The Infona portal uses cookies, i.e. strings of text saved by a browser on the user's device. The portal can access those files and use them to remember the user's data, such as their chosen settings (screen view, interface language, etc.), or their login data. By using the Infona portal the user accepts automatic saving and using this information for portal operation purposes. More information on the subject can be found in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. By closing this window the user confirms that they have read the information on cookie usage, and they accept the privacy policy and the way cookies are used by the portal. You can change the cookie settings in your browser.
The idea of Industry 4.0 includes the concept of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) that is the possibility for industrial devices to have Internet connection and share data. Huge amount of data are stored and analyzed in the Cloud to extract meaningful information to be sold as "services". Today, many Industry 4.0 scenarios do not require a short latency between data collection and output...
This paper proposes the use of Synchronous Ethernet in networks with multiple paths for the synthesis of a precise frequency reference for distributed measurement systems. The paper presents novel approach based on a Kalman filter with outlier identification and removal followed by a linear quadratic regulator (LQR). The algorithm, to be implemented within a network element, is able to synthetize...
Advantages of smart metering are well known: more control of resource usage, accurate bills and better budgeting. For this reason roll out plans have been created not only for electricity, but also for gas distribution. In such a scenario, some additional difficulties arise due to the need of a wireless and autonomous functioning of meters. In particular, measurement techniques and communication protocols...
In the last years, the increasing focus on energy savings is the key factor in the transformation of the legacy distribution grid toward the so called smart grid. One of the most evident, it is the wide diffusion, in some countries, of smart metering technologies for monitoring of customer electrical consumption. The proven benefits of this technology suggested to the Italian regulative agency the...
The adoption of IEC 61850 in the deployment of Substation Automation System opens new scenarios to system design. The presence of a communication infrastructure connecting Intelligent Electronic Device (IED), sensors and protections may suggest the development of distribute measurement devices, where the sampling of the physical quantities and the elaboration of the sampled value could be performed...
The modern industrial and substation automation Ethernet networks have demanding requirements about high availability. Recently, the IEEE 802.1 WG proposes the IEEE 802.1aq, also known as Shortest Path Bridging, to manage Ethernet redundant networks. The IEEE 1588 protocol can exploit the SPB capabilities to manage multiple paths in order to improve synchronization availability. In the paper, the...
Real-time networks for substations automation systems are based on ICT technologies and they may take great advantages from ultra recent network technological improvements. A careful evaluation of the performance enhancement is required. Due to cost and system complexity, such an analysis can be performed only using a dedicated simulation environment, but the currently available simulation libraries...
In modern real-time Ethernet networks for substation automation, several protocols are adopted to guarantee the strict synchronization and availability requirements imposed by applications. The management of these networks is more and more complex, since several (cross-influencing) configuration parameters affect the performance of the overall system. In this paper the attention has been focused on...
PLC is the acronym for ??PowerLine Communication?? and means data communications via power wiring. PLC was initially used for tele-protection and tele-monitoring of electrical substations by means of high voltage power lines, in order to avoid costs of microwave or fiber optic links. More recently, PLC has been also adopted for automatic smart metering. However, only with the advent of low-cost digital...
Clock synchronization is essential to support time-based medium access scheduling and distributed control over industrial networks relying on Real-Time Ethernet (RTE). PROFINET IO is one of the most widely used field-buses in large automation plants. The PROFINET IO Isochronous Real Time (IRT) implementation includes a Precision Transparent Clock Protocol (PTCP) for network-level synchronization....
Nowadays the IEEE1588 synchronization protocol has been adopted in a growing number of fields, from automation to telecommunication systems. Usually, the quality of the services provided by these applications requires an accurate and reliable time synchronization. Several solutions have been already proposed to achieve these goals. However, the statistical instruments provided in the standard (PTP...
The introduction of the standard IEC 61850 for the communication of Substation Automation System (SAS) opens new scenarios in which products of different vendors can communicate on the same network infrastructure, based on Ethernet technology. The recent improvements in industrial communications are going to deeply influence two of the key points in the development of SAS: synchronization and availability...
In the last year the automation systems in power substation start to rely on networks thanks to the introduction of the IEC 61850 standard. Besides, it generates a general interest on synchronization also in the field of substation automation systems. In fact, timestamping of critical events or synchrophasor measurements can have a great advantage from distributed synchronization protocols like IEEE...
Wireless communications in the industrial automation world still suffer from lack of standardization. WirelessHART, released in September 2007, is still the only open communication standard specifically designed for real-time process control applications. This paper presents an innovative distributed tool for capturing WirelessHART packets in the field. In fact, even if tools for compliance assessment...
In this paper, the WirelessHART communication scheme is investigated. The protocol is at first described, in order to underline the key aspects of its design; then, a simulation tool is presented: it enables analysis that accounts for both protocol and physical layers issues. In particular, interference effects on protocol choices can be easily analyzed. The experimental results, obtained from simulations,...
A precise time synchronization is essential in many wireless sensor networking applications, e.g. in order to correlate observations of the same event from different sites or to efficiently share the wireless channel. Generally, wireless sensors are designed having in mind low cost and low power. In the past, several protocols have been suggested, each one with its pros and cons, aiming at the maximization...
This paper investigates Real-Time Ethernet (RTE) protocols for industrial applications and their clock synchronization performance. In fact, if different RTE protocols coexist on the same network sharing the same infrastructure, clock synchronization capabilities can be affected. This paper introduces a simulation environment to evaluate coexistence of RTE protocols. The proposed tool is described...
This paper deals with the problem of coexistence of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for industrial applications, proposing new approaches. In fact, if several WSNs operate in the same area, the reliability of the system rapidly decreases, especially if static radio channel assignment WSNs and frequency hopping WSNs are mixed. The proposed architecture is based on a collaborative approach that exploits...
The paper deals with IEEE1588 PTP-based devices which are installed in industrial plants together with PROFINET IO Class C. In fact, devices with PTP for clock synchronization (e.g. LXI instruments, Ethernet/IP nodes etc.) exhibit noticeable time errors if directly connected to the PROFINET infrastructure. In the paper, possible architectures to overcome this limitation are evaluated (i.e boundary...
The definition of several real-time Ethernet (RTE) protocols for industry use implies that new automation systems can include more than one technology. In the future different RTE protocols could share the same network infrastructure, raising the problem of coexistence. The paper introduces a new approach to evaluate coexistence of RTE protocols by means of a distributed RTE traffic emulator/logger...
Set the date range to filter the displayed results. You can set a starting date, ending date or both. You can enter the dates manually or choose them from the calendar.