Section 1

The Evolution – From SCADA to Automation

Introduction

The electric utility SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System) system is now a mainstay.
Most electric utilities have a means to monitor their power system activity and control substation
equipment from a central location that would be classified as a SCADA system. The long sought
improvements in efficiency promised by upgrading manned substations to monitored substations have been
largely achieved.
It has taken many decades to get to this point. There has been a long evolution of technology and
change that has brought SCADA technology this far. While Substation Automation is considered current
technology, it is valuable to understand the steps in technological evolution and to recognize that some of
that history is still in use in utilities today. They are called “legacy” systems, in, perhaps, a negative way,
but given the reluctance of Utilities to renew infrastructure based solely on technology improvements, it is
reasonable to expect to have to find a way to blend the new back to the existing.
Some technologies surrounding SCADA systems have not changed significantly in 60 years and
perhaps those are ready for a technology re-birth. However, their ancestors will remain until they are
forcibly dragged to the scrap yard. Certainly the evolution in computer technology that helped drive the
SCADA systems in their infancy has seen many significant changes. In the substation, microprocessor
technology, which gave birth to the Intelligent Electronic Device (IED), opened the opportunity to combine
functions and has significantly changed the landscape for the substation interface.
This Chapter will trace the changes from early technology to the Substation Automation System.
It will discuss the functions that exist for SCADA or Automation Systems and identify the significant
changes that have occurred along the way.

Overview of SCADA System Functions

The SCADA System connects two distinctly different environments. The substation, where it
measures, monitors, controls and digitizes; and the Operations Center, where it collects, stores, displays and
processes substation data. A communications pathway connects the two environments. Interfaces to
substation equipment and a conversions and communications resource complete the system. The substation
terminus for traditional SCADA system is the Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) where the communications
and substation interface interconnect. Figure 1-1 illustrates this concept.

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 Operation Center Power Station

State
Monitor

Communications

Communications
Device

Device
Encoder / Encoder / Control
Decoder/ Decoder Driver
Processor

Human Interface Measuring

Device
SCADA Remote Terminal

SCADA “Master Station”

Figure 1-1
Basic SCADA System

SCADA system RTUs collect measurements of power system parameters, transport them to an
Operations Center where the SCADA “Master” presents them to system operators. Predominantly, these
are real and reactive power flow (watts and vars) voltages and currents. But other measurements like tank
levels; pressures and tap positions are common to SCADA systems. These belong to the class of
measurements termed analogs. Almost anything that can be viewed as a continuous variable over a range
fits this category. Analog data is refreshed periodically so that the operator can be assured the data on his
screen is relevant. The re-fresh rate is often dependent on the characteristics of the data being viewed.
SCADA system master stations monitor the incoming stream of analog variables and flag values
that are outside prescribed limits with warnings and alarms to alert the system operator to potential
problems. Data is screened for “bad” (i.e., out of reasonability limits) data as well.
SCADA systems also collect the state of power equipment such as circuit breakers and switches.
This data is presented to the system operator, usually on graphical displays, to give the operator a view of
the connectivity of the power system at any given moment. Various state change-reporting techniques have
been used to report such changes for the system operator. These include flagging momentary changes,
counting changes and time tagging them with varying degrees of resolution (sometimes as short as one
millisecond).
SCADA systems almost always provide a means for the system operator to control power
equipment. This includes circuit breakers, switches, tap changers and generators. It may include some
peripheral equipment in the substation as well.
In the Operations Center a SCADA system has at least one computer, communicating to
substations and/or generating stations collecting data, issuing control commands, and storing the incoming
data. The system operator views data and messages through a set of displays on “view stations”. The
displays allow the operator to control power equipment and make system changes through a screen dialog.

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 Besides these basic functions the Operations Center computer archives data and displays selected
data sets, such as trends and logs in special ways for the operators. More modern systems provide data to
other areas of the utility enterprise in any number of different forms and services.

The Substation SCADA Environment

This section will describe the substation environment and the evolution that leads to Substation
Automation

Measuring Systems

Measurements bridge the physical world to the Operations Center display. Whether they are
electrical measurements associated with the transportation, generation or distribution of electric energy or
physical measurements of temperatures, pressures, position etc; measuring systems transform the physical
world to the digital world. They are a critical aspect of SCADA and Automation Systems.

The Substation Interface

A key function for SCADA or Automation systems is measuring of activity on the power system,
processing the measurements and reporting that data to an operations center. The measurement data source
is the instrument transformer. The evolution process has improved the performance of Current
Transformers (CT) and Voltage Transformer (VT), but has not materially changed their technology. The
vast majority of VTs and CTs are still iron core devices with the same characteristics they have had for
decades. But improvements in core material give the modern CT a wider dynamic range. This means that
CTs designed to reproduce fault currents at 10 or 20 times nominal secondary ratings are often able to
accurately measure normal and even low load currents. This is important because few utilities are willing to
spend the extra money for revenue class CTs for monitoring power flows internal to their system unless
they are mandated by a regulatory body or by contract. SCADA systems rely extensively on the protection
class CT for measurements. While these may not be certified for revenue measuring under ANSI C57.13,
they will provide near- revenue quality performance in properly designed installations.

