Electricity Today T&D Magazine

The SmartGrid continues to expand and gather new functions as needs expand. Automated metering, relay operation, RTU operation, electric management systems, remedial action schemes, SCADA, field reclosers, Synchrophasors, remote access, weather, and earthquake monitoring and future needs still yet to be identified. All these operations require low latency, low jitter communications network. The data being transported and the devices functioning on the network require a secure, authenticated and guarded system to operate. Data hardening implies that the data moving across the system is protected and monitored to ensure transmission of mission critical operational information.

There are three primary communications protocols,...