Long Awaited Christmas Gift For Smart(er) Grids - IEC 61850-8-3 is on its Way

In order to explain details of the new approach to be used for the new work item proposal IEC 61850-8-3 I have produced a 17 minute video. (2026-05-13)

IEC TC 57 just published a long awaited and crucial new work item proposal: 

57/2866/NP - proposed project number: 61850-8-3

Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) –
Mapping to Direct Message Specification (DMS),
JSON Encoding Rules, and WebSockets 

Closing date for voting on the NP: 2026-03-06

"IEC 61850-8-3 Ed.1 defines the direct mapping of the client/server services of the ACSI (Abstract Communication Service Interface) defined in IEC 61850-7-2. Direct mapping means that for every abstract client/server service of the ACSI a concrete message schema (for the request and the response) is defined in ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One). ...

The encoding of the messages according to IEC 61850-8-3 is using the ASN.1 JER (JSON Encoding Rule, ISO/IEC 8825-8:2021). The messages are exchanged through WebSocket (RFC 6455, The WebSocket Protocol). WebSocket is a communication protocol that enables a persistent, full-duplex communication channel over a single TCP connection, allowing both the client and server to send data to each other at any time. This differs from the standard HTTP request-response model, making it ideal for real-time applications."

Please contact your national IEC TC 57 committee for a copy of the NP.

The main differences between IEC 61850-8-1/8-2 and 8-3 are shown in the following table:

and here:

Enjoy!

Click HERE for additional information that discusses the need for a modern messaging solution ...

I look forward to continuing the editing work of this new part of IEC 61850. This closes the circle of my contribution to communication protocols: starting in the mid 1980s with MMS (base for IEC 61850-8-1/8-2) and now (40+ years later) involved in a modern approach using web technologies ... Wow ...

This NP is the result of a Proof of Concept (PoC) initiated and managed by the Netherlands Distribution System Operators (Netbeheer). I played a little role in the implementation of this PoC. The PoC demonstrated the great benefit that can be harvested from the solution!

It is very likely that this part IEC 61850-8-3 (once it is finished) will accelerate the application of IEC 61850 outside the substation domain. I have discussed IEC 61850 outside of substations for many years ... Let me know what you think.

I wish you a merry Christmas and the best for the year 2026.

Why is there an Need for an Additional Service Mapping in IEC 61850 (IEC 61850-8-3)?

The two service mappings for IEC 61850 are IEC 61850-8-1 (MMS) and IEC 61850-8-2 (MMS/XML). The mapping IEC 61850-8-1 is in operation from the first days when IEC 61850 was implemented and used ... all over ... in millions of devices and thousands of systems. Ok ... perfect.

Why is there an need for an additional service mapping in IEC 61850 (IEC 61850-8-3)? 

Simply because of the complex and tricky mapping to MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification, ISO 9506). 

IEC 61850-8-3
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) –
Mapping to Direct Message Specification (DMS), JSON Encoding Rules, and WebSockets 

In order to explain details of the new approach to be used for the new work item proposal IEC 61850-8-3 I have produced a 17 minute video (updated version 2026-06-04, 23 minutes).

It is likely that this will become a major shift in the use of IEC 61850.

Enjoy!

IEC published the Committee Draft (57/2980/CD) on IEC 61850-8-3

The next step of the publication of IEC 61850-8-3 has been reached

Yesterday (2026-09-04) IEC published the Committee Draft (57/2980/CD) on

"Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Part 8-3: Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) –
Mapping to Direct Message Specification (DMS), JSON Encoding Rules, and WebSockets"

The commenting period closes on 2026-10-30 ... very soon.

All experts that are members of the IEC TC 57 National Committees can access the document and provide comments online.

My experience with the editing processing tool (OSD - Online Standards Development) is very positive: After I finished the editing on Monday (2026-08-31) IEC could easily publish the CD ... the document follows automatically the format of IEC ... because it is an IEC (ISO) tool ... perfect.