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 138 KV Class Oil Filled 15KV ClassMolded Polymer

Figure 1-2
Typical Current Transformers

Voltage transformer have changed little except to become smaller and lighter. Improvements in
insulating systems have made this difference. Improved capacitor voltage transformers (CVT) have made
revenue class measurements possible at lower cost than VTs. Since the CVT is required for transmission
line protection schemes that use power line carrier this accuracy improvement simplifies finding voltage
sources for SCADA measurements.

138KV Class Oil Filled 15KV Molded Polymer

Figure 1-3
Typical Voltage Transformers

However, there are new technologies for current and voltage sensors that have made this process
more economical. These include post insulator voltage and current sensors, Hall Effect current sensors and
field effect voltage sensors. The latest technology for sensors is based around light wave polarization

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rotation and fiber optic transmission techniques. These are emerging technologies and promise very high
accuracy and wide dynamic range.

Measuring Devices

Along with the voltage and current sensors is the measuring device to convert the instrument
transformer signals into something that can be easily converted to a digital measurement for transportation
to the Operation Center.

X Y Z Voltage Voltage to Additional Devices

Transformers

Measuring
Devices
Voltage
V1
Current and Voltage Inputs

A
I1
Protection Device

V2

A
I2
V3

A
I3

Real and Reactive Current

Power Measuring Measuring Devices
Device

Figure 1-4
Measuring Device Connections to Sensors

Here the evolutionary forces have been hard at work. Over the last three decades the semi-
conductor industry has provided components to make dramatic changes in the conversion process. Early
converters, the word transducer is used to describe them, used thermocouples and heaters to convert
voltages, currents, and real power to millivoltages (from the thermocouple). The heaters were driven from
the voltage or current source and their temperature, as measured by a thermocouple, represented the input

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in a somewhat linear transformation. Using a real power transducer with a "reactiformer" to shift the
voltages 90 derived reactive power°.
The discovery of Hall Effect in the 1960’s allowed power transducers to do the current times
voltage multiplication economically. Practical and economical real and reactive power transducers
appeared on the market based on low cost integrated circuit operational amplifiers and “Hall Effect”
elements.
Instead of having to measure millivolt transducer outputs that required temperature stabilized
amplifiers to bring the signals to useable levels, Hall Effect and Op Amp technology transducer signals
entered the 1 - 10 volt range. Gone was the finicky instrumentation amplifier needed for thermal
converters.
Following the Hall Effect innovation came low cost integrated circuit multipliers to make the V*I
instantaneous multiplication needed for measure real and reactive power. Rapidly falling manufacturing
costs for semiconductor integrated circuits moved this technology in front of the Hall Effect transducer and
added a significant performance improvement. Then came the “Charge Pump” or “Pulse Width” multiplier
that performed high accuracy multiplication as well. These two technologies are still mainstay today.
With transducers as measuring devices, the task of making the digital conversion of analog signals
was relegated to the remote terminal unit. Early on, A/D converters were expensive. Most RTUs had only
one A/D and the inputs were switched (multiplexed) to the A/D for conversion periodically on command
from the operations center computer. Such switching also served to protect the A/D converter from voltage
and current transients that can occur on the input terminals. A steady stream of semiconductor
improvements made A/Ds cheaper, more accurate, more stable and more reliable. Converters, which cost
hundreds of dollars in the 1970s now, cost tens of dollars for higher performance.

1970’s A/D
1990’s A/D

5.25” x 6.0” x 5.0” 2.0” x 2.0” x 0.4”

$3,000 $45

Figure 1-5

The microprocessor and the low cost A/D converter have changed the processing of analog signals
in the substation dramatically. These components are cheap enough that they have become embedded in
the measuring device and the RTU A/D now serves fewer inputs. The conversion takes place in the

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measuring device and the output is a stream of digital data on a serial communications pathway. There are
hybrid digital transducers that use the analog measuring technology and onboard conversion as well as fully
digital devices. In fully digital devices the A/D (and a possible companion Digital Signal Processor (DSP))
samples the current and voltage inputs and performs the multiplication and computation in software. Faster
microprocessors perform the complex Fourier transformations even in a low cost measuring device.
Transducers have evolved into power monitors with a smorgasbord of measurements computed from the
basic sample stack in the device. Power monitors provide far more measurements at lower cost than
transducer technology.

