The standardization of IEC 61850 started in 1995 when the IEC TC 57 Working Groups 10, 11, and 12 had been setup. Later all projects have been moved to the Working Group 10 - that is still (very!) active today.
Prior to the new project proposal for IEC 61850 the EPRI UCA project developed core models for many signals and communication services. UCA used a simple table notation for defining "models".
The experts involved have discussed several options how to model the signals. In December 1998 the editors of the core documents (including myself) met in Ann Arbor (MI, USA).
We discussed modelling with ASN.1 or our own notation:
we were not quite happy ... then we discussed trying UML … walked across the street to the University bookshop to purchase some 10 Books about UML Modelling. I purchased several books, too:
… a senior development manager of protection relays was strictly against UML … he said, it will never be used for protection and automation. Some weeks later I met his engineers in their office … and saw that they used UML for developments …
Later I tried OWL with some success:
Experts involved in CIM (Common Information Models) used UML - with the SPARX tool Enterprise Architect (EA). It took several years before UML (and EA) was used to define all models of IEC 61850. Today (end of 2019) almost all models and other definitions are managed with the EA - it is a big success! The latest version comprises the following parts:
There are tools available to export parts of the model from EA as Word documents, html pages, pdf ...
Example of a model:
With the application of the SPARX EA we have a single source of all crucial definitions.
Note: The EA package "IEC61850Domain" is only available for the experts writing, publishing and maintaining the various standard parts.
Some exported documents (the so-called code components) are available for free access:
Click HERE for accessing these documents.
Thanks to the experts that have continuously pushed for using UML and EA. It took several years ... and it was not easy for engineers to use a formal language and tool to get where we are today.
These days the EA is used also for many other tasks: use cases, design state machines like for IEC 61850-90-16 (System management), ... IEC TC 57 has done a good job in using UML for CIM and IEC 61850. But another generation of engineers is needed to understand the full benefit of using UML.
Prior to the new project proposal for IEC 61850 the EPRI UCA project developed core models for many signals and communication services. UCA used a simple table notation for defining "models".
The experts involved have discussed several options how to model the signals. In December 1998 the editors of the core documents (including myself) met in Ann Arbor (MI, USA).
We discussed modelling with ASN.1 or our own notation:
we were not quite happy ... then we discussed trying UML … walked across the street to the University bookshop to purchase some 10 Books about UML Modelling. I purchased several books, too:
… a senior development manager of protection relays was strictly against UML … he said, it will never be used for protection and automation. Some weeks later I met his engineers in their office … and saw that they used UML for developments …
Later I tried OWL with some success:
Experts involved in CIM (Common Information Models) used UML - with the SPARX tool Enterprise Architect (EA). It took several years before UML (and EA) was used to define all models of IEC 61850. Today (end of 2019) almost all models and other definitions are managed with the EA - it is a big success! The latest version comprises the following parts:
There are tools available to export parts of the model from EA as Word documents, html pages, pdf ...
Example of a model:
With the application of the SPARX EA we have a single source of all crucial definitions.
Note: The EA package "IEC61850Domain" is only available for the experts writing, publishing and maintaining the various standard parts.
Some exported documents (the so-called code components) are available for free access:
Click HERE for accessing these documents.
Thanks to the experts that have continuously pushed for using UML and EA. It took several years ... and it was not easy for engineers to use a formal language and tool to get where we are today.
These days the EA is used also for many other tasks: use cases, design state machines like for IEC 61850-90-16 (System management), ... IEC TC 57 has done a good job in using UML for CIM and IEC 61850. But another generation of engineers is needed to understand the full benefit of using UML.
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1 comment:
It's amazing to see the process of standardizing IEC 61850, particularly the change from table notation to UML. Could you elaborate on the difficulties encountered during this shift and how the successful definition of IEC 61850 models was facilitated by the use of UML and the SPARX tool Enterprise Architect (EA)? Furthermore, how has the growing use of UML and EA affected the efficiency and cooperation of specialists in creating, disseminating, and preserving the many standard components of IEC 61850? Are there any ideas or strategies in place within IEC TC 57 to enhance the use of UML for similar tasks? MobilezMarket"
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