The crucial definition is the ASN.1 message schema that is used to code and decode messages (see see below for a link to the ASN.1 schema used in the RTI2 open-source software):

The committee draft (57/2980/CD) is based on the Netherlands Netbeheers Proof of Concept for RTI2 (real-time interface). Netbeheer is supporting the implementation as open-source software under GitHub. The message syntax of the committee draft is the latest ASN.1 module. The ASN.1 version at GitHub is a pre-version of the official version:
General: https://github.com/Netbeheer-Nederland/iec61850-websocket

Direct Access to the ASN.1 Schema: https://github.com/Netbeheer-Nederland/iec61850-websocket/blob/main/src/ws61850/asn1/schema/ws_iec61850_tpaa_full.asn

Please check my blog for additional information on IEC 61850-8-3.
Any question? Please let me know.

New Work Item Proposal on IEC 61850-8-3 has been accepted by 95 % of the TC 57 National Committees

In December 2025 the NWIP (57/2866/NP - proposed project number: IEC 61850-8-3) was published for voting and comments:
https://blog.nettedautomation.com/2025/12/long-awaited-christmas-gift-for-smarter.html

Today we are happy that the NWIP has been approved by IEC - only one country disagreed in the voting process.

IEC 61850-8-3
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) –
Mapping to Direct Message Specification (DMS), JSON Encoding Rules, and WebSockets 

The result of this work will very likely change the usability of IEC 61850 outside substations.

Stay tuned to follow the progress.

In order to explain details of the new approach to be used for the new work item proposal IEC 61850-8-3 I have produced a 17 minute video (2026-05-13).

What is IEC 61850-8-1 MMS Compared to IEC 61850-8-3 DMS?

The paper "The Standard Message Specification for Industrial Automation Systems ISO 9506 (MMS)" has been downloaded 6,691 times from the ResearchGate ... seems to be an interesting document. 

Now, since we are working on a new protocol standard for IEC 61850-7-2 Client/Server communication (IEC 61850-8-3, DMS, Direct Message Specification), the question is: What is the difference between MMS and DMS?

Here are some answers:

DMS will be an alternative protocol for MMS ... with WebSocket connectivity, ASN.1 message schema, ASN.1 JER JSON encoding, ... very simple ... a straight forward from IEC 61850-7-2 ACSI (abstract messages) to concrete messages ... 1:1 ... no tricks ...

There are a few crucial aspects: (1) MMS as a standard that needs outdated OSI upper layers, (2) MMS is very complex and does not easily fit for IEC 61850-7-2 ACSI ... needs a tricks mapping to MMS in IEC 61850-8-1, (3) DMS communicates over WebSockets (bidirectional), (4) DMS uses JSON for message encoding (or DER binary) many tools are available, (5) the message schema of DMS is far simpler than the MMS message schema ... even both are using ASN.1 as schema notation, (6) MMS is not a good friend of many experts, (7) the Proof of Concept for RTI2 (Netherlands DSOs) is the basis for IEC 61850-8-3 ... and available at GitHub ...

From an system point of view (engineering, SCL, Models, abstract services, ... application functions, ...) there is no difference between the two protocols. From a smart implementation point of view the "stacks" could have an API that is independent of the protocols. There needs to be a tiny layer that decides if, e.g., a Report (with the payload from the application models) is wrapped with MMS or DMS ... for DMS there are two options: JER (JSON) and DER (binary) ... from a DMS stack point of view there is one line of code (!!) that is needed to encode in JSON or binary ...

Of course, the MMS message syntax and encoding are not compatible with DMS message syntax and encoding. BUT: they both carry the same payload!! ... thanks to the huge list of standardized "Signals" (models).

Both solutions run on TCP/IP ... there may be multi-protocol IEDs available some time down the road ... as we see today that many IEDs are supporting multiple protocols ... 

People asked me: Why did you not have this solution developed earlier?!? I developed something with my granddaughter when she did her Bachelor at KIT ... check my blog with some historical discussions

Status of the parts of the IEC 61850 series, January 2012

The standard series comprises 18 officially published parts; another 12 are in preparation. Most published parts are Standards; some are Technical Reports (TR) and Technical Specifications (TS):

