1
A Wireless Sensor Network for electrical
Distribution Substations
Ricardo André Pinto Faria
Instituto Superior Técnico
Inesc-ID/IST/UTL Lisboa
Lisbon, Portugal
Email: faria865@hotmail.com
Abstract— Accidents occurring in electrical substations for
transmission and distribution of electric energy may cause great
financial damage due to a lack of control and monitoring of
devices. The automation of devices in the substations has thus
become a priority, in order to prevent such accidents. The 1
61850 is a new automation protocol, designed for the purpose of
establishing a common standard for all substations, one that all
manufacturers of all different devices must comply with.
In the present day, not all distribution substations are
automatized, as is the case with secondary substation, due to the
fact that the automation costs are higher than the cost of the
substation itself.
This paper advocates the projection, implementation and
evaluation of a wireless sensor network (WSN) acquiring of non-
critical data on distribution substations. The sensor network is
constituted by wireless modules, using ZigBee technology,
integrating the communication model based on IEC 61850. To
evaluate the performance of WSN, testing was conducted in live
environments to ensure that the performance of WSN is not
influenced.
Index Terms— IEC 61850, WSN, ZigBee, Distribution
Substation, Smart Grid
I. INTRODUCTION
E LECTRIC energy is one of the most distinguished forms of
secondary energy. The ease of generation, transport,
distribution and consumption give electricity its virtue as a
universal form of energy that can be used by the whole of
humanity.
In order to facilitate the delivery of electric power to the
consumer, a system was deemed necessary. Therefore, what
we now know as the electric grid was created, so that the need
for distribution could be satisfied. This network generally
supports one of the following functions [1]:
 Power generation – includes the facilities for
generating power in central as well as in distributed
locations.
 Electricity transmission – refers to the high-voltage
network of electric cables used to take bulk power from
generation facilities to power distributions facilities near
populated areas.
 Electricity distribution – the process in which the high-
voltage power is down converted and disseminated to the
consumers through a mesh network of cables reaching all
the way to consumer premises.
The electric grid depends on the construction of electrical
substations, where voltage is converted from high to low and
vice-versa using transformers. The electric subsystems are
classified in different types of substation as; generation,
transmission and distribution.
Given necessity, some substations are automatized, allowing
the control and monitoring of all existing devices by using
intelligent electronic devices (IED). In order to establish
substation automation systems (SAS), a new standard for
communication networks and systems in electrical substations
has been created.
The international standard IEC 61850 – Communication
Networks and Systems in Substations is the standard which
defines the communication between IED in the substation and
the related system requirements [2].
Some substations are not automatized, the main reason
being that the value of the investment is greater than the value
of the substation itself. It is the specific case of secondary
substation (SS).
The automation of SS can greatly improve the operation of
the distribution network operation, acquiring values of load
impedance and short-circuit voltage at the extremities of
distribution lines of medium voltage.
In some SS, the introduction of new cables may be a
setback, making automation more expensive and less flexible.
However, wireless communication solves these problems and
is also an inexpensive and flexible solution that allows the
operator access to all devices within the substation. For
wireless communication, the ZigBee technology, based on the
IEEE 802.15.4, is well suited for this application because it is
very cheap and the sizes of the modules are small, facilitating
the integration of devices in the substation.
The IEC 61850 does not establish special requirements for
these types of communications to SS; therefore it applies the
global specifications of ZigBee technology. However, there is
a mishap; the standard defines critical time for data
transmission of critical devices, which cannot be supported on
a WSN. For non-critical devices, defined transmission times
can be met by the ZigBee technology. In either case, it must be

confirmed that the devices of the WSN will comply or not to
the specifications required by IEC 61850.
The structure of this paper is as follows. Section II describes
the salient features of the IEC 61850. Section III describes the
WSN for the substation. Section IV defines the prototype.
Then, in Section V, the prototype and tests are discussed.
Finally, the paper is concluded in Section VI.
II. IEC 61850
This section describes the salient features of the IEC 61850
and provides an analysis of a possible communication
technology capable of implementing this standard.