Combining Measuring Functionality with Other Functions

The microprocessor revolution in the semiconductor industry started a convergence process that
makes today’s substation measuring device multi-functional. The electric utility industry grew up with
separate devices performing protection, revenue measurement and operations measurements. But, as the
semiconductor industry provided new technology for these differing functional products, their suppliers
discovered added market potential simply by providing measurements that fit another product’s
functionality. A new set of competitors has emerged. The numerical protective relay, when fitted with a
wide dynamic range conversion process, can provide load measurements like a digital transducer. The
revenue meter, fitted with partitioned database and multiple communications ports, can provide load data
measurements for SCADA as well as revenue measurements. The power monitor becomes a power quality
instrument and maybe a back-up protective device. The numerical relay and the power monitor both
capture disturbance data to supplement fault recording. Their growing internal memories and logging and
reporting functions are abundant. This collection of data, readily available in the substation, offers many
opportunities to improve operations and address local maintenance issues.

Measurements Approximate Cost

Transducers Per Phase current, Three phase real and reactive power, $1800
Per phase voltage (either Wye or Delta) 8
measurements

Power Monitor Per Phase – current, voltage (wye and delta), real and $1100
reactive power, power factor, Total three phase real and
reactive power, 21 Measurements, Operator display

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Where has the RTU Gone?

All of these products change the way data is collected for the SCADA system. The RTU no
longer has to convert the data from analog signals. This function has been driven down to measuring units
and programmable controllers. The RTU’s function becomes that of a gateway to convert protocols and
ship the data where it is needed. Figure 1-6 illustrates this comparison. Standard protocols make it possible
to eliminate the RTU function for handling power system measurements. A networked automation
environment allows multifunction intelligent electronic devices to serve multiple users transparently. The
RTU function may be reduced to serving as gateway to a legacy system in the operations center.

RTU Preforms Measuring Tasks

Remote Terminal Unit

Transducer

To Sensors
Communications
To Master

A/D Converter
I/O Process

Multiplexer
Process

Analog
Control
Driver

Remote Terminal Unit IEDs Preform Measuring Tasks

Communications Bus
Communications
Communications
To Master

Process
Process

IED

Power Monitor RTU

Relay

To Sensors To Sensors To Sensors To Sensors

Figure 1-6
Comparison of Measuring Architectures with IEDs

Monitoring State Changes in Equipment

SCADA systems have monitored the state of equipment on the power system from the very
beginning. The open / closed status of circuit breakers, disconnect switches and a host of other on – off
sensors is important information required to assess the real time state of the power system and substation.

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State changes are logged and alarmed to system operators. The real time state information feeds displays
for system operations as well. And, they are a key element in the control dialog for the operator.

Circuit Breaker
Auilliary Switch
(+)
≈

RTU Processors
B0
IED

Latch and Gate

≈
State Monitor Input
Circuit ≈
Breaker
Auilliary
Switch
(-)
Bn

Remote Terminal Unit

RTU State Monitor IED State Monitor

Figure 1-7
State Monitoring

The sensors for state information from power equipment are mechanical contacts, driven by the
equipment mechanisms. In the traditional SCADA system the RTU monitored these contacts and reported
states and changes in various ways. These include real-time state, change detect, counters and time tagged
state changes. Technology improved state monitoring from the early methods which provided only real
time state, to those that permitted change detect and the aforementioned methods. Time tagging eventually
supplanted the function of the substation sequence of events recorder and embedded this function in the
RTU. Event records are now kept in the operations center instead of resident in the substations.
The movement towards combining functions with IEDs has impacted the method of collecting
state data. Often an IED can collect state data rather than having to wire to an RTU. A breaker state might
be collected from a protective relay, a power monitor or a PLC that provides some form of substation
control for the breaker. The breaker auxiliary contacts may need to wired to one of these devices anyway
therefore collecting the data over a link eliminates redundant wiring to the breaker. The pathway to the
operations center is the communications network within the substation or through a gateway RTU. Some
other state monitoring points can become “virtual” points in that they have no physical connections; e.g.
states from protective relays indicating they have tripped or what setting group the relay is using. This
could also be from of a PLC controlling a transformer where the indication is the state of the transformer
cooling as derived by measuring the running current of the fan and pump motors.

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Controlling Power Equipment

SCADA systems are used to control power equipment. This normally includes circuit breakers,
switches and tap changers and peaking generators. It may also include generator load – frequency (L/F)
control for large or small power stations.

Traditional RTU Control

Traditional SCADA systems have an interface to the control circuits of the power equipment
driven by an RTU. The interface has to deal with the large currents and high voltages associated with
controlling such equipment. RTUs, being electronic devices, don’t have the interface circuitry embedded
within. Most utilities have developed a method to implement the control interface that suits their particular
needs. There are two common installation practices. One concept places a cabinet with the interface relays
and circuitry near the RTU and station wiring is brought to that cabinet. The other is for the utility to
install an interface on the control panel of each effected device and the RTU control output is extended to
the interface. Both have merits. With either implementation, the control logic and security are part of the
RTU functionality. The interface deals with substation control circuit issues.

