What is PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 about?
PD IEC TR 61850 is a series on communication networks and systems for power utility automation. A communication network is a collection of methods that users employ to pass on valuable information.  PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 is a Technical Report, is intended for an audience familiar with electrical power automation based on IEC 61850 and related power system management, particularly for data network engineers and system integrators. PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 is intended to help them to understand the technologies, configure a wide area network, define requirements, write specifications, select components, and conduct tests. PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 provides definitions, guidelines, and recommendations for the engineering of WANs, for protection, control and monitoring based on IEC 61850 and related standards.
PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 addresses substation-to-substation communication, substation-to-control centre, and control centre-to-control centre communication. PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 addresses the most critical aspects of IEC 61850 such as protection related data transmission via GOOSE and SMVs, and the multicast transfer of large volumes of synchrophasor data.
PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 addresses issues such as topology, redundancy, traffic latency and quality of service, traffic management, clock synchronization, security, and maintenance of the network. PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 contains use cases that show how utilities tackle their WAN engineering.
Who is PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 for?
PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 on communication networks and systems is useful for:
- Telecommunication sectors
- Data network engineers
- IT sector
- Design engineers
- Administration departments
Why should you use PD IEC TR 61850-90-12?
Utilities use data networks to interconnect equipment between their premises, over distances from under a kilometre to thousands of kilometres, called a "Wide Area Network" or WAN.
WANs, as described in PD IEC TR 61850-90-12, encompass communication means of different natures (optical, radio, power line carrier, copper, etc.), with a variety of topologies (rings, trees, meshes, etc.), using different protocols (SDH/SONET, Ethernet, IP, MPLS, etc.), medium sharing (packet switching, time division multiplex, etc.) and for different applications (tele-protection, SCADA, voice, video, etc.).
This contrasts with substation automation networks as described in the LAN Engineering Guidelines (IEC TR 61850-90-4), which are based on one technology (switched Ethernet), make extensive use of Layer 2 multicast (GOOSE, SMV, PTP, etc.) and use Layer 3 communication (MMS, FTP, etc.), typically without routers within the substation.
PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 deals with the application, transport, or network layer mechanisms. There exist no comprehensive engineering guides for wide-area and real-time networks for control and protection. The growing success of IEC 61850 calls for guidelines for engineering the WANs.
This Technical Report proposes guidelines for wide-area and real-time networks for various IEC 61850-based applications including tele-protection, wide area measurement, protection, and control (WAMPAC), power system monitoring (WASA, WAMS), operation SCADA, and condition monitoring and diagnosis (CMD) and non-operational traffic. Using PD IEC TR 61850-90-12 you can understand the technologies, configure a wide area network, define requirements, write specifications, select components, and conduct tests.
What’s changed since the last update?
PD IEC TR 61850-90-12:2020 supersedes PD IEC/TR 61850-90-12:2015. PD IEC TR 61850-90-12:2020 includes some technical changes with respect to PD IEC/TR 61850-90-12:2015. These include:
- Extension of use case with respect to distribution and customer-side applications
- Extensions of wireless access technologies as well as power line communication ones applicable to the above-mentioned use case
- Revisions regarding radio communication technology performance
- Extension of network migration with respect to a packet-switched network
- A new mapping of multiprotocol label switching technology to tele-protection