1	IEC/TR 61850-1	Part 1: Introduction and overview
2	IEC/TS 61850-2	Part 2: Glossary
3	IEC 61850-3	Part 3: General requirements
4	IEC 61850-4	Part 4: System and project management
5	IEC 61850-5	Part 5: Communication requirements for functions and device models
6	IEC 61850-6	Part 6: Configuration description language for communication in electrical substations related to IEDs
7	IEC 61850-7-1	Part 7-1: Basic communication structure - Principles and models
8	IEC 61850-7-2	Part 7-2: Basic information and communication structure - Abstract communication service interface (ACSI)
9	IEC 61850-7-3	Part 7-3: Basic communication structure - Common data classes
10	IEC 61850-7-4	Part 7-4: Basic communication structure - Compatible logical node classes and data object classes
11	IEC 61850-7-410	Part 7-410: Hydroelectric power plants - Communication for monitoring and control
12	IEC 61850-7-420	Part 7-420: Basic communication structure - Distributed energy resources logical nodes
13	IEC 61850-8-1	Part 8-1: Specific communication service mapping (SCSM) - Mappings to MMS (ISO 9506-1 and ISO 9506-2) and to ISO/IEC 8802-3
14	IEC 61850-9-1	Part 9-1: Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) - Sampled values over serial unidirectional multidrop point to point link
15	IEC 61850-9-2	Part 9-2: Specific communication service mapping (SCSM) - Sampled values over ISO/IEC 8802-3
16	IEC 61850-10	Part 10: Conformance testing
17	IEC/TS 61850-80-1	Part 80-1: Guideline to exchanging information from a CDC-based data model using IEC 60870-5-101 or IEC 60870-5-104
18	IEC/TR 61850-90-1	Part 90-1: Use of IEC 61850 for the communication between substations

Another 12 Parts are under development. Some of these are almost ready for publication in 2012.

Several of the above listed documents have the tag “Edition 2”, some have still the tag “Edition 1” and are in the maintenance process.

A complete list comprises all 30 parts: Title, publication, stability date, … see excerpt in the table below (the complete table can be downloaded – see below):

The table indicates as well how many tissues have been posted at the tissue database for most parts tagged edition 1 and tagged edition 2.

Please note that there is NO “IEC 61850 Edition 2” !! There are only Editions of the PARTS!!

If you want to know the current status of the standard series IEC 61850 (January 2012) you have to check the status of ALL documents at early January 2012 (red vertical line in the figure below):

Some of the documents are still Edition 1 (yellow) others are Edition 2 (green). 10 of the 18 parts are still EDITION 1 !! 8 parts are EDITION 2. The other 12 parts under development will be published as EDITION 1.

The 6 parts that are usually understood as “IEC 61850 Edition 2” are:

-6 Ed2
-7-1 Ed2
-7-2 Ed2
-7-3 Ed2
-7-4 Ed2
-8-1 Ed2

This is NOT an official name!

Most parts published by January 2013 are still marked EDITION 1 !!

Click HERE to download the complete table [pdf, 2 pages]

Free ASN.1 Browser for IEC 61850-8-3 ASN.1 Module from RTI2 PoC

If you want to browse easily the ASN.1 message schema for the new project IEC 61850-8-3 (DSM) underway, check out this free browser: 

https://www.nettedautomation.com/editor

A preliminary asn.1 module for IEC 61850-8-3 (from PoC of RTI2) is available for download:

This is how it looks like:

and ...

The schema is very simple compared to MMS for IEC 61850-8-1.

Let us know if you have any question.

Extended Video on IEC 61850-8-3 Available - Example Messages

 An extended version of the video on  

IEC 61850-8-3
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation –
Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) –
Mapping to Direct Message Specification (DMS), JSON Encoding Rules, and WebSockets 

is available. I have added some five minutes ... total time is 23 minutes.

I have added mainly two examples of services for IEC 61850-8-1 (MMS) and IEC 61850-8-3 (DMS):

The figure above shows how a client can get the list of logical nodes from the server with MMS ... and with DMS:

Details can be watched in the video ... enjoy.

XMPP - IEC 61850-8-2 Defines Additional Communication Mapping

IEC TC 57 has published a first draft for an additional mapping of IEC 61850 information models and communication messages.

IEC 61850-8-2 (57/1583/CD):
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation - Part 8-2: Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) – Mapping to Extensible Messaging Presence Protocol (XMPP)

Closing date for comments is 2015-09-11

The new mapping defines (relies on) the following definitions:

Service mapping (unchanged)
The abstract (client-server) services of IEC 61850-7-2 are mapped to MMS as defined in the existing IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2.

Message Encoding (new concrete encoding)
The encoding of the messages uses ASN.1 XER (XML encoding rule) – in addition to ASN.1 BER according to IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2. The encoding defines an XML schema – contained in the draft.