Distributed Control

In a distributed SCADA system, control of power equipment is implemented with IEDs. Rather
than have all the control logic and security being in a common controller like the RTU, distributed control
places it in multiple controllers. These might be protective relays, PLCs or multiple small RTUs. Control
commands from the Operations Center pass through the RTU gateway or directly to the substation network
to reach the IED designated to control a device.
In many cases distributed control will reduce the wiring needed in the substation as the IED used
for control is often wired to the power equipment anyway. It may have a control interface embedded
within as a special feature from its supplier. However, the interface for power equipment control may still
be required as not all IEDs can handle the direct control of equipment. Usually interrupting the DC control
currents causes problems for IEDs.

The Impact of Distributed Control

Distributed control creates a new environment for operating and test personnel. With a single
RTU as the focal point for substation supervisory control it is fairly easy to arrange an agreeable point to
disable control for test and personnel safety. When control is distributed throughout the substation the
disable point changes from one to many. Subsequently, an operating or test person must identify and
operate all these points in order to safely test. When the control is distributed to a protective device it is
important that testing the supervisory control function not require protection be removed from service. If

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protection must be removed from service to test then the utility must provide back-up protection or be
satisfied the power system is not compromised while testing is being performed.

Figure 1-8
Protective Relays Equipped For Feeder Breaker Control

Usually distributing control and monitoring throughout the substation in multiple devices requires
the utility to nurture an atmosphere of cooperation among substation operating, maintenance, protection
and SCADA test employees. Job rules and practices that have grown to co-exist in a segregated
environment will have to be redefined. A degree of skill transfer may be needed to make this new
environment comfortable and trustworthy.

The Operations Center

The SCADA system has always focused around activities in the utility operations center. Whether the
system supports transmission, distribution or generation dispatch functions, or a combination of these, its
task remains essentially the same. These include: collecting data from substations and power plants,
storing data, populating displays and graphics with data, providing a mechanism to operate equipment,
maintaining logs of important activities and alerting system operators to abnormal and threatening
conditions and events. Dispatch operations also compute area control error and selectively raise and lower
generator settings.
As technology evolves from the simple SCADA system to the Substation Automation
environment the users of substation data expand outside the operations center walls. The new users are the
Protection Engineer, the Maintenance Engineer, the Equipment Engineer, the Substation Operations leader,
the System Planner and even the Power Quality Engineer. There are likely to be others.

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Master Stations

In the evolution of SCADA systems, the operations center control and display area acquired the
role of central controller for the system. All the remote measuring and controlling elements responded to
its queries and commands. They remained quiescent otherwise. In this environment the operations center
is the Master. In an automation environment this role often changes to where the remote sites ship data
without request and the operations center “master” only behaves as a data repository (server) for operations
centers and corporate users.

The Beginning

Early SCADA systems were implemented without the now ever present computer. Complex
electromechanical switching systems based around dial telephone technology made it possible to remotely
read instruments and operate equipment. They became common to the operation of small hydroelectric
plants and inter-urban railway power converter substations where manning these sites was not
economically feasible. Developments in the semi-conductor industry made these simple systems less
“fussy”, more reliable and less costly. But they remained largely “One on One” systems with one
equipment at the Operations Center and a companion equipment in the substation. The Operations Center
end became the master station and the substation companion the Remote Station. A growing number of
utilities found these systems useful.
There were few suppliers of these highly specialized systems. They fiercely guarded their
technology.

The Computer Based SCADA System

The advent of the digital process control computer made the SCADA system take on its present
form. Computer driven SCADA systems emerged from the process control industry tailored to meet the
needs of the electric, oil, gas and water industries. Companies like General Electric, Westinghouse, Leeds
and Northrop and Honeywell took the lead in bringing these systems to the electric utility. Each company
had its own homegrown computer and software. The key component for SCADA systems was the priority
interrupt driven operating system (usually called a Real-Time operating system) which differed greatly
from that of an information technology computer which was batch oriented. The operating system
permitted many programs to run simultaneously and allocated computing resources as each task needed
them.
In early systems the task of communicating with remote terminal in substation retained the
hardware of the “one on one” system architecture. The computer read the result of data transfers instead of
having the data displayed directly on a wall of instruments. The communications protocols invented for the
hard wired RTUs became ingrained in these evolving systems; retaining the proprietary character that was
part of the base commercial competition.
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 The computer could drive CRT displays with substation and system diagrams for system
operators. It could also scan the incoming data for limit violations and print logs. The computer could also
store events and capture energy interchange across ties for computation of the energy transfer bill. The
process technology computer could also compute area-wide power flows and dispatch generators based on
flows and economical performance data for generators. These were great innovations all directly
attributable to the digital computer.

