Recent advances in master station architecture

A new master station architecture, based on the open systems concept, is now widely employed by the industry´s vendors and has salient characteristics that can be summarized as follows: industry standard hardware is used to the greatest extent practical; industry standard software is used to the greatest extent practical; a network of computers is accepted as the basic paradigm; configurations exploiting the above characteristics are favored; and configurations based on proprietary hardware are avoided. This article explains why the change occurred, details major characteristics of the new architecture, and speculates on the effects the new architecture will have on the three major industry participants: utilities (buyers) purchasing the systems; contractors (sellers) building the systems; and consultants assisting in system procurement.<>