Model mapping (unchanged)
As in IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2. This applies to the flattening of the object identification and adding Functional Constraint (FC=ST or MX) in the path name and using “$” for “.”:

Bay5_MMXU1$MX$Hz$mag$i

Underlying Transport (new T-Profile)
The transport (exchange) of the XER encoded messages uses a new approach: using XMPP.

This new transport mechanism and encoding will be used between all kinds of utility Distributed Energy Resource devices and related power management systems, over any communication infrastructure including public networks.

The coming IEC 61850-8-2 can be understood as an (encoding and transport) extension of the existing IEC 61850-8-1.

It is very crucial that most parts of implementations and tools can be re-used! Re-Use is one of the basic approaches used in IEC 61850! Don’t start always from scratch – use what is available and add something.

So, to read the frequency of Bay5 is almost the same .. using the reference
“Bay5_MMXU1$MX$Hz$mag$i”
encoded in ASN.1 BER (IEC 61850-8-1) and in ASN.1 XER (IEC 61850-8-2).

See also example of encoding.

A second document explains the needs and background for an additional mapping:

IEC 61850-80-3 TR (57/1584/DTR):
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation -
Part 80-3: Mapping to Web protocols – Requirements and technical choices

It describes the requirements and the technical principles for a new specific communication service mapping (SCSM) based on Web Protocols.
For more information about the candidate technologies which have been analyzed but not selected as well as about the selection process used for choosing the technology, national committees are invited to consult document 57/1585/INF which is circulated in parallel:

Accompanying document to 57/1584/DTR, Proposed IEC TR 61850-80-3

It mainly describes the technical solutions which have been investigated but finally not selected for the SCSM of the IEC 61850 based on Web Protocols.

1. IEC 61400-25-4 Annex A (Web services)
2. DPWS (Devices Profile for Web Services)
3. REST (Representational State Transfer)
4. XML messaging over Websocket
5. ACSI XML Messaging
6. OPC UA

The finally chosen solution  “MMS XER payload over XMPP as transport” was recognized after several years of work as the preferred solution – especially from a fast time-to-market point of view.

What does XMPP provide?

XMPP (RFC 6120) is a middleware messaging and presence protocol supporting decentralized architectures and provides:

• Registering resources in publicly reachable servers
• Resolving resources based on names
• Security (authentication, integrity, confidentiality) for the communication with the XMPP server

This fits well to the information models defined in IEC 61850.

Sample of an IEC 61850-8-3 request-response message sequence using JSON

The standard IEC 61850-8-3 under preparation will use ASN.1 JER (JSON) encoding. In order to understand, what that means check the following message sequence of the service (copied from the Wireshark trace, without WebSocket, TCP/IP, ... headers).

Note that you can use the Open Source Software of the PoC (Proof of Concept) to let client and server exchange real messages ... enjoy!

getLogicalDeviceDirectory

    { "request": {

            "associateId": "cp1",
            "invokeId": 1,
            "service": {
                "getLogicalDeviceDirectory": {
                    "ldName": "LD0"
                }}}}

    { "response": {
            "associateId": "cp1",
            "invokeId": 1,
            "service": {
                "getLogicalDeviceDirectory": {
                    "lnName": [
                        "LLN0",
                        "LPHD1",
                        "DWMX1",
                        "DGEN1",
                        "MMXU1"
                    ]}}}}

setDataValues

   {"request": {

            "associateId": "cp1",
            "invokeId": 56,
            "service": {
                "setDataValues": {
                    "ref": {
                        "ref": "LD0/LLN0.Mod.ctlModel",
                        "fc": "cf"
                    },
                    "dataAttrVal": [
                        {
                            "data": {
                                "enumerated": "2"
                           }} ]}} }

    {"response": {
            "associateId": "cp1",
            "invokeId": 56,
            "service": {
                "setDataValues": null
            }}}

    

Any question? Guess there is likely no need to ask, what this is ...

Search for "8-3".

What does the OSI-AP-Title “1,3,9999” mean?

Is this identifier more than just a number defined by somebody from IEC TC 57 WG 10? No! The underlying definition is the “OSI Object Identifier model” (OID). This numbering schema has been defined some 30 years ago in the context of ASN.1.