Growth in the Computer Industry

The process control computer grew into an industry of its own. Many of the original system
suppliers to the electric utility changed their business focus. Some, like Honeywell and General Electric,
aimed at being computer suppliers while others, Leeds and Northrop, Boeing and TRW, gave up on
manufacturing computers and focused on supplying systems based on purchased computers. New suppliers
like Digital Equipment (now Compaq) and Scientific Engineering Laboratories (deceased) marketed
specialty computers, dubbed mini-computers, that met the needs of the process industry. They provided
their own support for their equipment and a baseline package of software. Industry programming
languages emerged such as Fortran and PL-1 which simplified the programming chores of the systems
supplier and allowed in-house support by utilities.

Advanced Applications

SCADA systems have acquired a large list of advanced applications to execute, with inputs based
on SCADA data. As a result they have been re-named Energy Management (EMS) or Distribution
Management (DMS) systems. EMS advanced applications include state estimation to refine the incoming
data, contingency analysis to spot the utility weak spots and power system simulators to allows operation
center employees to try “what ifs” before making changes to the network. DMS applications have included
trouble call analysis, outage analysis and even crew scheduling.

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 Simulator
Logs
Real and
State Reports
Estimator Time
Data

Operating
Security System
Displays
Alarms
Load Flows

Substation RTUs

Figure 1-9
Master Station Software Layering for Real Time and Advanced Applications

Clusters and Networks

Given the reliability of early computers and the insistence of utilities that their systems be
available a very high percentage of the time, a back-up computer in “hot stand-by” was almost always a
requirement. Automatic failover schemes are now standard with elaborate failure detection schemes and
methods to recover from virtually any failure. Although the back-up computer adds substantial cost it can
also be used for software development without impacting the on-line system, which is a benefit.
The growing size of SCADA systems and the added burden of advanced applications drove some
fundamental changes in Master Station architecture.
To run advanced applications requires a more powerful machine than to maintain basic SCADA
functionality. System developers placed the computer resource drains on separate machines and linked
them together to share data. The computer “Cluster” provides a means to link multiple machines as a
method to distribute computing tasks and maintain high reliability. The “Cluster” gave way to networks as
networking technology changed the computer technology landscape.

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Client Server Architectures

As additional computing capacity is needed to meet system growth, machines are added to the
Operations Center network. Some special purpose computers like communications gateways also add
capacity to the system by relieving the main processors of the communications chores. Also attached to
the network are the peripherals. These include storage devices, printers, display drivers and
communications gateways. The network allows these devices to be added and removed easily without
effecting the main processors. The network architecture also allows changing processors, which facilitates
system upgrades for expansion of process improvements. Naturally, the network is redundant to eliminate
a single point of failure.

Work Stations, Personal Computers, Clients and Servers

Higher capacity machines serving as workstations are replacing large mini-computers. A desktop
workstation can replace a refrigerator-sized mini and eliminate its need for an air-conditioned computer
room as well. Modern systems have multiple workstations dividing up the computing chores. The now
inexpensive Personal Computer replaces the specialized displays (Aydin) common to early systems that
were needed for graphical interfaces. Also gone are the special keypads with 100+ engraved keys to bring
up station displays or special menus. The pop-up, pull-down window and a mouse or track ball do this
function. Light pens came and went as well. A mixture of PCs and workstations make up the modern
system. It a big money saver over the custom HMI of early systems.
Modern information technology architectures also distribute the computing resources into clients
and servers. The repositories for data become the servers and the users and their applications, the clients.
Operator’s desktop computers and displays house the commonly used operator displays and the data server
feeds the operator’s machine fresh data when a display is requested. Similarly, large computational
applications can run on their own server, drawing data from other applications as a client; then offering the
results to the network as a server. Users of the process are clients to the server with special data.

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 Failover
Logic

Advanced Alternate Alternate

System Communications Communications
Applications System
Server Gateway Gateway
Server

