Communication Systems

in
Power Applications

Overview
Introduction
Communication Needs of Power System
Communication Technologies
Existing Communication Systems
Challenges
Future Trends

Introduction

Communications is the enabling technology for

Power System
No single communication technology as being
best suited for all power system needs
Requirements must consider type, source,
amount, frequency, and delivery requirements of
data/voice transmitted

Communication Needs of Power

System

Reliability
Cost effectiveness
Capacity to handle data rates
Adequate to meet response requirements
Ability to reach identified areas of power system
Ease of operation and maintenance
Security (of data and of control actions)

Communication Reliability
Reliable communication with respect to:
Exposure to severe environment
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
Transient EMI (lightning, faults)
Outage of transmission lines
Power outages
Radio paths obstructed or attenuated (by
buildings or foliage)

Cost Effectiveness

Communication system costs are significant

High cost of communication system may become
an impediment
Evaluate both first cost and lifetime operation and
maintenance costs
Look for best trade-off between total costs and
overall performance

Capacity to handle data rates

Perform data rate audit of present & upcoming schemes

Analyze each function

Determine bit rate required to perform the function

Consider worst case scenarios

Each communications system has a bandwidth limit
There should be at least enough bandwidth along each
path to meet data requirements
A good margin allows for future growth and increased
system flexibility

Ability to meet response requirements

Response requirements (measured in sec.) are distinct
from data rate requirements (measured in kb/s or Mb/s),
and must be met independently.
Different functions have vastly different requirements for
the delivery of the information; for example:

Ability to Reach Areas of Power System

Difficult Terrain
Communications that rely on the power line may
have difficulty

During outage of line

Extreme weather conditions

Terminal equipment in outage areas may require

backup power for long durations

Ease of Operation and Maintenance

A communications system is a complex

combination of transmitters, receivers, and data
links
Manpower not trained and not familiar with
communications equipment

10

Personnel trained for new skills involved ?

New tools acquired ?

Use standardized components and

communication protocols

Security of data and control actions

Power System communication
Data & Voice have critical
importance.
Communication security is a
necessity.

11

Security of data and control actions

Your substations are an
element of the countrys
critical infrastructure are
you sure that you are in
complete control?

12

Security of data and control actions

Maintaining the security of
communications between
the control center and field
devices is one of the most
urgent problems facing
todays control environment.

13

Communication Technologies

14

Power Line Carrier

Communication(PLCC)

15

Power Lines used for point to point communication

Terminal equipments used to send/receive data/voice
Works on audio band width 20 to 20 KHz
Carrier 30 KHz to 500 KHz

Typical PLCC Arrangement for S/C LINE

PHASE-GROUND COUPLING
CKT-I

E/W
R
Y
B

CVT/CC

CVT/CC

PLCC

PLCC

PLCC

CD

CD

PLCC

E/W
R
Y
B

Coupling Types in PLCC System

Line Trap, Coupling Device & CC/CVT known

as Coupling Equipment
CD consists of Surge Arrester, Drain coil,
Matching transformer, Earth switch
Functions of Coupling Equipment
-Inject carrier signal to EHV line without loss
-Decouple carrier equipment from EHV line

17

PLCC---Uses

18

Voice communication
Tele-control
Tele-protection
SCADA data from RTU

PLCC---Pros

19

Easy availability
Cost effective
Ease of operation & maintenance

PLCC--- Cons

20

Limited bandwidth(4 KHz)

Data speeds up to only 1200 Bauds possible
Prone to Noise & Interference
Effect of weather conditions-frost, high pollution etc
Depends on physical connectivity of power lines
Needs government approval for carrier freq selection
Not suitable for todays needs of automation like SAS,
remote control etc.

Fiber Optic Communication

Fiber optic cable functions as a "light guide," guiding the light introduced at one end of the cable
through to the other end. The light source can either be a light-emitting diode (LED) or a laser. Using
a lens, the light pulses are funneled into the fiber-optic medium where they travel down the cable.

The light (near infrared) is most often are used :

850nm for shorter distances

1300nm for longer distances on Multi-mode fiber

1310-1320nm for single-mode fiber

1,500nm is used for longer distances.

Fiber Optic Communication(Contd..)

22

Two types of fibreMulti mode > 50micron core Upto 2 Kms

Single mode < 10 micron coremore than 20 Kms

Selected on the basis of distance & bandwidth needs

Wave Division Multiplexing Used

Fiber Optic (Contd..)

Pros:
Fast becoming common in utilities for voice and
data transmission
Offer many advantages

extremely high data transmission rates

immunity from electromagnetic interference
Free from licensing requirements

23

Cost effective for very high data transmission

rates in a point-to-point configuration

Fiber Optic (contd..)

Cons

Not as cost effective for applications, with

24

point-to-multipoint configuration
Modest data transmission speed requirements

Prone to cable cut in underground configuration

Repair & restoration specialized work

VSAT Communication
Geo-synchronous satellite

36,000 km

Earth Station
25

User site

VSAT(contd..)

