Systems and methods for configuration-less process bus with architectural redundancy in digital substations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10630541-B2
Application number	US-201615222484-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2016
Priority date	Jul 28, 2016
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for configuration-less process bus. In one embodiment, the system includes at least one process interface unit (PIU). The PIU includes at least one pre-configured communication port defined by one of a factory setting or a product code order. The at least one PIU is operable to transmit and receive a data stream. The data stream includes at least one dataset. The dataset includes at least one field for sampled values measured at least at one source. The source includes one of a current transformer or a voltage transformer. The dataset can further include a timestamp and a unique identifier associated with the source. The system can include at least one intelligent electronic device (IED) communicatively coupled to the PIU. The IED can be operable to receive the data stream from the PIU and transform the sampled values based on user-defined transformation factors.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for a configuration-less process bus, the system comprising:
at least one process interface unit (PIU) including at least one pre-configured communication port, defined by one of a factory setting or a product code order, the at least one PIU being operable to transmit and receive a pre-configured data stream, the pre-configured data stream including at least one dataset, the at least one dataset including at least one field for a unique identifier (UID) pre-configured by one of the factory setting or the product order code, a Generic Object Oriented Substation Event (GOOSE), the GOOSE including at least one of a status and an analog information directly measured for at least one process transducer including at least one switchgear, and sampled values measured from at least one current transformer (CT) or at least one voltage transformer (VT); and
at least one intelligent electronic device (IED) being communicatively coupled to the at least one PIU and configured to:
transmit and receive the pre-configured data stream from the at least one PIU;
receive a second data stream using a network connection;
adjust, based on execution of a network failover mechanism, the pre-configured data stream using the second data stream;
map the pre-configured data stream to a user-defined source based on the UID; and
transform the pre-configured data stream based on user-defined transformation factors to avoid configuration in the at least one PIU.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one dataset is defined using a pre-configured IED Instantiated Description (IID) file associated with the at least one PIU.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pre-configured data stream includes pre-configured sampled values, the pre-configured sampled values including at least one of a current output directly measured from the at least one current transformer (CT) in secondary values or a voltage output directly measured from the at least one voltage transformer (VT) in the secondary values.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pre-configured data stream is formatted based at least on one of an IEC 61850 format or an IEC 61869 format.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the UID is pre-configured using one of the factory settings or a product order code.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an Ethernet network configured to transmit data between the at least one PIU and the at least one IED, wherein the at least one IED is operable to receive from the at least one PIU in parallel;
the pre-configured data stream via a point-to-point connection between the at least one PIU and the at least one IED; and
a second data stream via the Ethernet network.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one IED is further operable to adjust a quality of the data in the pre-configured data stream using the second data stream based on a network failover mechanism.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the network failover mechanism includes:
determining that at least one of failure conditions is satisfied, the failure conditions including:
at least one frame in the pre-configured data stream is lost or delayed;
a quality of the data in the at least one frame in the pre-configured data stream is below a first threshold;
a quality of a time associated with the data in the at least one frame in the pre-configured data stream is below a second threshold; and
a health indicator associated with one of a behavior and an operation mode of the at least one PIU is below a third threshold;
responsive to the determination, identifying at least one redundant frame in the second data stream;

determining that the quality of the data in the at least one redundant frame is above the first threshold and the quality of the time in the at least one redundant frame is above the second threshold; and
based on the determination, if the result is positive, using the at least one redundant frame for processing.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the network failover mechanism further includes:
if result of the determination is negative, determining a number of the at least one frame in the pre-configured data stream for which the failure conditions are satisfied;
if the number is below a tolerance threshold, labeling the at least one frame as having a poor quality and sending the at least one frame for further processing; and
if the number is above the tolerance threshold, issuing at least one alarm.

10. A method for a configuration-less process bus, the method comprising:
providing at least one process interface unit (PIU), the at least one PIU including at least one pre-configured communication port defined by one of a factory setting or a product code order code;
transmitting and receiving, by the at least one PIU, a pre-configured data stream, the pre-configured data stream including at least one dataset, the at least one dataset including at least one field for a unique identifier (UID) pre-configured by one of the factory setting or the product order code, a Generic Object Oriented Substation Event (GOOSE), the GOOSE including at least one of a status and an analog information directly measured for at least one of process transducers including at least one switchgear, and sampled values measured from at least one current transformer (CT) or at least one voltage transformer (VT); and
providing at least one intelligent electronic device (IED) communicatively coupled to the at least one PIU;
receiving, by the at least one IED, the pre-configured data stream from the at least one PIU;
receiving, by the at least one IED, a second data stream using a network connection;
adjusting, by the at least one IED, based on execution of a network failover mechanism, the pre-configured data stream using the second data stream;
mapping, by the at least one IED, the pre-configured data stream to a user-defined source based on the UID; and
transforming, by the at least one IED, the pre-configured data stream using user-defined transformation factors to avoid configuration in the at least one PIU.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one dataset is defined using a pre-configured IED Instantiated Description (IID) file associated with the at least one PIU.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the pre-configured data stream includes pre-configured sampled values, the pre-configured sampled values including at least one of a current output directly measured from the at least one current transformer (CT) in secondary values or a voltage output directly measured from the at least one voltage transformer (VT) in the secondary values.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one IED is operable to receive the pre-configured data stream via a point-to-point connection between the at least one IED and the at least one PIU.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising providing an Ethernet network operable to transmit data between the at least one PIU and the at least one IED.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising receiving, by the at least one IED, a second data stream from the at least one PIU via the Ethernet network in parallel to the pre-configured data stream received via the point-to-point connection.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the at least one IED is further operable to adjust quality of data in pre-configured data stream using the second data stream based on executing a network failover mechanism.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein executing the network failover mechanism includes:
determining that one of failure conditions is sat

Assignees

• General Electric Technology Gmbh

Inventors

• Kanabar Mitalkumar G
• Hamour Ihab

Classifications

• H04L49/557

  Error correction, e.g. fault recovery or fault tolerance · CPC title

• Y04S40/124

  using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses · CPC title

• H04L2012/40221

  Profibus · CPC title

• H04L41/0663

  Performing the actions predefined by failover planning, e.g. switching to standby network elements · CPC title

• H04L41/5009

  Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF] · CPC title