A. Overview
The IEC 61850 divides inter-substation communication into
three levels: process level, including the I/O devices,
intelligent sensors and actuators, bay level including the IEDs,
and the station level, which includes the human machine
interface, the operator´s desk and the interfaces with the
substation’s exterior [3]. All communications within and
between these levels are defined by the IEC 61850 (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Substation automation topology based on IEC 61850
The standard defines an abundance of services that act upon
the defined data objects. These services not only cover the
traditional control/read/write commands, but they also cover
new and expanded services for grouping the data objects,
reporting and logging, as well as transmitting the messages.
B. Data Structure in IEC 61850
The standard models numerous devices, defines functions to
be implemented on substations, the semantics (meaning and
behavior) and the syntax of the data being communicated.
Models and functions (e.g. measure, status, description and
control) are organized into virtual Logical Nodes (LN),
localized on the process level (Fig. 2).
2
Fig. 2 Data structure in IEC 61850
Fig. 2 describes the data model hierarchy defined by the
standard. Each LN is composed of several data objects and
each data object in turn has several data attributes associated
with it (Fig 2) [4]. The LN, represented in blue on Fig. 2
(measurement unit#2 and circuit breaker#1) has several data
objects, each corresponding to defined data attributes, like
current measurements or breaker position control represented
in green and yellow on the Fig. 2. A Logical Device (LD), that
is a collection of LN, is implemented in a Physical Device. A
physical device can host one or more LD. The Physical Device
has a unique Internet protocol address. Each physical device is
associated to only one Logical Device.
The various operations within a substation, such as control,
protection, monitoring and measurement functions are
modeled using LN. The type and structure of the data within
the LN conforms to the specification of a Common Data Class
(CDC), per IEC 61850 [5], that serves as the predefined
building blocks for creating larger data objects. Each CDC has
a defined name and a set of CDC attributes, and each holds a
defined name, type and specific purpose. Each individual
attribute of a CDC belongs to a set of functional constraints
(FC) that groups the attributes into categories (Fig 2), [6].
C. Communication System
According to the IEC 61850, transmission time
requirements for SAS network messages must be ensured
under any operating conditions and contingencies inside the
substation. The message types being carried will vary from
moment to moment, depending on the activity both in the
substation and in the system. These messages are classified
into 7 categories, as follows:
According to part 5 of the IEC 61850, messages are
classified into 7 categories [7].
 Type 1 – Fast Messages, which are used to transfer the
messages that need immediate response, such as “Trip”,
“Reclose order” and for some functions. The total transmission
time is 10 ms or 3 ms, depending on the type of substation;

 Type 2 – Medium speed messages, which are used to
transfer status and measurement of non-electrical information.
Since the message includes a time-tag set by the sender, the
transmission times are less than 100 ms.
 Type 3 – Low speed messages, which are used for slow
speed auto-control functions, transmission of event records
and reading or changing set-point values. The transmission
time required is less than 1000 ms.
 Type 4 – raw data messages, which are used to transfer
the output data from digitizing transducers and digital
instrument transformers. Transmission time varies between 3
ms and 10 ms.
 Type 5 – File transfer functions, which are used to
transfer large files of data for recording, information purposes
and settings. Transmission times are not critical; thus, there are
no specific limits.
 Type 6 – Time synchronization messages, which are
used to synchronize the internal clocks of the IED in the SAS.
They require synchronization accuracy in the order of
microseconds, for the synchronization request transmission
times must be less than 1000 ms.
 Type 7 – Command messages access control, which is
used to transfer control orders, issued from local or remote
substation computer functions.
D. Communication stack
The 7 types of messages are mapped into different
communication stacks because of their performance
requirements. Fig. 3 illustrates how these communication
stacks and their interface are related [7].
Fig. 3 Message Communication stack in IEC 61850
Fig. 4 illustrates the communication modes between the
devices on SAS levels [3].
