Generation and control of network events and conversion to SCADA protocol data types

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9401839-B2
Application number	US-35107909-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 9, 2009
Priority date	Apr 4, 2008
Publication date	Jul 26, 2016
Grant date	Jul 26, 2016

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for receiving a network event in a network format, mapping the network event into a format expected by a central monitoring system, and communicating the mapped network event to the central monitoring system. The system may employ a variety of communication protocols and physical architectures. The system may include an access controller that may connect a plurality of intelligent electronic devices and may be the primary interface with an information system or central monitoring system. The access controller may include a programmable logic engine in compliance with the IEC-61131-3 standard. The access controller may further be configured to implement rules designed to govern actions taken as a result of network information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for communicating a network event and monitored system data from an Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) to a central monitoring system comprising:
a plurality of IEDs in communication with and separate from monitored equipment,
gathering monitored equipment information therefrom for producing monitored system data relating to a status of an electric power distribution system, and,
transmitting the monitored system data;

an access controller in communication with the plurality of IEDs and configured to receive the monitored system data from the plurality of IEDs, and further receiving the network event, the access controller comprising:
an IED interface to communicate with the plurality of IEDs
a central monitoring system communications interface to transmit the monitored equipment information to the central monitoring system according to a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) format used by the central monitoring system;
an information system communications interface to communicate with an information system according to a non-SCADA format used by the information system;
a processor; and
a logic engine receiving the network event according to the non-SCADA format, transmitting the network event to the information system in the non-SCADA format, data mapping the network event into the SCADA format, and transmitting the mapped network event to the central monitoring system through the central monitoring system communications interface in the SCADA format;
wherein the SCADA format and the non-SCADA format comprise distinct communication protocols and the central monitoring system is incapable of communication using the non-SCADA format.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the access controller further comprises a local human machine interface.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the access controller further comprises a common time interface.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the logic engine stores the network event.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the central monitoring system communications interface is configured to receive the network event.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the information system communications interface is configured to receive the network event.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the network event module is further configured to determine if the network event satisfies a condition, and to selectively transmit the network event to the data mapping module if the network event satisfies the condition.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the condition is programmable in compliance with the IEC-61131-3 standard.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the access controller further comprises a rules module executable on the processor and configured to receive the network event, to generate a control instruction based on the network event and a rule, and to transmit the control instruction to an intelligent electronic device in communication with the access controller.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the computer readable storage medium is configured to store the control instruction.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the rules module is programmable in compliance with the IEC-61131-3 standard.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the rules module is configured to administer a rule governing user access to the access controller.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the rules module is configured to administer a rule governing user access to the intelligent electronic device.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the rules module automatically makes available data specified in a rule based on login information provided by a user.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein the rules module is configured as a firewall.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the access controller is a programmable logic controller.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the central monitoring system comprises one of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, an outage management systems, an Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system, and an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the central monitoring system format is selected from the group consisting of DNP3, MODBUS RTU, MODBUS TCP, IEC 61850 and IEEE C37.118.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information system comprises a plurality of devices configured to transmit network communications.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of devices comprises at least one of a modem, a router, and a firewall.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the information system is configured to implement a network security policy.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the network security policy comprises selectively permitting remote network access to a remote user based on a rule governing user access.

23. An access controller, comprising:
a first interface receiving a network event from an Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) of an electric power distribution system according to a network format, the network event comprising an indication of a status change associated with an information system configured to govern access to a plurality of network devices associated with the electric power distribution system;
a second interface communicating monitored system data to a central monitoring system according to a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) format, the network event and the monitored system data comprising distinct data communicated according to distinct formats, wherein the network format is a non-SCADA format;
an information system communications interface to communicate with an information system according to the network format used by the information system;
an IED interface communicating with a plurality of connected IEDs, the plurality of IEDs
in communication with monitored equipment,
gathering monitored equipment information therefrom for producing the monitored system data, and,
transmitting the monitored system data to the IED interface,
the IED interface configured to receive the monitored system data from the plurality of IEDs;

a microprocessor; and
a logic engine in communication with the first interface the second interface, and the information system communications interface, wherein the logic engine:
maps the network event from the network format into the SCADA format and transmits the mapped network event to the central monitoring system through the second interface; and
transmits the network event in the network format to the information system through the information system communications interface.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the format used by the central monitoring system format is selected from the group consisting of DNP3, MODBUS RTU, MODBUS TCP, IEC 61850 and IEEE C37.118.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein the computer readable storage medium is further configured to store the network event.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein the access controller further comprises:
a rules module configured
to receive the network event;
to generate a control instruction based on the network event and a rule; and
to transmit the control instruction to an intelligent electronic device in communication with the access controller.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the rules module is programmable in compliance with the IEC-61131-3 standard.

28. The system of claim 26 wherei

Assignees

• Kidwell Beau
• Weber Mark
• Morman Daniel N
• Schweitzer Engineering Lab Inc

Inventors

• Kidwell Beau
• Weber Mark
• Morman Daniel N

Classifications

• H04L69/085

  specially adapted for interworking of IP-based networks with other networks · CPC title

• H04L69/08

  Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion · CPC title

• H04L41/0226

  Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols · CPC title

• Y04S40/124

  using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses · CPC title

• Y02E60/74

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic