SCADA

(supervisory control and data acquisition)

• SCADA encompasses the collecting of the information via
a RTU (remote terminal unit)
• carrying out any necessary analysis and control
• displaying that information on a number of operator screens or
displays
• the required control actions are then conveyed back to the process
Traditional SCADA

• It is simple, no CPUs, RAM, ROM or software programming

needed
• The sensors are connected directly to the meters, switches and
lights on the panel
• It could be (in most circumstances) easy and cheap to add a
simple device like a switch or indicator
Modern SCADA

• Master Station Unit (MSU)

• Sub-MSU
• Slave Station Unit (SSU)
• Intelligent Electronic Device (IED)
• Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)
Modern SCADA

• The computer can record and store a very large amount of data
• The data can be displayed in any way the user requires
• Thousands of sensors over a wide area can be connected to the
system
• The operator can incorporate real data simulations into the system
• Many types of data can be collected from the RTUs
• The data can be viewed from anywhere, not just on site
Modern SCADA

• Minimal wiring is needed

• The operator can see down to the sensor level
• The data received from the device can include information like…serial
numbers, model numbers, when it was installed and by whom
• All devices are plug and play, so installation and replacement are easy
• Smaller devices means less physical space for the data acquisition
system
Modern SCADA
SCADA Software

• Proprietary
• Open

Key features of SCADA software include:

User interfaces
Graphics displays
Alarms
Trends
RTU (and PLC) interface
Scalability
Access to data
Database
Networking
Fault tolerance and redundancy
Client/server distributed processing
SCADA Software

• VTScada (Trihedral) 50 Tags Free

SCADA Software

• VTScada
SCADA Software

• Ignition (Inductive Automation)

SCADA Software
• Ignition (Inductive Automation)
SCADA Software
• myPro (mySCADA)
SCADA Software
• myPro (mySCADA)
SCADA Software
• Reliance 4
SCADA Software
• Indusoft Web Studio
SCADA Software
• Wonderware Intouch
SCADA Software
• QuickHMI
SCADA Software
• QuickHMI
SCADA Software
• ViewX - ClearScada
SCADA Software
• Citect
SCADA Software
• Genesis (Iconics)
SCADA Software
• Promotic 30 Tags Free
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

• stand-alone data acquisition and control unit

• generally microprocessor based
• monitors and controls equipment at a remote location and to transfer
this data back to a central station
• can also act as a relay station
• small RTUs generally have less than 10 to 20 analog and digital signals
• medium sized RTUs have 100 digital and 30 to 40 analog inputs
• any RTU with more inputs is referred to as ‘large’
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

CPU Module
• generally microprocessor based (16- or 32-bit)
• total memory capacity of 256 kbytes (expandable to 4 Mbytes)
broken into three types namely EPROM, RAM and Flash/EEPROM
• communication ports – typically two or three ports (RS-232/RS-
422/RS-485)
• real-time clock with full calendar is useful for accurate time stamping
of events
• watchdog timer provides a check that the RTU program is executing
regularly
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

Analog Input Module

• 8 or 16 analog inputs
• Resolution of 8 or 12 bits
• Range of 4–20 mA (other possibilities are 0–20 mA/±10 volts/0–10
volts)
• Input resistance typically 240 kohm to 1 Mohm
• Conversion rates typically 10 microseconds to 30 milliseconds
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

Analog Output Module

• 8 analog outputs
• Resolution of 8 or 12 bits
• Conversion rate from 10 µ seconds to 30 milliseconds
• Outputs ranging from 4–20 mA/± 10 volts/0 to 10 volts
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

Digital Input Module

• indicate such items as status and alarm signals
• provide groups of 8, 16 or 32 inputs per board
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

Digital counter or accumulator module

• 4 counter inputs
• Four 16-bit counters (65 536 counts per counter input)
• Count frequency up to 20 kHz range
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)

Digital output module

• 8 digital outputs
• 240 V AC/24 V DC (0.5 amp to 2.0 amp) outputs
• Associated LED indicator for each output to indicate current status
• Optical isolation or dry relay contact for each output

Communication interfaces
• RS-232/RS-442/RS-485
• Ethernet
• Dial up telephone lines/dedicated landlines
• Microwave/MUX
• Satellite
• X.25 packet protocols
• Radio via trunked/VHF/UHF/900 MHz
Master Station Unit (MSU)