The message types 1A and 1B are mapped to the Generic
Object Oriented Substation Events (GOOSE) and Generic
Substation Status Event (GSSE), which are used to exchange
information from one output IED to either the input of several
other IED or to the station level.
3
Fig. 4 Communication modes on SAS levels
The message type 4 is mapped to sampled values (SV) and
contains the information of the source to be transmitted to all
levels of the SAS. Both communication stacks have a critical
time of transmission and are, therefore, directly embedded to a
low-level Ethernet link layer and have priority tags. The
messages (types 2, 7, 3 and 5) are mapped to MMS, a protocol
suite which has a TCP/IP stack above the Ethernet layer. This
communication stack is used in all levels of SAS. The time
synchronization messages (type 6) adopt the SNTP protocol
and realize the broadcasted to all devices in substation using
UDP/IP.
E. Communication Wireless
The IEC 61850 standard requires that communication
between the devices must be wired via fiber optic or cable. To
reduce the costs of installation and to ensure that the operator
has access to the network anywhere in the substation, wireless
communication is a better solution. However, wireless
technologies have a number of vulnerabilities related to the
impact of noisy electrical environments on wireless media, the
reliability of commercial wireless equipment, the
consequences of many users in the unlicensed frequencies and
the influence upon performance for time-sensitive data, as well
as the security of communications.
Currently, there are 5 different types of wireless
technologies considered more mature and capable of meeting
the requirements of the standard. These technologies are: WiFi
– IEEE 802.15.1; Bluetooh – IEEE 802.15.7; ZigBee – IEEE
802.15.4; Wimax – IEEE 802.16 and Cellphone – Group
Speciale Mobile (GSM) [8].
After an evaluation of these technologies, the technology
that possesses the characteristics to develop an automation
network that is less complex and expensive is the IEEE
802.15.4 with ZigBee wireless technology. However, it does
not support all the requirements of communication stacks

required by IEC 61850. The IEEE 802.15.4 does not have
priority tags and do not have TCP/IP as a transport layer, as
required for the use of MMS. Thus, adoption of 6LoWPAN
technology is a necessity, as it can support TCP/IP. In addition
to these setbacks, it is necessary to meet the transmission times
required by the standard.
Currently, no results were released of WSN using ZigBee
technology implementing the IEC 61850 in real substations,
only simulated data. Based on these values, we conclude that
ZigBee only meets the transmission time requirements of
MMS [9]. This technology can only be applied to control non-
critical devices and acquisition of non-critical data.
III. WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK FOR MEDIUM-LOW
VOLTAGE SUBSTATION
The IEC 61850 standard covers all types of transmission
and distribution substations. Currently, almost every electrical
substation of High and Medium Voltage is automated, but
some specific DS are not automated. The main reason is that
the cost of automation is higher than the substation itself. This
is the case of electrical substations which convert medium
voltage to low voltage (SS), in which the cost of one IED is
more than one low voltage DS.
In the current electricity grid system, automated substations
and SCADA cannot get information about electrical
conductors that connect the distribution substations of MV
with SS [10]. The values of short-circuit voltages and load
impedance at the ends of the conductors can only be acquired
in SS. In addition to this acquisition of values, it is necessary
to control and monitor substation devices, in order to check the
status of the fuses or to control the contact of different SS from
a single location. Once the communications between SS, SAS
and other substations are established, information can be
completed by means of auxiliary data about the operation of
the SS. These data can be, for instance, positioning of
contacts, values concerning the ambient and transformer
temperature, as well as substation door positioning, all of
which considered non-critical data.
These types of auxiliary data can be done by using ZigBee
WSN technology. However, it is necessary to adapt the IEC
61850 with IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee to reduce the complexity of
communication compatibility between SAS and SS or SCADA
so that the entire communication system is accordant with IEC
61850. Even within the substation, communications must be
based on IEC 61850 so that any operator may understand the
automation system [10].
As currently there are only simulated results of WSN using
ZigBee technology implementing the IEC 61850, it is
necessary to develop a prototype to analyze if the
electromagnetic noise existent in the substation can influence
the performance of the WSN.
