicate. IEC 61850 capabilities clearly exceed what former IEC 60870-5-103, DNP3, and most proprietary protocols had to offer [3]. IEC 61850 provides the interoperability by defining the communication protocol, data format and the configuration language. However, there are several unresolved issues which need to be addressed before the implementation of IEC 61850 based SAS. T. S. Sidhu et al. have evaluated performance of IEC 61850 based substation communication system, and highlighted issues with several communication topologies, in reference [4]. References [5-10] discuss specific issues related to communication network of SAS. In reference [11], B. Kasztenny et al. have investigated functionality issues related to IEC 61850 based SAS.

The IEC 61346 standard establishes general principles for structuring the information of technical systems. The present document discusses the ideas shown in the standard, emphasizing the fact that some parts of it are ambiguous and can lead to different interpretations of the basic concepts. Consequently, we derive a concrete interpretation of the standard that tries to remove the ambiguities. We will apply this interpretation to the development of an industrial software platform for building automation applications.

Proceedings of 2012 IEEE 17th International Conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation (ETFA 2012), 2012

The IEC 61499 standard allows to model and design new generation control systems, providing innovative concepts of software engineering (such as abstraction, encapsulation, reuse) to the world of control engineering. The industrial reception of the standard, however, is still in an early stage, also because its introduction results in the adoption of a programming paradigm profoundly different than the widespread IEC 61131-3. This paper presents a method for the integration of the two standards, that allows to exploit the benefits of both. The proposed architecture is based on the parallel execution of both environments that interact with each other through some specific interfaces. A test implementation of the architecture is also presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed solution. Copyright: 17th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation Figure 9. Test system: (a) IEC 61499 model of the system; (b) recordings of input/output of PLC_1 and PLC_2: (c) IEC 61131-3 program running on PLC_1.

2014

This paper proposes a control architecture for the substation automation systems, combining the artifacts of the IEC 61499 standard, for modeling and implementation of the control logic, with the specifications of the IEC 61850 standard, for communication and information exchange between the automation devices. The proposed control architecture is implemented and validated in a simple fault protection scenario. Key-Words: substation, automation systems, IEC 61850, function blocks, protection, power systems

IRJET, 2022

There is a need for a high-performance, flexible substation automation system (SAS) that is easy to incorporate. The increasing use of Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) in substation protection, coordination, control, monitoring, metering, and testing offers interoperability and enhanced communications capabilities. The IEC Technical Committee 57 worked to create IEC 61850, an open standard for substation modelling and communications. The international adoption of the standard has grown in popularity. This article explores the use of IEC 61850 in conventional substation automation. It introduces the experience of a real SAS modernization scenario. This instance emphasizes how useful the IEC 61850 is for operating and monitoring substations.

Proceedings of IEEE Power System Conference and Exposition, 2009

Minimizing implementation time and manual configuration, as well as straightforward upgradability are the key requirements of efficient substation automation systems. For larger utilities this often necessitates achieving interoperability between different devices from multiple vendors. Since the early 1990's it was noticed that the speed of advances in communication technology seemed to overpass its power system counterpart, which called for more adaptability by substation automation systems and higher independence from the underlying communication technology. The natural shift in the industry from proprietary communication protocols to open access standards was therefore further accelerated and was directed towards more advanced solutions that provide an interoperable and future proof environment. In order to be able to respond to these concerns, IEC 61850 was proposed as a future proof, adaptable communication protocol, capable of providing interoperability in a multi-vendor environment and with a highly advanced object oriented modeling structure. The migration from legacy protocols and de facto standards such as Modbus, DNP3, and IEC 60870-5 has already started and it seems likely that it will continue at a steady pace in the future. In addition to the efforts to provide an advanced solution for substation automation systems, there is also a need for extending the "automation" benefits to beyond the substations either downstream, at the feeder level or upstream, at a higher level of network management. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the current status of communication networks for substations using IEC 61850, and also discuss the possible future trends for extending the scope of the standard and using its capabilities for other applications within the distribution system.