Very small aperture terminals (VSATs) used for

EMS/DMS
For data comm. most frequently uses a shared
channel, to lower costs

Communications routed through a third-party network

management center

SATELLITE

NETWORK
MANAGEMENT
CENTER
UTILITY
CONTROL
CENTER
26

SHARED HUB

VSATs

VSAT (contd..)

Various frequency bands:

C-band (4/6 GHz), Ku-band (12/14 GHz),Ka-band(30/20 GHz)

Advantages
Near-universal coverage
Good reliability
Fast installation

Disadvantages
Cost
Transmission delays
Blackout periods due to eclipses
Attenuation in heavy rain (Ku band)

27

Mobile Communication
Several competing technologies

Use of control channel on analog AMPS (Advanced

Mobile Phone Service), 800 MHz
CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data)

3G)
Currently, most applications are for AMR
Recently also being offered for applications in
feeder automation
Potentially holds the promise of economical and
wide-spread coverage
The field is rapidly evolving (2G

28

Tele-Control Protocols

IEC 60870-5-101 protocol (from RTU to Control Center

communication

IEC 60870-6-502 ( ICCP) protocol (between two Control Canters)

IEC 60870-5-103 protocol (for communication between IEDs in a

Substation)

IEC 60870-5-104 protocol

MODBUS Protocol ( MFTs)

DNP 3.0 Protocol (Serial)---Master Station

DNP 3.0 Protocol (TCP/IP)---Master Station

IEC 61850 protocol (for Substation Automation)

Tele-Control Protocols
The Present SCADA systems use

IEC 60870-5-101 for data acquisition from RTUs/SAS

IEC 60870-6-502 for data exchange between control centres

IEC608705-101
Physical Layer :

Unbalanced

Request Message

Information bit : 8 bit

(User Data, Confirm Expected)

Stop bit : 1
Parity bit : Even

[P]
[S]

Master

(Acknowledgment)

Data Link Layer

Response Message
[P] (Request User Data)

Standard Frame Format : FT 1.2

Maximum Frame Length : 255 bytes

[S]

Transmission Layer ( Station address field Length : 1 or 2 bytes )

(Respond User Data or NACK)

[P] = Primary Frame

[S] = Secondary Frame

Unbalanced Mode :
Transmitted messages are categorized on two priority classes( Class 1 & Class 2 )
Balanced Mode :
All the messages are sent, No categorization of Class 1 and Class 2

Network Layer : Not defined as 870-5-101 is not IP based

Application Layer
The length of the header fields of the data structure are:
Station address 1 or 2 byte ( User defined )
ASDU Address : 1 or 2 bytes
Information Object address : 2 bytes
Cause of Transmission : 1 byte

Slave

Selection of ASDUs

ASDU 1 : Single point information

ASDU 2 : Single point information with time tag
ASDU 3 : Double point information
ASDU 4 : Double point information with time tag
ASDU 9 : Measured value, Normalised value
ASDU 10 : Measured value, Normalised value with time tag
ASDU 11 : Measured Value, Scaled value
ASDU 12 : Measured value, Scaled value with time tag
ASDU 100 : Interrogation Command
ASDU 103 : Clock Synchronisation Command
ASDU 120 - 126 : File transfer Command

ICCP Protocol
Associations
An application Association needs to be established between two ICCP instances before any data exchange can
take place. Associations can be Initiated, Concluded or Aborted by the ICCP instances.

Bilateral Agreement and Table, Access Control

A Bilateral Agreement between two control-centers (say A and B) for data access. A Bilateral Table is a digital
representation of the Agreement.

Data Values
Data Values are objects that represent the values of control-center objects including points (Analog, Digital and
Controls) or data structures.

Data Sets
Data Sets are ordered-lists of Data Value objects that can be created locally by an ICCP server or on request
by an ICCP client

Information Messages
Information Message objects are used to exchange text or other data between Control Centers.

Transfer Sets
Transfer Set objects are used for complex data exchange schemes to transfer Data Sets (all elements or a
subset of the Data set elements) etc.

Devices
Devices are the ICCP objects that represent controllable objects in the control center.

ICCP Protocol(Contd..)
Conformance Blocks
ICCP divides the entire ICCP functionality into 9 conformance block subsets. Implementations can declare the blocks that
they provide support for, thus clearly specifying the level of ICCP supported by the implementation. Any ICCP implementation
must necessarily support Block 1ca

Block 1 Basic Services

Association, Data Value, Data Set, Data set transfer

Block 2 Extended Data Set Condition Monitoring

Data Set Transfer Set Condition Monitoring
Object Change condition monitoring, Integrity Timeout condition monitoring

Block 3 Blocked Transfers

Transfer Reports with Block data

Block 4 Information Message

Information Message objects,
IMTransfer Set objects
Block 6 to Block 9 are not generally implemented
Start Transfer
Stop Transfer
Data Set Transfer Set Condition Monitoring

Block 5 Device Control

Device objects
Select, Operate, Get Tag, Set Tag, Timeout, Local Reset, Success, Failure