Corporate LAN
Server

Bridge to
Dual Redundant
System Network

Dispatchers
With
Workstations

Figure 1-10
Network Based Distributed System

New Users

It took a long time before the rest of the electric utility discovered the gold mine of information
tucked away in the Operations Center SCADA system. But that is what has happened in the last five years
or so. The “peak load reports” generated by the EMS/DMS provide a good source of electronic basic
system data for the Planner and the “capacity” Engineer. Originally this report served only Operations
Center employees who used it to assess the potential for system problems. The event logs help planners as
well when they are challenged about outages. The maintenance and protection engineers have also found
data that makes their job easier to accomplish their expected results. The challenge is moving the data to
these new users without compromising the SCADA system.
Perhaps the first to discover the value SCADA data and make the invasion into the Operations
Center system were the protection engineers. They were part of the substation design process and had
inside information on what was available. As they embedded Sequence of Events (SOE) monitoring in the
substation control for the SCADA system their connection to the SOE data was undeniable. The protection
engineer could look at the SCADA system, the SOE and log data and offer insights into major event on the
power system. There are also special remedial protection schemes that require input from the protection
engineer to operate ---which means the protection engineer must have access to a SCADA terminal. For
these and many other reasons, it makes sense to extend the Operations Center capabilities to the protection
engineer. And, there is an obvious productivity enhancement; being able to detect protection system
failures and take action remotely with via the SCADA instead of dispatching operating personnel that can’t
fix the problem once they’re on site.

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 Failover
Logic

Advanced Alternate Alternate

System Communications Communications
Applications System
Server Gateway Gateway
Server

Corporate LAN
Server

Bridge to
Dual Redundant
System Network

Dispatchers
With
Workstations
Customer Planning
Applications Archive
Server Server

Marketing Planning, Maintenance and

Network Engineering Network

Figure 1-11
Network Extensions to Serve New Users

Opportunities exist for others in the utility community to benefit from real-time or near real time
information. Sequence of events can “time” a circuit breaker every time it operates if its trip coil current
detector is monitored with SCADA that can log SOE. This is a tremendous advantage to equipment
engineers and maintenance forces as well. Breakers fail because they open slowly! It is also possible to
monitor tap changer moves with SCADA and thereby track potential wear. There is also the opportunity to
monitor dissolved gases in transformers on-line as well using the SCADA system as a pathway. These
opportunities lead toward the integration that makes the conceptual “Automated” substation.

Corporate Connections

Some SCADA systems have links negotiated between the Information Technology (IT) and
Operations groups to feed SCADA data to corporate databases. These become the repositories of the
planning and historical data that are used throughout the enterprise. WAN technology provides the
extended access and a special server isolates the SCADA and corporate networks.

This is also a pathway to feed customers data that is needed to administer purchase power
contracts.

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Connections to Substation Automation

Substation Automation can make the transition of data access from operation center to outside
users almost seamless. With network technology providing the pathway to the substation and the
substation automation network, internal access to end devices is possible for multiple users to connect to
devices and interact with them without jeopardizing the Operations Center environment. There remain
issues of access authorization and security to resolve but connecting the substation IEDs to a common
network is the catalyst. Routers, gateways and firewalls will provide for controlling the data flow and
access.

Communications Advancements
The evolution from SCADA systems to Substation Automation is also a study of evolution in
communications technology. When SCADA systems emerged, the Teletype machine was the fastest
method for passing data (in text from) short of a phone call. Many electric utilities owned and maintained
their own private phone system either as an economic option to leasing lines, or as a symbol of distrust of
the telecommunications carrier. This is the starting point of growth toward automation technology.
Hard copper lines dominated early SCADA systems. They carried 10 pulses per second for
dialing and 300 – 3000 Hz for voice; some stray noise came along for free. A Teletype operated at 30 or 60
BPS and was considered high-end communications that stretched the available technology into the 1950s
and early 1960s. Some early SCADA systems even operated over power line carrier at 60 BPS. This
environment drove SCADA systems to incorporate communications messaging systems that were very
efficient and highly immune to errors caused by noise. This is the root of most “Legacy” SCADA
protocols. The attributes of efficiency and security should be still revered today.
SCADA communications bit rates have progressed to 300, 900, 1200, 2400 and finally 9600 BPS.
All this was accomplished with improvements in communications line compensation and better
infrastructure provided by local carriers. SCADA system suppliers originally provided their own modems
in order to maintain some technological edge over competitors but have relegated the communications
modem to third parties. They also made their own modems to control incompatibility. The third party
modem still brings that issue to the table even though the standards are very mature. Even so, 1200 BPS is
the accepted standard for wire lines even though PCs communicate easily at 24 – 53Kbps. The phase
modulation techniques and compression common to PC modems hasn’t found its way into the SCADA
environment largely because the higher bit rates rely on “onboard” processing to help with the chores.
RTUs don’t have any resources to offer to this requirement. The figure below illustrates the changes in
communications speeds for SCADA system over time. Note the dramatic increases available with
LAN/WAN network access over fiber and microwave networks emerges.