A. Characterization of SS
There are two types of SS, the poled mounted and the
closed cabin or indoor substation [11]. The indoors and closed
4
cabin substations are essentially constituted by three blocks:
medium-voltage switchgear, distribution transformer and low-
voltage switchboard, as shown on Fig. 5. The medium-voltage
switchgear controls the contact break of the MV conductors.
The distribution transformer converts medium to low voltage.
The third consists of low-voltage switchgear used to control
the contact break of the conductor’s LV . The pole mounted
substation is composed for one transformer and uses fuses for
their protection.
Fig. 5 Communication system in a SS
Fig. 5 illustrates the constitution of a substation, the process
of automation and communications with the outside [10]. The
automation process consists of the control and monitoring of
devices, so that they are observed and acted.
Observation consists of the following; acquiring of current
and voltage values as well as short-circuit voltage values and
load impedance in MV or LV conductors; current and voltage
values in the transformer; auxiliary values, such as
temperature, atmospheric pressure and door positioning.
Actions consist in the altering of operations in devices, such as
transformer control, breaker or separator switches of LV/MV
conductors. However, it is necessary to have access to
operations that manage auxiliary data outside the operation of
devices, such as temperature or humidity and door position
control, all of which are outside factors that may influence the
operations of the SS. The smart grid, which involves SCADA
and all other automated substations, allows faults to be
detected in a substation, making it so these flaws do not affect
the operations of other substations and having the capacity to
resolve these failures without human interference.
There are two types of data in a SS, critical and non-critical.
Critical data and commands directly affect substation
operation, such as control of devices that act as the smart
breaker, the controllable transformer and observe values such
as current and voltage. The acquisition of auxiliary values on
the operation of the substation, such as environmental or
transformer temperature and door positioning are considered
non-critical data. The critical data is transmitted via wired

communication, while non-critical data adopts wireless
communication, meeting all requirements.
B. Architecture
The architecture of the automation system for the SS is
composed of a gateway, a substation controller and sensors.
The gateway allows receiving and sending of data to and from
other automated substations and SCADA [10]. The substation
controller sends and receives data through the gateway and the
sensors, assessing and managing the obtained information.
The sensors allow acquiring data information of the operations
of the SS.
The sensors correspond to the LN and the collections of
various sensors are the LD, as all sensor are each independent
and each LN corresponds to a different LD. The substation
controller corresponds to an IED, because the operating
principles of both are very similar.
Devices concerned with door positioning ensure that the life
of an ordinary citizen is not in danger or to determine whether
intruders are attempting copper theft, called ADEC. Another,
named SIML, deals with temperature and pressure values of
the transformer, which, while not directly influencing the
functioning transformer, can prevent it from being damaged
when there is an oil leak. Yet another, designated ZMDS, deals
with meteorological conditions within the substation, in order
to prevent possible accidents that affect the functioning of
substation devices (e.g. excess heat and humidity) [6].
C. WSN Communication
Communications that run over the WSN use the semantics
of the communication stacks. Both they and the
communication structure are defined by the IEC 61850. This
allows the WSN compatibility with other automation devices
in the SS, and makes it compatible with other automated
substations and SCADA.
As the WSN only manages non-critical data, it can only use
the semantics of the MMS communication stack. However, as
there are currently no concrete results on the performance of
the ZigBee using the SV communication stack, it is necessary
to test this stack to evaluate whether it meets the timing
requirements.
The WSN adopts three types of communication stacks, the
MMS, SV and TimeSync. Due to the absence of more than one
substation controller in this system, it makes no sense to use
the communication stack GOOSE/GSSE.
Fig. 5 Constitution of the WSN and communication system
5
Fig. 6 illustrates the complete WSN communication system,
the constitution and the definition of message formats between
the LN and the substation controller. The WSN consists of
only four nodes, one of which corresponds to a substation
controller, and three LN (ADEC, SIML and ZMDS).