• Establishment of communications, which involves configuring each

RTU, initializing each RTU with input/output parameters, as well as
downloading control and data acquisition programs to the RTU
• Operation of the communications link, which involves (in a master–
slave arrangement) polling each RTU for data and writing to the RTU,
logging alarms and events to hard disk (and operator display if
necessary), as well as linking inputs and outputs at different RTUs
automatically
• Diagnostics, which involve accurate diagnostic information on failure
of RTU and possible problems, as well as predicting potential problems
such as data overloads
Master Station Unit (MSU)
Sub- Master Station Unit (Sub-MSU)

• Acquire data from RTUs within the region

• Log and display this data on a local operator station
• Pass data back to the master station
• Pass on control requests from the master station to the RTUs in its
region
Sub- Master Station Unit (Sub-MSU)
Communication architectures
Point-to-point architecture

• the simplest configuration

• data is exchanged between two stations only
• one station can be setup as the master and one as the slave
• possible for both stations to communicate in full-duplex mode
Communication architectures
Multi-point architecture

• Normally data is passed between the master and each of the

slaves
• If two slaves need to transfer data between each other they
would do so through the master that acts as arbitrator or
moderator
• it is possible for all the stations to act in a peer-to-peer
relationship
Communication architectures
Relay station architecture

• store and forward

• talk-through repeaters
Communication philosophies
Polled (master–slave)

• the master is in total control of the communication system

• the slaves do not initiate the transactions but rely on the master
• the slave only responds on a request from the master
• if a slave does not respond in a defined time, the master then
retries (typically up to three times) and then marks the slave as
unserviceable before trying the next slave node in the
sequence
• the software is simple and reliable due to the simplicity of the
philosophy
• link failure between the master and a slave node is detected
quickly
• no collisions can occur on the network; hence the data
throughput is predictable and constant
Communication philosophies
Polled (master–slave)
Communication philosophies High and normal priority arrangement
Polled (master–slave)
Communication philosophies
Contention (peer-to-peer)

RTU to RTU communication

The master station poll and then examine the destination address
field of the message received from the RTU and if it does not
observe its own, retransmits it onto the appropriate remote station

Exception reporting (event reporting)

The remote station monitors its own inputs for a change of state or
data. Only when there is a change of state, the remote station writes
a block of data to the master station.
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model
• developed by the International Standardization Organization
• to provide a framework for the coordination of standards
development and allows both existing and evolving standards
activities to be set within that common framework
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model

Application layer
• responsible for giving applications access to the network
• file transfer, electronic mail (e-mail) services, and network
management

Presentation layer
• responsible for presenting information in a manner suitable for the
applications or users dealing with the information
• data conversion, special graphics or character sets, data compression
or expansion, data encryption or decryption
• in practice, the presentation layer rarely appears in pure form
• application- or session-layer programs will often encompass some or
all of the presentation layer functions
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model

Session layer
• responsible for synchronizing and sequencing the dialogue and
packets in a network connection
• responsible for making sure that the connection is maintained until
the transmission is complete, and ensuring that appropriate security
measures are taken during a ‘session’ (that is, a connection)

Transport layer
• responsible for providing data transfer at an agreed-upon level of
quality, such as at specified transmission speeds and error rates
• provides services for the session layer above it, and uses the network
layer below it to find a route between source and destination
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model

Network layer
• Determining addresses, may be on a local network or they may refer
to networks located elsewhere on an internetwork
• Finding a route between a source and a destination node or between
two intermediate devices
• Fragmentation of large packets of data into frames which are small
enough to be transmitted by the underlying data link layer
(fragmentation)

Data link layer

• responsible for creating, transmitting, and receiving data packets
• packets are passed down to the physical layer and from there, the
data is transmitted to the physical layer on the destination machine
• Ethernet, support services at the data link level
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model
Physical layer
• gets data packets from the data link layer above it, and converts the
contents of these packets into a series of electrical signals that
represent 0 and 1 values in a digital transmission
• signals are sent across a transmission medium to the physical layer at
the receiving end
• at the destination, the physical layer converts the electrical signals
into a series of bit values
• mechanical and electrical properties of the transmission medium are
defined at this level
• the type of cable and connectors used. Cable may be coaxial, twisted
pair, or fiber optic
• pin assignments for the cable and connectors, depend on the type of
cable and also on the network architecture being used
• Format for the electrical signals, encoding scheme used to signal 0
and 1 values in a digital transmission or particular values in an analog
transmission depend on the network architecture being used
Enhance performance architecture (EPA) model

The layers used in this model are the two hardware layers and the
top software layer, the application layer