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 LAN/WAN High Speed Access
1mbps Fiber, Microwave, Frame Relay

SCADA
64kbps Communications Speeds
PC & PC Modems

Wire Line, Radio

9600bps

Leased & Private Line

1200bps

300bps
1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010
Figure 1-12
Communication Speed

The UART

A major element of early SCADA RTUs and Masters was the serial to parallel conversion
function for messaging. This is another cornerstone of “legacy” protocols. Early electronics lacked a
component that performed the serial to parallel conversion. SCADA system suppliers had to design and
manufacture this function out of primitive logic blocks as a component of their RTU and operation center
communications gateways. The message formats they developed were based on the differing length
message “blocks” because of the size of their serial to parallel conversion registers. There was no need to
consider compatibility between systems. No one would consider buying a system from one vendor and
RTUs from another. At least until the 1980s.
The invention of the Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) revolutionized data
communications. This large-scale integrated circuit packaged the shift registers and buffers and clocking in
a single circuit package that replaced large portions of circuit boards in the SCADA communications
subsystem. This part was based around the standard data format for data exchange embedded in (teletype)
messaging; 7 or 8 bits of data (a byte), one start and one or two stop bits. Microprocessor technology
followed this “standard”. The microprocessor revolution drove new SCADA protocols to be “byte”
oriented. As an added advantage the UART resynchronized every byte and that allowed longer messages
than could be sustained without loss of synchronism in earlier SCADA messaging systems.
The microprocessor equipped with UARTs also offered new functionality. By the 1980s SCADA
systems vendors found that third parties had cracked their protocol codes and were supplying
microprocessor based RTUs that could integrate into their closed systems. The bit-oriented protocols are a
bit more challenging but these new suppliers quickly moved in the market. Some “systems” suppliers even
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stopped manufacturing their own RTUs and relied on the third party to fill that requirement in their
systems.

Multiple Port RTU Developments

The utility industry discovered that RTUs could combine the substation interface for more than
one system into one box. This meant that the large area dispatch system found in the power pool could
share an interface with the local utility SCADA system. Each system communicated to the RTU through
its own port, usually in different protocols. This provided a significant reduction in installation and support
cost for the utility.
Two distinctly different approaches evolved for implementing multiple communications ports.
Figure 1-12 illustrates the two common methods. Some RTU suppliers designed their products around very
high performance microprocessors and provided a means to attach UARTs and a few other

Single Processor Multi-Port Architecture Multi-Processor Multi-Port Architecture

Processor

Com Port
Com Port
Com Port

Processor
Processor
Processor

Com
Com

Port
Port
Com
Port

A B C A B C
Communications Links to
Communications Links to
Masters A, B and C
Masters A, B and C
Figure 1-12
Multi-Port RTU Architecture
components to the processor bus to allow one processor to service multiple ports. The software then
handled all the functions and protocol emulation in one large program. Other suppliers settled on using
lower power processors and delegated a processor to each port. They used an internal messaging scheme to
pass data between processors. Each processor thus had a smaller program and the overall system could be
more loosely coupled together.
The RTU evolved into a communications hub and protocol converter as IEDs made their way into
substations. IEDs drove signal and control processing closer to substation equipment. They became
distributed around the substation, which reduced costs significantly. However, IEDs relied on a serial
communications bus to integrate them into the system. The difficulty with this approach came from the
numerous proprietary communications protocols used by IEDs. An integrated substation SCADA

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implementation often needed a separate communications bus for each family of IEDs. In extremes an RTU
communicating to IEDs needed a serial port for every IED. This was not the ticket to success. Also
troublesome is the task of acquiring and maintaining a library of IED protocols to integrate these
components.

Common Messaging Busses

To achieve effective integration a messaging bus where all devices share a common protocol is a
requirement. One approach fielded was to attach a protocol converter (network interface module – NIM) to
each IED or small group of common IEDs. The converter translated the IED protocol into one that could
be implemented throughout the substation. This effectively distributed the protocol conversion process
around the substations. It has the same problem, however, in that a library of conversion software is still
needed. However, it is far more flexible and simpler to install when only one communications bus has to
be installed throughout the substation instead of many.
The only real solution to this problem is to find a satisfactory IED- sized protocol and convince
IED suppliers they should adopt it for their products. This is not an easy task but an IEEE Substations
Committee Working Group reached a consensus and published a document; Recommended Practice For
Communications Between IEDs and RTU. This document cites DNP 3.0 and IEC870-5. But defacto
standards have emerged as well, most notable ModBus and ModBus RTU. These are common to the
Programmable Logic Controller market. A few others exist as the result of collaboration between vendors
serving a common customer base.
As substation automation develops based on network communications and peer to peer messaging,
a communications architecture, derived from an EPRI research project, the Utility Communications
Architecture, is a likely pathway. Other methods, which embrace the full network architecture, are under
development as well.

Communication Pathways

While this discussion has centered around wire line communications paths and this is a
predominant media, there are others that bring new options.