MMS and MAP 3.0 used this identifier concept to get unique object identification (see MAP 3.0). The basics of MMS and OSI have been defined in the 80’s … and a lot of people are still (and again and again) struggling with these concepts that have no real use these days. The concept of OIDs is great – just we do not make use of it in the domain of IEC 61850.

Many people I have trained and many other people have no clue what these numbers mean and what purpose they serve.

“In computing, an object identifier or OID is an identifier used to name an object (compare URN). Structurally, an OID consists of a node in a hierarchically-assigned namespace, formally defined using the ITU-T's ASN.1 standard, X.690. Successive numbers of the nodes, starting at the root of the tree, identify each node in the tree. Designers set up new nodes by registering them under the node's registration authority. The root of the tree contains the following three arcs:
0: ITU-T
1: ISO
2: joint-iso-itu-t”

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_identifier)

The OID is used by ACSE to establish an application association … for MMS.

Definition in IEC 61850-8-1 Edition2:

Example in SCL notation:

Here is the meaning of the values “1”, “3”, and “9999” for the OSI-API-Title according to http://oid-info.com:

“1” –> http://oid-info.com/cgi-bin/display?oid=1&action=display

“3” –> http://oid-info.com/get/1.3

“9999” –> http://oid-info.com/get/1.3.9999

The value is a reserved value ->

IEC 61850 and especially IEC 61850-8-1 does not (yet?) use the registration of further identifier for specific application.

So, applications (servers) need to use the “1,3,9999.13” to allow MMS/ACSE to establish an application association! Please make sure that your client uses the correct setting of this and the other configuration attributes in the address.

The last value “13” is not known to me … could not find any hint on that. It is not registered.

Please do not change this OID “1,3,9999” used by MMS. The value “1,3,9999.13” is used as an example in 8-1 Ed2. The “13” may be replaced or omitted – I guess.

The value could be empty as well. The following attributes are all optional (IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2):

These are mandatory:

 

Some vendors fix the values ion their PIXIT documents:

Example 1 (Alstom Mx70):

Example 2 (ABB COM600):

Example 3 (Siprotec):

Please check the documentation of the vendors’ IEDs to figure out how the various attributes are used and which ones are required!

Good luck!

IEC TC 57 just published FDIS IEC 61850-8-2 (Mapping to XMPP)

IEC TC 57 just published FDIS IEC 61850-8-2 (Mapping to XMPP) - 253 pages !

(57/2020/FDIS)

Voting ends: 2018-08-24

Part 8-2: Specific communication service mapping (SCSM)
– Mapping to Extensible Messaging Presence Protocol (XMPP)

The long wait for a second SCSM is over!

The new mapping of IEC 61850 describes a specific communication service mapping
(SCSM) over the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), providing detailed
information on how to create and exchange concrete communication messages that
implement abstract services and models specified in IEC 61850-7-4, IEC 61850-7-3, and
IEC 61850-7-2.

Note that the MMS messages (defined using ASN.1) are used in IEC 61850-8-1 AND -8-2 ! The only crucial difference between the two message and model mappings (in 8-1 and 8-2) is this:

8-1 uses BER (Basic Encoding Rule) for the messages on the wire, while 8-2 uses (XER (XML Encoding Rule). The complexity of the MMS messages is the same in both mappings - because the structure and how to build messages and how to carry the 7-2 services and 7-x models are the same!

The challenges to implement 8-2 message mapping are more or less the same as with 8-1. Note that the messages in XER are far longer than with BER.

There is - of course - a difference between the two: The transport of messages in 8-2 uses XMPP.

Some may argue, that there are more tools available for XER than for BER. Ok.

IEC 61850-8-2 is far away from something simple and easy to implement and use - especially when you need only a few simple services and models.

The Parts of IEC 61850 – Status 2011-06

The status (2011-07-15) of the various parts of IEC 61850 is as follows (blue means: Edition 2 of the corresponding document):

System Aspects

1 Introduction and Overview
2 Glossary
3 General Requirements (EMC, …)
4 System and Project Management
5 Comm. Requirements for Functions and Device Models (reaction time …)

Configuration

6 Configuration Language for electrical Substation IED’s (App., IEDs, System, …)

Abstract Communication Services

7-1 Principles and Models
7-2 Abstract Communication Services (ACSI)

Mapping to real Communication Networks (SCSM)