Communication Channel for Information flow

RLDC
Wide Band
Commn
(MW / FO)
SLDC

SLDC
Wide Band
Commn

Sub-LDC

Sub-LDC
Wide Band /
PLCC Commn

RTU

RTU

RTU

SCADA : Data communication architecture

TFE
computer

TFE
computer

Panel
Multi-port
Stallion
Adapters

Modem

Panel
multi-Port
Stallion
adapters

Splitter
Modem

Modem

Modem

Modem

RTU

Modem

RTU

Modem

Modem

RTU

INTER-SITE communications
Protocol management

ICCP within Open Access

Gateway
Data acquisition and transfer to
other center(s)
Indirect remote control (from / to
other control centers)

SCADA/
ICCP Server
ICCP
Other Sites/ICCP Server

RTU Connectivity
Normal RTU

LAN-B

Critical RTU

LAN-B
LAN-A

LAN-A

CFE

CFE

CFE

CFE

S
M
M
RTU

RTU

Interface for RTUs reporting to Control Centre

Control Centre

Through PLCC
.
RTULINK
Location
Data (FSK)
Modem
RTU

Data (FSK)
PLCC

Analog

PLCC
Analog

Modem
Modem
Modem
Modem

speech

speech

Interface for RTU reporting to Control Centre via

Tandem
PLCC/Wideband Link & Wideband Links
RTU Location
Data(Fsk
)
Analo
g

Modem
RTU

PLCC

Mode
m
Mode
m
Mode
m

Primary

Mux

Radi
o

Primary

Mux

Radi
o

Mux

Speech

Require

--

Modem

-Sub

Data(Fsk
)
Analo
g

PLCC

Speech

Control Centre
Speech

Wideband Node

29

Radio

28

30

Link

29

64 kbps

Sub
Mux

30

4 x E1

4 x E1

RTU at Wideband
Node

RTU Through MICROWAVE

CFE

MUX

RADIO
TX / RX

RADIO
TX / RX

MUX

RTU

RTU Through FIBER OPTIC SYSTEM

CFE

MUX

CONTROL CENTRE

OLTE

OLTE

MUX

RTU

SUBSTATION/ GEN STN SIDE

Popular communication technologies in

Indian Power systems:
Technology

Power Line Carrier

Analog/digital Micro wave
Fiber Optic
GSM/GPRS
V-sat

%Usage
50
15
30
<1
5

WIDEBAND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR EASTERN REGION

Sub LDC
Budhipadar

ORISSA
Jeypore(CS)

Bamra

Sub LDC
Jayanagar

Bodhgaya

JHARKHAND

Manpur

Hatia

Atari

SLDC
Ranchi

Mujaffarpur

Rajgir
Fatuha

SLDC
Patna

Biharshariff
(BSEB)

Bargaon

Tower # 313
( Repeater Shelter )

Biharshariff
(CS)

U/G

Therubali

Lalganj

Hajipur

BIHAR

Kahalgaon (CS )

Kutra
Akusingha

(Repeater )

Chandil

80M
CTPS

Tarkera

Narendrapur

Sub LDC
Meramandali

Maithon-G

Jamshedpur ( CS )

Barkote
(Repater Shelter)

Mendhasal

Backup
64 KBPS

Bokaro-B

Rourkela
(CS )
Tower # 226
( Repeater Shelter )

SLDC

TSTPP
HVDC

Mejia
Waria

WEST BENGAL
Kalipahari

Farakka(CS)

CPCC
Durgapur

Chandaka

Kalyaneswari

STPS

Tower #146
( Repeater shelter)

Under PDT

Malda(CS)

Mankar
Chainpal

SLDC
Bhubaneswar

30M

Kamakhyanagar

Belmuri

Naupada

60M

Mathkargola
Jajpur
Town

LEGEND:Microwave Link with Station

Microwave Repeater Station
Fibre Optic Link with Station
Monitoring Centre

Jeerat

Sub LDC
NBU

100M

Barchana

Vidyut
Bhavan

Backup
PDT

Burdwan

Backup
64 KBPS

SLDC

Backup
PDT

Howrah

Duburi

Siliguri (CS)

Backup
64 KBPS

Kasba

DVC HQ
:
:
:
:

India Bhutan
border at
90 km

: Under Ground Fibre

ERSCC
Calcutta

100M

: RTCC link between Jey- Dgp For Indrvati

& Jeypore RTU & Backup link

Challenges

45

Indian Power networks growing faster, larger & more

complex.
Data communication needs to be much faster catering
to smart grid initiatives being taken up.
With faster, smarter & innovative technologies, data
security to be addressed adequately.
All radio communication to be replaced with fibre optic
network by Dec.,2011 as per GOI decision.

Future Trends

46

Smart grid technologies driving communication needs.

High speed fibre optic networks need of the hour.
Increasing use of internet as the mechanism for data
communication.
Main thrust on security issues with use of web based
technologies.
Introduction of Service oriented architecture(SOA) will
need high band width networks.

Future Trends (contd..)

Growing insistence on adherence to

communication standards.
Possible application of cellular digital packet
data radio technologies.

47

Thank You
Devendra Kumar
DGM,ERLDC