System and method for simultaneous communication on modbus and DNP 3.0 over Ethernet for electronic power meter

• US 20060077999A1
• Filed: 03/23/2005
• Published: 04/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EI Electronics LLC (Hubbell, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electro Industries/Gauge Tech
• Inventors: Wang, Wei, Kagan, Erran, Spanier, Joseph, Slota, Fredrick
• Granted Patent: US 7,609,719 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/063 related to remote communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40136 Nodes adapting their rate to the physical link properties LAN switches H04L49/351
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

A system and method is provided for simultaneous communications on Modbus and DNP 3.0 over Ethernet for an electronic power meter. The system incorporates one or more protocol wrappers to provide compatibility with both Modbus and DNP based applications. The system removes the appropriate wrappers and routes the incoming data packet to its destination. Additionally, the system also wraps outgoing response packets with the appropriate protocol wrapper based on the related data packet wrappers.

Claims

1. A method for providing simultaneous communications between a host device and a plurality of applications, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a data packet over an Ethernet connection via an Ethernet card, said data packet using a first protocol via a Ethernet protocol wrapper;

removing said Ethernet protocol wrapper;

determining a secondary protocol used by said data packet;

routing said data packet according to predetermined paths selected based on said secondary protocol;

providing a response packet using said secondary protocol of said data packet;

appending an Ethernet protocol wrapper to said response packet; and

transmitting said response packet over said Ethernet connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said secondary protocol is a Modbus protocol, said data packet is transferred to said host device and parsed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said secondary protocol is a DNP (Distributed Network Protocol) and said data packet is a DNP data packet.

4. The method of claim 3, said routing step further comprising the steps of:

appending a Modbus wrapper to said DNP data packet;

transferring said Modbus wrapped DNP data packet to said host device;

removing said Modbus wrapper from said DNP data packet; and

parsing said DNP data packet.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

appending a Modbus wrapper to said response packet;

transferring said Modbus wrapped response packet to said Ethernet card; and

removing said Modbus wrapper from said response packet prior to the Ethernet protocol wrapper appending step.

6. A system for providing simultaneous communications between a host device and a plurality of applications, said system comprising:

means for receiving a data packet over an Ethernet connection via an Ethernet card, said data packet using a first protocol via an Ethernet protocol wrapper;

means for removing said Ethernet protocol wrapper;

means for determining a secondary protocol used by said data packet;

means for routing said data packet according to predetermined paths selected based on said secondary protocol;

means for providing a response packet using said secondary protocol of said data packet;

means for appending an Ethernet protocol wrapper to said response packet; and

means for transmitting said response packet over said Ethernet connection.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said secondary protocol is a Modbus protocol, said data packet is transferred to said host device and parsed.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said secondary protocol is a DNP (Distributed Network Protocol) and said data packet is a DNP data packet.

9. The system of claim 8, said routing step further comprising the steps of:

means for appending a Modbus wrapper to said DNP data packet;

means for transferring said Modbus wrapped DNP data packet to said host device;

means for removing said Modbus wrapper from said DNP data packet; and

means for parsing said DNP data packet.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

means for appending a Modbus wrapper to said response packet;

means for transferring said Modbus wrapped response packet to said Ethernet card; and

means for removing said Modbus wrapper from said response packet prior to the Ethernet protocol wrapper appending step.

11. A data packet for simultaneous communications between a host device and a plurality of applications using multiple industry standard communications protocols, said data packet comprising:

a data packet, said data being encoded in accordance with a first protocol; and

a first wrapper enclosing said data packet, said wrapper complying with a second protocol.

12. The data packet of claim 11, wherein said first protocol is a Modbus protocol and said second protocol is an Ethernet transport protocol.

13. The data packet of claim 11, wherein said first protocol is a DNP protocol and said second protocol is a Modbus protocol.

14. The data packet of claim 13, further comprising a second wrapper enclosing said first wrapper and said data packet, said second wrapper complying with an Ethernet transport protocol.