8-1 Mapping to MMS and ISO/IEC 8802-3
9-2 Sampled Values over ISO/IEC 8802-3

Testing

10 Conformance Testing
10-2 Interoperability test for hydro equipments based on IEC 61850

Data Models und usage of models

7-3 Common Data Classes
7-4 Compatible Logical Node and Data Classes
7-410 Hydroelectric power plants
7-420 Distributed energy resources (DER)
7-5 Usage of information models SAS
7-500 Use of LN to model functions (SAS)
7-510 Use of LN (hydro power plants)
7-520 Use of LN (DER)
7-10 Web-based access to the IEC 61850 models

Use-cases and network infrastructure

80-1 Guideline … CDC-based data model using IEC 60870-5-101 or IEC 60870-5-104

90-1 Using IEC 61850 for SS-SS communication
90-2 Using IEC 61850 for SS-CC communication
90-3 Using IEC 61850 for Condition Monitoring
90-4 Network Engineering Guidelines
90-5 Exchange of synchrophasor information
90-6 Use of IEC 61850 for Distribution Automation
90-7 Object Models for PV, Storage … inverters, …
90-8 Object Models for Electrical Transportation
90-9 Object Models for Batteries

The number of Information Models are:

7-3 Common Data Classes [40]
7-4 Compatible Logical Node / Data Classes [158 LN /982 DO]
7-410 Hydroelectric power plants [ 63/350]
7-420 Distributed energy resources (DER) [ 50/450]
90-3 Using IEC 61850 for Condition Monitoring [?]
90-5 Exchange of synchrophasor information [?]
90-6 Use of IEC 61850 for Distribution Automation [?]
90-7 Object Models for PV, Storage … (important!) [5/50]
90-8 Object Models for Electrical Transportation [?]
90-9 Object Models for Batteries [?]
61400-25-2 Wind Turbines [16/250]

Functional Constraint CO “Control” missing in IEC 61850-7-2 Edition 2

Somebody asked me today: “I did not find the CO Functional Constraint among the Functional Constraint list in IEC61850-7-2{ed2.0}.pdf, section 12.3.3.2 FunctionalConstraint (FC). Please advise what does it represent?”

In IEC 61850-7-2 Ed1, IEC 61850-7-3 Ed1, and IEC 61850-8-1 Ed1 the control model was described partly in 7-2, 7-3 and 8-1. Now we have the complete control model defined in IEC 61850-7-2 Ed2 – without any mapping issue! in IEC 61850-7-3 Ed2 we have defined for controllable data objects (CDCs: SPC, DPC, …) that the service is Control and the payload is as defined in IEC 61850-7-2 Ed2.

CDC: SPC, DPC, INC, ENC, BSC, ISC, APC, BAC adds the control service at the end of the CDCs for controllable data objects:

That is the reason why we have removed the FC=CO from IEC 61850-7-3 Ed2 (and IEC 61850-7-2 Ed2).

The FC=CO is introduced in the mapping in IEC 61850-8-1 Ed2.

From an implementation point of view (in MMS terms) it is more or less the same in Ed1 and Ed2 of the three parts. The description has changed – it is cleaner now … if you know where to find it … I agree it’s a bit confusing …

The Data Objects of CDC for settings like SPG, ING, … are not using the control services to set a value! These CDCs just support SetDataValues (which is a write in MMS …without the control state machines) and other services:

Hope that helps to understand the (mainly editorial) changes in the three parts 7-2 Ed2, 7-3 Ed2, and 8-1 Ed2.

Is IEC 61850 an old Standard?

What do you think? It depends ... IEC 61850 is a standard series of many parts ... published in different years ...

The other day I was reading that somebody on LinkedIn beliefs that IEC 61850 is old ... Oops. Here is what I answered:

I was involved in the development of MMS (ISO 9506, starting mid 1980s), later in ICCP (TASE.2, IEC 60870-6, using MMS), then IEC 61850 (starting 1995, using as well the "old" MMS). 

The AC interconnected power systems have been developed more than 130 years ago ... and improved since then ... AND: Yet we do not complain that they are OLD. They have done a great job. Old wine may be better than young wine ... or?