Temperature values, pressure of the transformer,
environmental temperature and door positioning data are sent
from LN to the substation controller using the unidirectional
SV communication stack. The substation controller’s
monitoring of the LN and the requests to update date and times
are defined by the bidirectional MMS communication stack. In
order to send the same message for all devices of the WSN
from the substation controller, the messages will be sent
sequentially via unicast. For the synchronization of all devices,
the bidirectional TimeSync communication stack is used.
IV. PROTOTYPE IMPLEMENTATION
A prototype was developed to analyze the implementation
of the IEC 61850 on the WSN. These modules include an
integrated circuit (CC2430 from Texas Instruments), an
external antenna and a power supply [12]. The ZigBee module
was programmed in C language using the IAR Embedded
Workbench v7.30b. The setback of this module is that the
development platform does not support 6LowPan technology,
so is not possible to transmit data over TCP/IP as required by
the MMS. Due to hardware limitations, it is not possible to
acquire data from sensors. Taking this into account, data
emulators were developed for each LN, which are designed so
that they replicate to a near exact point what happens in live
situations.
A. Creation of the WSN
An application developed defines the creation of a ZigBee
network, the process of transmitting or re-transmission of data
and hardware configuration.
ZigBee technology does not allow priority tags as required
by IEC 61850 for some communications stacks. To circumvent
this problem, a closed cycle of events is created in the
application which is constantly being performed, until the
activation of each event for the performance of its designated
functions takes place.
The execution orders of the functions in the WSN are
organized in the following way:
1. Establish communication of the ZigBee coordinator
with at least one LN router in order to create the WSN.
2. Each LN router makes a request to the ZigBee
Coordinator for the update of the date and time.
3. Each LN router analyzes the simulated data while the
ZigBee Coordinator is waiting for new instructions.
4. The LN router sends data and continues to analyze the
simulated data.
5. The ZigBee Coordinator receives data and updates the
database.
6. The ZigBee Coordinator sends a message to get or
change parameter settings for a specific LN router.
7. The LN router receives the request and either sends its

outcome or confirms the change of parameters to the
ZigBee Coordinator. It continues to analyze data afterward.
8. The ZigBee coordinator receives data and updates the
database or communicates with the outside, resting in
standby mode afterward.
The structure of communication between the modules of the
WSN in the automation system is via unicast. This mode only
allows communication between two specific modules.
However, when it is necessary to send the same message to
several modules from the substation controller using the
multicast method, this WSN cannot support it. In order to send
the same message for all devices of the WSN from the
substation controller, the messages must be sent sequentially
via unicast.
B. Definition of Communication Messages
The communication messages tailored for WSN is based on
the semantics of MMS, SV and TimeSync communication
stacks.
1) SV message
This message is used for communications from the LN to
the substation controller and its format is based on the SV
communication stack. It transmits data acquired by the sensors
(these being emulated), via unicast [13]. Each LN contains
different data and the resulting messages of each LN are
different. The IEC 61850 defines, for each LN, a data set to
include in the message. The data frame which contains the
data, according to IEC 61850, is defined by IEC 60044-8.
2) MMS message
The monitoring of the parameters of the LN from the
ZigBee Coordinator and the format message is based on the
semantics of the MMS communication stack. The information
exchanged shall be based on client/server mechanisms and the
method used to exchange sampled values between a client and
a server is the unicast sampled value control. The client sends
requests to set or get parameter values defined by the ZigBee
Coordinator; the server receives requests and sends responses
to the client, to confirm the change or relay informative data.
These messages have a specific encoding and decoding
method based on ASN.1 [14].
3) TimeSync
The communication mode for this synchronization function
in the WSN is the unicast mode and the request uses the MMS
format. The LN of the WSN sends a request to the substation
controller and awaits a reply. It then transmits a
synchronization message with the exact time, roundtrip delay
and local clock. The requests are performed the moment one is
joined to the WSN, being conducted periodically afterward.
