Utilities face numerous data communication challenges to ensure safety, productivity and profitability. An important role is played by communication protocols, which have undergone a significant evolution over time. In the industrial field, the use of the DNP3 protocol is particularly widespread, which offers many advantages in a wide range of applications. ISOIL Industria, which has always been committed to innovation, has integrated DNP3 into the MV255 battery converter.
At the heart of Industry 4.0: communication protocols
The communication protocol is the set of rules that define the methods for exchanging data and information between devices.
It must meet certain requirements: it must necessarily be reliable (i.e. ensure the arrival of information without the presence of errors) and secure (data cannot be read or written by other systems in the network without the necessary authorizations).
There are many protocols, which differ from each other in performance and access methods. Until recently, communication protocols were used that did not comply with any standard and were the exclusive property of the supplier of the control systems.
The advent of Industry 4.0, which has the integration between machines, components and people as its cornerstone, has favored the process of standardizing communication protocols: the use of standards ensures that devices from different manufacturers can interoperate successfully.
The DNP3 protocol
Among the communication protocols, particularly popular is the DNP3 (Distributed Network Protocol). It is an open (non-proprietary) and multi-point protocol that specifies the data encoding and the rules for exchanging this data between a master and one or more remote units.
Developed in the 90s for the electrical sector, it is now also used in various telemetry applications where reliable communication is required between remote devices such as RTUs – Remote Terminal Units, SCADA Systems – Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition Systems, IEDs –Intelligent Electronic Devices, HMIs – Human-Machine Interfaces.
The versatility of DNP3 has allowed it to be used in industries including Water & Wastewater Management, Transportation, Upstream Oil & Gas operations.
Greater safety, efficiency, flexibility, interoperability.
The MV255 battery converter now offers even more advantages
DNP3 has been recently added to the already large number of MV255’s existing communication protocols (SMTP, FTP, POP etc). DNP3 is recognized as the foundation building block of the WITS (Water Industry Telemetry Standard).
Its adoption is rapidly spreading across utilities in the water industry due to its high level of security. DNP3 has many benefits, apart from security: it delivers excellent data transfer efficiency making it a particularly good choice for bandwidth-constrained applications in distribution systems. DNP3 allows addressing over 65000 devices with a single link. Data transfer is extremely robust managing segmenting of messages into multiple frames to ensure error detection and recovery.
The incorporation of the DNP3 protocol into the MV255 allows the communication of a wide range of real time data, of measures, totalizers, diagnostic settings information and alarm (via SMS). The MV255 allows the enabling in parallel of both the DNP3 and email transmission.
As with emails, the MV255 communicates with DNP3 at set time intervals, allowing all data to be sent as required while optimising battery consumption. Only 5 variables need to be set to incorporate the MV255 into a DNP3 network.
ISOIL Industria is available for any further information.