Using Internet technologies for secure substation access and control

The development of the Internet as a mechanism for information access and delivery has become a fact of life. The technologies that underlie the Internet include the TCP/TP communications architecture, an array of “digital” communication mechanisms, application protocols such as HTTP and specialized programming languages like Java. These technologies, although designed for the Internet, work just as well on private networks, such as those being built by a large number of utilities. A large number of utilities have invested in running fiber optic cable and setting up digital microwave systems in order to make bandwidth available to the utility and for sale to others. Several have a large number of their substations and operational/engineering facilities linked on such private WANs. In some cases the utilities are calling upon private telecommunication companies to build and operate private WANs for them. In either case, the presence of digital, high-bandwidth communications in a substation opens up the possibility of utilizing “lnternet” technologies to link substation information/data sources to multiple “users”, in a secure manner