This message uses semantics of the SNTP protocol because
it has a transport layer via IP/UDP, not supported by these
modules. The protocol defines how to format date and time
values, the count being in seconds relative to 0h of the 1 rst of
January 1900 [15].
6
V. TESTS
The tests were performed in a laboratory and in live
environments. The WSN was installed in two different SS in
order to verify how electromagnetic noise affects its operation.
The two SS are closed cabin-type substations. The tests consist
of transmission time measurements of SV and MMS messages
and confirming the messages’ arrival to their destination.
A. Types of Tests
The tests performed can be classified into two different
types: measurement of message transmission times, and
verification of communication errors and lost data packets in
the WSN. The analysis of transmission times is only important
for SV and MMS messages.
The tool used to measure transmission times, detect
communication problems and count data packets lost in the
network was the packet sniffer. However, this method to
determine transmission times has a setback; the accuracy of the
values obtained depends on the location of the platform of the
packet sniffer in regards to the ZigBee module, that is, the
closer the packet sniffer to the ZigBee module, the lower the
error.
Transmission times are calculated differently for SV and
MMS messages. The transmission time is measured from the
ZigBee Router (LN) until arrival at the ZigBee Coordinator
(Substation Controller). The calculation of the transmission
time of a MMS message is done from the start of when the
request is made by the ZigBee Coordinator until it receives the
response, sent from the ZigBee Router.
In order to see if the number of modules of WSN influences
the value of transmission times, the tests were run for a WSN
with one, two and three ZigBee Routers. Due to a lack of more
ZigBee modules, it was not possible to insert more nodes in
WSN. This makes these results inconclusive for WSN with
multiple nodes, given the fact that, in the application of WSN
in live situations, the SS is likely to have, in its WSN, more
than three nodes.
Results are not influenced by the distance between the
modules. The arrangement of modules in the three
environments was similar and placed near the noise source.
This allows verifying if electromagnetic noise influences the
performance of WSN.
B. Results
The results of the tests of the transmission times for a WSN
with one, two or three nodes are in function on the order of
sequence of sending messages in the WSN. The difference in
number of nodes in WSN is small, with tests obtaining similar
results for WSN with one, two, and three nodes. Table 1
illustrates the results for WSN with three nodes in three
environments without cases of retransmissions of messages.
 7

Total Transmission Time in all Environments VI. CONCLUSION

Order Laboratory SS#1 (ms) SS#2 (ms) This dissertation proposes the use of a wireless sensor
of (ms) network, using ZigBee technology and the IEC 61850
Sending MMS SV MMS SV MMS SV standard, to monitor non-critical devices of an secondary
1 34 8.65 33 12.62 135* 13.32 substation.
2 33 10.23 132* 11.08 34 12.56 Accomplished tests did not include operation in critical
3 36 9.56 34 10.34 35 8.67 situations. Therefore, WSN compliance with all IEC 61850
4 35 11,01 34 8.67 34 9.45 requirements is not confirmed. However, results show that
5 34 9.412 35 9.66 34 10.56 wireless technology can be taken into account. However, SV
6 34 10.91 134* 10.23 33 11.45 messages in WSN cannot be adopted.
7 136* 12.05 36 12.38 35 12.22 The next step of this project concerns itself with the WSN’s
8 34 7.167 33 11.14 134* 8.99 implementation using only the MMS communication stack.
9 35 19.11 34 10.5 133* 9.99 Therefore, it is necessary to restructure the WSN,
10 135 11.87 133* 10.89 36 12.07 implementing the complete format of MMS communication
11 34 8.89 35 8.89 34 11.09 and develop a decoder/encoder for ASN.1 messages. After
12 33 7.9 35 10.78 35 8.56 that, it will be possible to insert these WSN on the final
13 136* 10.65 36 11.76 135* 8.33 prototype of the "Active Substations" project sussefully.