The standard series IEC 61850 has many aspects to consider: 

• System Configuration Language (SCL, IEC 61850-6) is brand new! 
• GOOSE and sampled values are brand new! 
• The many standard "signals" like MMXU.Hz for frequency measurement are old in the sense that frequency is a physical given.
• There is something we may call "old": the use of the "old" MMS as the protocol for client/server communication according to IEC 61850-8-1 (-8-2). ok.
• There is an alternative new web-based solution under way: IEC 61850-8-3 (a new protocol for client/server in IEC 61850 ... WebSocket transport, ASN.1 message schema, ASN.1 JSON encoding rules, and ASN.1 DER encoding rules).

If you want to learn why the Netherlands DSOs initiated the IEC 61850-8-3, check HERE.

A great reply says: "The transport choice is what stands out: MMS was never reachable from a browser, WebSocket with JSON encoding is, which changes what client tooling can be without an install."

There are other brand new parts of IEC 61850 just published, e.g., IEC 61850-7-410 for hydro, gas, and steam power plants.

IEC Smart Grid Standards Map

IEC has spent some time to list the relevant standards for the many areas of Smart(er) Grids:

http://smartgridstandardsmap.com/

When you browse this site, you may wonder to see a list of 301 standards and other official specifications. There are many areas that are related to the 50 Hz or 60 Hz 3-phase electrical power systems:

• Advanced distribution management system
• Advanced metering infrastructure
• Asset management and condition monitoring system
• Blackout prevention system
• Clock reference system
• Communication network
• Communication network management system
• Data modelling
• Demand response / Load management
• Distributed energy resources operation system
• Distribution automation system
• E-mobility system
• EMC & Power quality
• Electric Storage system
• Energy management system
• FACTS for grids
• Generation management system
• Industrial automation system
• Market place systems
• Meter-related back-office systems
• Security
• Smart home and building automation system
• Substation automation system
• Weather forecast

The home page states: “Easily and instantly identify the standards that are needed for any part of the Smart Grid – no need to be a standards expert”. Hm, really? There may be no need to be an expert browsing the site – BUT if you are not an expert in standards like IEC 60870-5-10x, CIM, IEC 61400-25, IEC 61850,  IEC 62351, … then you need to talk an EXPERT. We are here to help you!

Fortunately, when it comes to information exchange, the many parts of IEC 61850 are the most crucial standards you will find in the list of the 301 standards:

IEC 61850-6 IEC 61850-7-1  IEC 61850-7-2 IEC 61850-7-3 IEC 61850-7-4 IEC 61850-7-410 IEC 61850-7-420 IEC 61850-8-1 IEC 61850-8-2 IEC 61850-80-1 IEC 61850-80-4 IEC 61850-9-2 IEC 61850-90-1 IEC 61850-90-10

IEC 61850-90-11 IEC 61850-90-12 IEC 61850-90-13 IEC 61850-90-14 IEC 61850-90-15 IEC 61850-90-2 IEC 61850-90-3 IEC 61850-90-4 IEC 61850-90-5 IEC 61850-90-6 IEC 61850-90-7 IEC 61850-90-8 IEC 61850-90-9

I guess, even IEC has not fully understood the impact of IEC 61850 on the power delivery system: So, why is IEC 61850-90-3 missing in the list of standards relevant for cable?

Here is an overview (from draft IEC 61850-90-3) on cable monitoring:

It is impossible to list IEC 61850 in any application domain. The model (LN – Logical Node) STMP (temperature supervision) could be used allover – where ever a temperature is measured. Modeling the temperature in a green house and communication the value with IEC 61850 does not require to list IEC 61850 as a standard for green houses … ;-)

IEC 61850 is a common standard that covers specific and general models and services.

To understand the impact of IEC 61850: you have to be an expert or you have to ask an expert.

Are WebSockets the future for real-time communication?

WebSockets provide a way for web browsers and cloud apps to talk directly to devices for automation and monitoring. A WebSockets create a two-way open communication channel. It wraps messages (according to various message schema, e.g. in ASN.1 notation) in web-friendly formats like JSON. This bypasses strict firewall rules without needing complex, heavy software.

WebSockets are used in many solutions like OPC UA, OpenADR, ... and soon in IEC 61850-8-3 (alternative for MMS). 

How do WebSockets perform in a PLC environment where usually special industrial communication protocols are used? An interesting paper discusses this question:

"Latency Analysis of WebSocket and Industrial Protocols ..."

WebSockets are likely to becoming the future standardized web-based "carrier". 

