New certification: zenon conforms to IEC 61850 Edition 2
The international standard IEC 61850 regulates, among other things, communication between different components in automated power stations and transformers. The current test bed for Edition 2 checks new functions and additions to the standard. It is usually the server providing data that is certified to the IEC 61850 standard. zenon acts as a client however, and was one of the first worldwide to be successfully tested with the new Edition 2 of the standard.
In Edition 2 of the IEC 61850 standard, apart from additions to the object model it was the functional constraints permitted in spontaneous communication that were enhanced in particular. As a result, the standard offers more flexibility when designing efficient network communication. The most significant enhancement concerns service tracking. This allows not just the current device status to be queried; detailed information on completed actions can also be queried.
Albi Kospiri, Communication Protocol Engineer at TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH in Munich, explains: “COPA-DATA came to our laboratories with clear ideas and the implementation of the Edition 2 of IEC 61850 standard seemed to be carried out by knowledgeable people with hands on experience of the standard. The testing process didn’t bring up significant issues. The application being tested was a comprehensive SCADA application, which gave us the best chance to test all the applicable test cases required by the test procedure.”
IEC 61850 Edition 2 offers not just improved interoperability, but also many additional possibilities such as service tracking, for example. In the video below, you can see how this new functionality can support you in better understanding the cause of commands that have not been successful.