14 35 11.65 136* 12.34 33 10.44
REFERENCES
15 134* 8.89 35 9.12 34 11.11
*Total Transmission, when the Coordinator sends the same message [1] Venkat Pothamsetty and Saadat Malik, “Smart Grid: Leveraging
Intelligent Communications to Transform the Power Infrastructure”,
to all devices of the WSN. Cisco, Ed., February 2009
1
Situation occurred when communication channel is occupied [2] IEC TR 61850-1, Communication networks and systems Part
Table 1 Results for WSN with 3 nodes 1:Introduction and overview, 1st ed., 2003-04
[3] IEC TR 61850-5, Communication networks and systems, Part 5:
C. Evaluation of the results Communication requirements for functions and device models, 1st ed.,
2003.
Results obtained in the laboratory and in an SS environment
[4] S. Mohagheghi, Member, and IEEE, "A Fuzzy Cognitive Map for Data
show similar values for SV transmission times, yet, in all tests, Intefrity Assessment in a IEC61850 Based Substation" in IEEE, 2010,
the values exceed the 10 ms requirement defined by IEC pp. 1-7.
61850. These results exclude the use of the SV message in a [5] IEC 61850-7-3, Communication networks and systems in substations,
Part 7-3: Basic communication structure for substation and feeder
WSN, for failing to meet this requirement; the protection and equipment – Common data classes, 1st ed., 2003.
control of devices is put in question. [6] IEC 61850-7-4, Communication networks and systems in substations;
Transmission times for MMS messages are lower than the Part 7-4: Basic communication structure for substation and feeder
equipment – Compatible logical node classes and data classes, 1st ed.,
1000 ms required by IEC 61850. For cases when the 2003.
substation controller sends the same message to all LN via [7] Yang Liu, Qiang Guan, Seung-Soo Han, Myeon-Song Choi, and Seung-
unicast, the IEC 61850 does not specify requirements. The Jae Lee, "Research on Optimization of Process Bus in IEC 61850-
Based Substation Communication Network," The International
total transmission time of these situations, as observed in the Conference on Electrical Engineering, pp. 1-2, 2009.
tests, is less than 5000 ms, which complies with the [8] Frances Celeveland and Marc Lacroix, "Draft Recommended Practice
requirements of the standard. For WSN with more than three for Using Wireless Data Communications in Power System Operations"
nodes it is possible that the results suffer small changes. For August 2007.
[9] S. L. Ullo, A. Vaccaro, and G. Velotto, "Performance Analysis of IEEE
WSN with ten nodes in the SS, and considering that the 802.15.4 based Sensor Networks for smart grids Communications,"
message transmission time on average is 35 ms, the Journal of Electrical Enginneering: Theory and Application, vol. 1ª, pp.
requirements are still met. 129-134, 2010.
[10] Ronnie Belmans and Tom De Rybel, "Active Sub-Station project", KIC
In 2400 messages were transmitted between WSN nodes. InnoEnergy, 2011.
No messages were lost, which makes this system compliant [11] Integris Project, "MV/LV Network Management," Seventh Framework
with the no-failure requirements set by the IEC 61850. Programme, State of Art 2007.
[12] Glória, André, “ZBeeMeR - A ZigBee Automatic Meter Reading
During these tests, no problems or accidents were detected System” Ph.D. dissertation, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon,
in the substation equipment. These error situations are those Portugal,September 2010.
that can generate the most electromagnetic noise, situations [13] IEC 61850-9-1, Communication networks and systems in substations –
Part 9-1: Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) – Sampled
which can affect test results. Therefore, this analysis of the
values over serial unidirectional multidrop point to point link, 2003-05.
results is only valid for all substations in normal operation. [14] IEC 61850-8-1, Communication networks and systems in substations –
These facts allow concluding that the performance of the Part 8-1:Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) –
WSN is not influenced by the type of environment in which Mappings to MMS (ISO 9506-1 and ISO 9506-2) and to ISO/IEC 8802-
3., 2004-05.
they are inserted. [15] Mills, D.;University of Delaware, "Simple Network Time Protocol
(SNTP) Version 4 for IPv4, IPv6 and OSI," October 1996.