The Testing Program For Distribution Terminal Equipment And Software Design Based On IEC60870-5-104 Protocol

Distribution Automation is the basis for constructing Smart Distribution Grid.Based on the power network frame and equipment, taking the distribution automationsystem as the core, Distribution Automation (DA) realizes the monitoring and controlof the distribution grid through using multiple communication modes and integratingthe information of the relevant application system. Therefore, the communicationsystem is a very important part of the DA, in which IEC60870-5-104 protocol isadopted primarily. Through participating in the project of constructingcommunication system of the DA in Lu Valley of Changsha, the author knew that theapplication of IEC60870-5-104 protocol in distribution grid promoted theconstruction of Distribution grid, but it also brought a new problem: distributionterminal equipments lacked of compatibility and interoperability. To solve the aboveproblem, test software is developed based on IEC60870-5-104 protocol, which cansimulate the distribution master to test the distribution terminal equipment inaccordance with IEC60870-5-104 protocol.Because IEC60870-5-104 protocol has many options and configurableparameters, in the process of the application of IEC60870-5-104 protocol throughoutthe country, the implement standard of IEC60870-5-104 protocol has been formulatedin many regions based on the actual situation. In the paper referred to the nationalstandard of IEC60870-5-104 protocol and the implement standard of the 104 protocolin the Central China Power Grid, and based on the 104 protocol implement standardof distribution automation in Changsha and the actual situation of Lu Valleydistribution automation, formulates the 104 protocol test program of distributionterminal equipment, which mainly includes test items, test contents and test methods.According to the relevant content of the 104 protocol and the test program, using theMicrosoft Visual C++ 6.0, the test software of IEC60870-5-104 protocol is developedspecially for testing distribution terminals. The software can simulate the distributionmaster station communicating with distribution terminal equipment in the 104protocol, detect the communication process and the messages sent by the distributionterminal equipment, and parse the message in byte or even in bit.Through using the test software to do the 104 protocol test on distributionterminal equipment of multiple manufacturers, the inconsistency situation of the distribution terminal equipment in realization of the 104 protocol can be found out.The field test results show that using the test software to test distribution terminalequipment is an effective way to solve the distribution terminal compatibility andinteroperability issues.