IEC 60870-5-103

IEC 60870-5-103 is a protocol for power system monitoring and controlling. Mostly used for communication between protection devices and devices of a control system in a substation (RTU) over fiber optics.

Info about protocol

Telegram Structure

Telegram format with fixed length

Telegram format with variable length

• RES - Reserved
• PRM - 1 if master, 0 if slave

PRM = 1

• FCB - alternating bit for successive services per station
• FCV - (if FCV=1 FCB enabled)

PRM = 0

• ACD - access demand (if ACD=1 there are class 1 data)
• DFC - data flow control (if DFC=1 further messages may cause data overflow)

Function Code

PRM=1

PRM=0

Type identification

Standard IEC 60870-5-103 data types[1-255]

• [1-31] - standard definition
• [32-255] - for special use

Dec	Description	Direction	Support
1	Time-tagged message	Monitor	Yes
2	Time-tagged message with relative time	Monitor	Yes
3	Measurands I	Monitor	Yes
4	Time-tagged measurands with relative time	Monitor	Yes
5	Identification	Monitor	Yes
6	Clock synchronization	Both	Yes
7	General interrogation	Control	Yes
8	End of general interrogation	Monitor	Yes
9	Measurands II	Monitor	Yes
10	Generic data	Both	No
11	Generic identification	Monitor	No
20	General command	Control	Yes
21	Generic command	Control	No
23	List of recorded disturbances	Monitor	No
24	Order for disturbance data transmission	Control	No
25	Acknowledgment for disturbance data transmission	Control	No
26	Ready for transmission of disturbance data	Monitor	No
27	Ready for transmission of a channel	Monitor	No
28	Ready for transmission of tags	Monitor	No
29	Transmission of tags	Monitor	No
30	Transmission of disturbance values	Monitor	No
31	End of transmission	Monitor	No

Cause of transmission

Standard IEC 60870-5-103 cause of transmission [0-255]

• [0] - not used
• [1-63] - standard definition
• [64-255] - for special use

Dec	Description
1	Spontaneous
2	Cyclic
3	Reset frame count bit ( FCB )
4	Reset communication unit ( CU )
5	Start/ restart
6	Power ON
7	Test mode
8	Time synchronization
9	General interrogation
10	End of general interrogation
11	Return information caused by a remote command
12	Return information caused by a local command
20	Command "ACK positive"
21	Command "ACK negative"
31	Transmission disturbance data
40	Generic write command with ACK positive
41	Generic write command with ACK negative
42	Generic read command data valid
43	Generic read command data invalid
44	Generic write conformation

 Settings

Timeouts (ms)
		Monitor	Master	Slave
	Reading data	Waiting data in serial port buffer	Waiting data in serial port buffer	Waiting data in serial port buffer
	Pause before send	Not used	Pause before send data	Pause before send data
Address
		Monitor	Master	Slave
	Link	Not used	Remote device address	Own system address
	ASDU	Not used	Remote device address	Own system address
Commands ack.
		Monitor	Master	Slave
	Auto ack. system commands	Not used	Not used	Auto acknowledge system commands
	Auto ack. control commands	Not used	Not used	Auto acknowledge commands

System

For all system functions user can set custom address:

General Interrogation

This function will send telegram Type-identification = 7

Clock synchronization

This function will send telegram Type-identification = 103 (C_CS_NA_1)

If "PC time" checkbox is checked, then the PC time will be sent. If it's not checked user can set time manually.

Time tag status bits:

• IV - invalid time
• SM - Summer/Winter
• SB - Substitute

General Command

This function allows user to send command to slave device.

Tags

This function allows user to created named points. After points created user can send it manually or set reply checkbox to automatic reply.

• To export Tags to csv file: Tags -> Export -> Save file dialog appear
• To import Tags from csv file: Tags -> Import -> Open file dialog appear

There are two ways of creating tags:

1. Create tag button.
2. Double click a signal with the left mouse button in the statistic tab.

Main parameters:

• Name - user-friendly tag name
• Type - the type of value.
• Asdu - Identifier of the device
• Fun - function number
• Info- Identifier of values from the device.

Here is an example image of the tag window with the TimeTaggedMessage(1) type selected.  Each type has different options that can be configured when sending data. For example this type depicted in the picture below can send a value Off or On and it also is time-tagged. The user in this case can either select a specific time that they have in mind or just mark the PC checkbox and The Vinci software will automatically send the current PC time. As you can see the Value box in this example is greyed out that is because this tag is created on a master simulation, and this type doesn't support writing to slave.

Setup

To setup an IEC 60870-5-103 simulation it is fairly straightforward. 

1. Select IEC 60870-5-103 and the mode.

2. Select Serial Port settings according to your device specification.

3. Select settings in the settings tab according to your device and preference.

4. Press the green START button and the simulation should start. If everything was done correctly The Vinci software should establish communication with the IEC 60870-5-103 device which you can monitor in the console tab.