Wireless Technologies

Wireless communication services are mushrooming. The explosion of cellular and PCS phone
service offer some SCADA system solution as well. Current technology makes it is possible to connect to
field devices using digital modems and standard wireless messaging just like dial-up telephone connections
for PCs. These are expensive because the charges are often based on connection time. They can be
effected by the level of traffic in the area and may not be power supply (AC) independent either. Setting up
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and shutting down the communications connection also takes time, which slows the process. The dial-up
medium is very flexibly for widely distributed devices that only occasionally need to be interrogated. For
example, line capacitor banks or revenue meters.
Another wireless service, Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), uses the low traffic control
channel of the cellular system to transfer data suitable for SCADA system. These bill by the data packet
and are suitable for low volume traffic over a wide area. This service is not universally available. A
similar service is available using satellites, which is effective for very remote locations; but can be
expensive.

MAS and Spread Spectrum Wireless

Many utilities have adopted a wireless based communications system, which is point to multi-
point. The Multiple Address System (MAS) is licensed by the FCC in several frequency bands.
928/952MHZ is the most common. This system can run at bit rates of 9600 and is very economical. It is
line of sight, however, which makes it sensitive to terrain variations and obstructions. Unlicensed spread
spectrum radios are also available that behave much like MAS system. They operate at significantly lower
power and usually have a shorter range.
A variation of the spread spectrum data technology is based on a packet messaging system. This
system uses multiple transceivers to form a network of nodes. It passes message from node to node using a
“store and forward” technique to connected devices on the network and the network host. Because of its
non-deterministic by structure, it is difficult to predict the time required for a message to enter the network
and reach its destination. The message may take multiple paths and the pathway may change as the
network adjusts to prevailing conditions. This is a good system for messaging where the message
transportation time and response is not critical.

High Speed Services

There are also a number of large-scale high-speed communications pathways available. Many
utilities own and operate their own communications networks, which are microwave based. Microwave
networks are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A microwave “backbone”
gives utilities as large pipe to transport voice and data. To the SCADA system these behave like copper
lines. However, a single channel bank in a microwave system can support many voice grade channels or a
wide band channel such as is needed for at network based SCADA system. Unlicensed spread spectrum
microwave systems are available as well that supports high-speed data traffic.
Some utilities have found a way to capitalize on the right of way they own for their power lines by
installing optical fiber communications networks. These systems often serve the entire enterprise as well as
substations. Some utilities have an arrangement to share the back bone for commercial gain or to partner

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with a commercial carrier to get low cost access to the back bone for their own use. This is a great asset for
SCADA system communications.
“Frame Relay” is also available from telecommunications service providers. It is wire line based
high-speed “packet” system. Its capable of very fast messaging and is suitable for high volume.

Summary

In the years that SCADA systems have existed there has been a steady stream of improvements driven by
forces of technological change. This chapter has discussed many of them. But the next significant leap is
the Automation System. That has embraced the architecture of the information technology network and
offers a completely different way to implement the functions performed in the substation and Operations
Center. This new form offers many potential enhancements and some interesting new problems.

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Section 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1
The Evolution – From SCADA to Automation .............................................................. 1
Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1
Overview of SCADA System Functions.......................................................................... 1
The Substation SCADA Environment ........................................................................................................ 3
Measuring Systems......................................................................................................................................... 3
The Substation Interface................................................................................................................................. 3
Measuring Devices ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Combining Measuring Functionality with Other Functions ........................................................................... 7
Measurements................................................................................................................................................. 7
Approximate Cost........................................................................................................................................... 7
Where has the RTU Gone?............................................................................................................................. 8
Monitoring State Changes in Equipment ................................................................................................... 8
Controlling Power Equipment .................................................................................................................. 10
Traditional RTU Control .............................................................................................................................. 10
Distributed Control....................................................................................................................................... 10
The Operations Center ................................................................................................... 11
Master Stations ........................................................................................................................................... 12
The Beginning .............................................................................................................................................. 12
The Computer Based SCADA System ......................................................................................................... 12
Growth in the Computer Industry................................................................................................................. 13
Advanced Applications ................................................................................................................................ 13
Clusters and Networks ............................................................................................................................... 14
Client Server Architectures .......................................................................................................................... 15
Work Stations, Personal Computers, Clients and Servers ............................................................................ 15
New Users.................................................................................................................................................... 16
Corporate Connections ................................................................................................................................. 17
Connections to Substation Automation ........................................................................................................ 18
Communications Advancements ................................................................................... 18
The UART.................................................................................................................................................... 19
Multiple Port RTU Developments............................................................................................................. 20
Common Messaging Busses......................................................................................................................... 21
Communication Pathways ......................................................................................................................... 21
Wireless Technologies ................................................................................................................................ 21
MAS and Spread Spectrum Wireless ........................................................................................................... 22

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High Speed Services..................................................................................................................................... 22
Summary.......................................................................................................................... 23

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