Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090070062 | SYSTEM LEVEL TESTING FOR SUBSTATION AUTOMATION SYSTEMS - The disclosure is concerned with the testing of system level functionality involving several Protection, Control and Measurement (PCM) Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) of a Substation Automation (SA) system for IEC 61850 compliant substations. An extensive testing of all conceivable control or protection functions/applications of an extended SA system comprising a large number of IEDs with a multitude of configurations is facilitated by simulating at least one of the IEDs in a testing device. Hence, only a limited number of IEDs are physically present as individual devices in a test environment, the behaviour of at least one further IED being simulated by a dedicated testing device with appropriate data processing means. The testing device sends network messages indicative of the behaviour of the simulated IED according to its communication and device configuration over a substation communication network to the physically present IED to be tested. The proper working of the configured IED functions, i.e. the expected correct action as triggered by the testing device, are then verified. | 03-12-2009 |
20090141783 | COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND METHOD OF LIMITING QUANTITY OF DATA TRANSMITTED BY A COMMUNICATION DEVICE - A communication device is provided with a power-limiting module connected to the power supply and configured to limit energy supplied to the transmitter portion such that a defined maximum data transmission rate is not exceeded. The power-limiting module comprises an energy storage device, supplying energy to the transmitter portion, and a limiter limiting recharging of the energy storage device by the power supply. The energy storage device and the limiter are selected such that a defined maximum energy is suppliable to the transmitter portion, limiting the transmitter portion to transmit data at the maximum data transmission rate. Limiting the energy supplied to the transmitter portion ensures that the communication device does not transmit over the network more than a given, limited amount of information per time unit, thus, the quantity of data transmitted by the communication device is limited. | 06-04-2009 |
20110029687 | DATA TRANSMISSION IN A RING-TYPE COMMUNICATION NETWORK - Exemplary embodiments are directed to deterministic data transmission of real-time operational data in Highly available, Seamlessly Redundant (HSR) ring-type communication networks with at least a master node, a source node, and a destination node. Each node can include first and second communication ports connected to a respective first and second neighbouring node of the communication network, to receive a frame via the first communication port, and to forward the received frame via the second communication port. The master node sends a first and a second redundant frame or empty data packet to its first and second neighbouring node, respectively. Upon reception of the two redundant frames, the source node inserts process data into a predetermined and dedicated field of each frame. Each one of the two loaded redundant frames is instantaneously and individually forwarded to the first and the second neighbouring node of the source node, respectively. The destination node extracts the process data from the first arriving loaded redundant frame of the pair. | 02-03-2011 |
20110116508 | RING COUPLING NODES FOR HIGH AVAILABILITY NETWORKS - Exemplary embodiments are directed to a network coupling device connected over a respective first and second port in a communication network with a ring topology operating with full duplex links. When sending information, the coupling device inserts two duplicate frames in the ring, one over each of its ports. The frames containing information that identifies these two frames as a pair of duplicates of the same frame. Each similar device in the ring includes a Switching Element that receives a frame from one port and forwards the frame to the other port without modification. The Switching Element discards a frame that was originally sent by that same node, discards a frame that it already forwarded in that direction, and/or discards a frame that it cannot recognize as being a member of a pair. A further similar device on the ring is able to receive the two duplicate frames and pass the earlier received frames of a pair to the application, while discarding the later, received frames based on the identification within the frames. | 05-19-2011 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110286350 | COMMUNICATION METHOD AND SYSTEM - Exemplary embodiments increase reliability of communication over a non-deterministic communication channel, in electric power systems. A communication channel is monitored based on regular network traffic, by evaluating messages or data packets carrying real-time operational data as a payload. A permanent determination of a channel quality, including appropriate alarming in case the channel quality is found insufficient, is based on an evaluation, at a receiving node, of data packets continually transmitted by a sending node. These continually or repeatedly transmitted data packets can include identical payloads reflecting current states rather than state changes as operational data. | 11-24-2011 |
20120163521 | SECURE CLOCK SYNCHRONIZATION - The present disclosure provides a secure one-step IEEE 1588 clock using either a symmetric or asymmetric protection scheme. Clocks of mission-critical or highly-available devices in industrial automation systems connected to a communication network are synchronized by sending, by a master clock, a synchronization message, e.g., a single message of the one-step-clock type according to IEEE 1588, including a time stamp, and by receiving and evaluating, by a slave clock, the synchronization message. A synchronization component or module of the master clock prepares, or composes, prior to a projected send time, a synchronization message including a time stamp of the projected send time, and secures the synchronization message in advance of the projected send time. Securing the synchronization message occurs by suitable cryptographic means allowing for authentication of the time stamp at a receiving slave clock. At the projected send time, the secured synchronization message is transmitted. | 06-28-2012 |
20130128895 | FRAME TRANSMISSION AND COMMUNICATION NETWORK - Exemplary embodiments are directed to a communication network interconnecting a plurality of synchronized nodes, where regular frames including time-critical data are transmitted periodically or cyclically, and sporadic frames are transmitted non-periodically or occasionally. For example, each node can transmit a regular frame at the beginning of a transmission period common to, and synchronized among, all nodes. Another node then receives regular frames from its first neighboring node, and forwards the frames within the same transmission period and with the shortest delay, to a second neighboring node. Furthermore, each node actively delays transmission of any sporadic frame, whether originating from an application hosted by the node itself or whether received from a neighboring node, until forwarding of all received regular frames is completed. | 05-23-2013 |