Electric archivos

Key Industry Questions

How can control and protection networks of a substation be digitised without losing high availability and low latency in the transmission of necessary signals to ensure fault detection?

The key lies in combining the redundant open protocols HSR (IEC 62439-3 Clause 5) and PRP (IEC 62439-3 Clause 4), known as “Zero Recovery Time” or “Zero Packet Lost” redundant protocols, with the IEEE 1588 or PTP open synchronization standard, specifically defined by the industry in this sector (IEC 61850) to address this issue.

How to address cybersecurity threats associated with the digitisation of systems?

Once again, standardization bodies have proactively addressed this issue by defining the set of open standards IEC 62351-6 and IEC 62351-9. Combined with existing cybersecurity mechanisms in the IT world, these standards ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information without compromising substation operations.

How to harness the full potential of commercial electronics in Smart Grids while utilizing sector-specific communication and synchronization protocols?

The use of open standards in communication, synchronization, cybersecurity, and data modelling has led to the emergence of ad-hoc solutions designed to facilitate the integration of industrial electronics commodity solutions into the electrical sector, significantly reducing equipment costs.

And if we also want to leverage other benefits offered by digitisation such as intensive processing linked to AI or cloud computing, how can we extract information from substation networks without compromising their operation?

The IEC 61850 standard, which defines, among other things, the data model to be used in substation automation, has gained worldwide acceptance, facilitating interoperability between systems from different vendors and the emergence of specific tools for processing this data, easily integrable with AI and cloud computing systems. These solutions use FPGA technology to perform intensive processing without compromising data availability.

What other operational advantages can I obtain from digitisation and remote access to information?

One of the advantages associated with the digitisation of substations is related to the IEC 61850-10 standard, which defines how to conduct Conformance testing of substation equipment. Digitising systems using secure, highly available networks enables much of the validation testing to be conducted remotely, resulting in significant economic and safety benefits.

Benefits

SOC-E has over 13 years of proven experience providing specific solutions for Smart Grids that cover communication, synchronization, cybersecurity, and data processing.

As a technology provider, SoC-e has developed its own implementations of key open standards defined in the sector:

HSR
PRP
STP/RSTP/MSTP
PTP
IRIG-B
IEC 62351

Coupled with its use of reconfigurable FPGA-based technology, this enables the company to offer up-to-date technology aligned with the latest standard revisions and to tailor it to each client’s specific requirements, unlike solutions based on ASIC or ASSP.

Furthermore, in its commitment to flexibility and meeting all customer needs, the company’s technology is available as IP core, an integrable electronic module on a main board, and as a final product under the RelyUm brand.

All these factors make SOC-E the perfect partner for addressing any project involving communications, synchronization, and/or data processing for Smart Grids.