System and method for providing communication between intelligent electronic devices via an open channel

• US 20060083260A1
• Filed: 10/20/2004
• Published: 04/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EI Electronics LLC (Hubbell, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electro Industries/Gaugetech
• Inventors: Wang, Wei, Slota, Fred
• Granted Patent: US 7,616,656 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/463
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

An intelligent electronic device is configured to receive and generate data formatted in accordance with a DNP 3.0 protocol through an Ethernet TCP/IP medium.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a processor operative to generate data in accordance with a DNP 3.0 protocol in response to a message transmitted through an open socket within a communication medium; and

an adapter coupled to the processor and operative to receive and format the data in accordance with the DNP 3.0 protocol, the adapter being configured to transmit the formatted data via the open socket within the communication channel.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a metering device operative to perform a function selected from the group consisting of voltage transformation, regulation and control, power-factor, and load balancing, monitoring, and protection of hardware and a combination thereof.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the adapter is operative to strip the message from the communication channel and to transmit the message to the processor.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the adapter is an Ethernet Card.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the open communication channel is an Ethernet medium.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the data generated by the processor is a serial response to the message.

7. A communication system comprising:

a base device operative to generate a message in accordance with a DNP 3.0 protocol;

a communication channel coupled to the base device and operative to transmit the message from the base device; and

at least one intelligent electronic device (IED) provided with an open socket coupled to the communication channel and operative to receive the message and generate a series response upon receiving the message, wherein the series response is formatted in accordance with the DNP 3.0 protocol and transmitted via the communication channel to the base device.

8. The communication system of claim 7, wherein the base device is selected from the group consisting of a remote terminal unit (RTU), a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) master and a combination thereof, the base device being provided with software operative to generate the message and receive the series response in accordance with the DNP 3.0 protocol.

9. The communication system of claim 7, wherein the at least one intelligent electronic device is configured with an adapter coupled to the open socket within the communication channel and operative to receive the message from the base device and generate an output signal formatted in accordance with the DNP 3.0 protocol, and a processor receiving the output signal from the adapter and operative to generate the series data in response to the output signal, the series data being received by the adapter operative to transmit the series data formatted in accordance with the DNP 3.0 protocol via the communication channel to the base device.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the at least one intelligent electronic device is a metering device operative to perform a function selected from the group consisting of voltage transformation, regulation and control, power-factor, and load balancing, monitoring, and protection of hardware and a combination thereof.

11. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising an additional intelligent electronic device, the communication channel including an Ethernet medium interconnecting the base device, at least one and additional intelligent electronic device to form a local area network (LAN).

12. The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising a coupler operative to connect the LAN to an Internet medium.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the coupler is one of a modem and DSL selectively coupled to the at least one and additional intelligent devices, RTU and SCADA master.

14. A method for providing communication between at least one intelligent electronic device and a base device defining a local area network (LAN) comprising the steps of:

providing an Ethernet TCP/IP medium;

coupling the base device and at least one intelligent electronic device to the Ethernet medium, thereby forming a local area network; and

transmitting data formatted in accordance with a DNP 3.0 protocol between the base device and at least one intelligent electronic channel through an open socket within the Ethernet TCP/IP medium.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one intelligent electronic device is provided with an adapter coupled to the open socket and configured to format the data in accordance with the DNP 3.0 protocol.