Analysis of utility communication protocol IEC 61850 for substation automation systems

The utility communication protocols such as DNP 3, MOD Bus, IEC 60870-5-101/104, IEC 61850 standard provides methods of developing best engineering practices for substation protection, monitoring, integration, metering, testing and control. In substation automation high speed communications are required to meet the data transfer rates of the modern automatic control and monitoring systems. Ener-Vista software is used as an interface between the relay and PC. It is used to set up the relays for communication through PC as well as analyze the data communication between the relays. The frames transmitted in the network are further analyzed using Wireshark network packet analyzer software.In the near future, very high speed communication will be required to perform protection signaling. Using Ener-vista performance target response time for a command signal between two IEDs is analyzed. The standard IEC-61850 communication networks and systems will provide interoperability between the IEDs for protection, control, monitoring, metering and automation in substation. IEC 61850 is an international standard for electrical substation automation that will significantly improve the design and construction of electrical power systems in the future.