The Netherlands Distribution Service Operator have shown with a PoC (proof of concept, now used for the definition of IEC 61850-8-3) that standardized (!) WebSockets can exchange IEC 61850 standard(!) messages containing data values produced and consumed by the huge amount of standardized (!) IEC 61850 models, configured by a standardized configuration (!) language (SCL, IEC 61850-6), and encoded in a standard (!) JSON format.

Background information can be found in my video

Feedback on LinkedIn: "This presentation made everything much clearer! But seriously, using WebSockets as a transport for industrial protocols is a really good idea."

Draft IEC 61850-8-2 SCSM – Mapping to XER and XMPP

Some 20 years after the first draft IEC 61850-8-2 SCSM (Mapping to Profibus FMS) we could expect the real IEC 61850-8-2 to be available by end of 2015.

The draft 8-2 provides an additional mapping of the messages of MMS by XER (XML Encoding Rule) and XMPP.

The MMS messages for IEC 61850-8-2 (above TCP/TLS/XMPP) are just differently encoded as in IEC 61850-8-1, as can be seen by the following example:

ASN.1 BER uses a binary encoding that produces less overhead compared to XER. But there will be many benefits provided by IEC 61850-8-2.

According to a presentation by Siemens during the Hanover Fair 2015, these are the main conclusions:

1. It provides a secure and powerful communication for public networks considering end-to-middle and end-to-end security relations
2. IEC 61850-8-2 is intended to use for power management and demand response of DER (distributed energy resources)
3. In 2015 the IEC TC57 working group WG17 will finalize and publish this new specification

Click HERE for the full presentation [pdf, 3 MB]

CDV of IEC 61850-8-1 Edition 2 published

The Committee Draft for Vote for IEC 61850-8-1 Ed.2 has been published the other day (document 57/994/CDV):
Communication networks and systems for power utility automation - Part 8-1: Specific Communication Service Mapping (SCSM) - Mappings to MMS (ISO 9506-1 and ISO 9506-2) and to ISO/IEC 8802-3

Closing date for voting: 2009-09-04
(contact your national committee for a copy).

This document is based on the experiences made after the publication of the first Edition of 8-1. The crucial changes made are according to the Tissues (Technical Issues) posted at the Tissue database (www.tissue.iec61850.com).

The following tissues have been solved in this CDV:

Tissues for clauses 1-6 – General, Communication stack:
122 235 290 292 299 430 459

issues for clause 7-8, 11-14:
109 110 111 112 115 116 119 120 123 128 144 165 168 183 222 314 368 377 422 433

Tissues for clause 16 (Setting Group):
33 34 36 37 38 39 40 41 52 53 172 333 417

Tissues for clause 17 (Reporting model):
114 177 198 344 438

Tissues for clause 18-Annex A (GOOSE):
117 121 224 227 231 237 279 323 365 419

Tissues for clause 20 (Control model):
143 196 246 262 528

Tissues for clause 22 (File transfer):
118 260 576

Harmonization with 7-2 and 7-3:
103 141 146 149 173 246 453 456 457

Need help in MMS? Contact us.

IEC 61850-8-1 Edition 2 approved as International Standard

The 2nd Edition of IEC 61850-8-1 has been approved with 100 per cent support by the national committees of IEC TC 57.

IEC 61850-8-1 Ed. 2.0: Communication networks and systems for power utility automation - Part 8-1: Specific communication service mapping (SCSM) - Mappings to MMS (ISO 9506-1 and ISO 9506-2) and to ISO/IEC 8802-3

The standard will be published soon.

This mapping has been implemented in many IEDs. Even in the wind power market, this mapping is the most crucial mappings … the other four mappings defined in IEC 61400-25-4 may be implemented as well.

Please note that most of the changes and corrections have been implemented by many IEDs, because many of them have been made during the edition 1 Tissue process. The first Tissue goes back to 2005.

Click HERE for the list of Tissues for part IEC 61850-8-1 Edition 1. The green Tissues are those that have been solved already – most of them are required for conformance testing. IED’s TICS (Tissue Implementation Conformance Statement) have to indicate which of the green Tissues have been implemented.

Click HERE for a sample TICS document.

8-1
#116 GetNameList with empty response?
#165 Improper Error Response for GetDataSetValues
#183 GetNameList error handling

Click HERE for further details on Edition 2 of IEC 61850-8-1.