FOX615 Multiservice Platform

Description

FOX615 integrates teleprotection interfaces for distance as well as for differential protection simultaneously within state-of-the-art SDH networks and MPLS-TP networks; ensuring an easy and flexible way to migrate technology in a utility network. With its latest IEC61850 interface the FOX615 also acts as a substation IED and enables GOOSE based protection applications of digital substations. Built on Hitachi Energy’s huge domain expertise, the utility-grade design of FOX615 is deployed in thousands of installations across the globe with guaranteed performance including those with electromagnetically polluted environments and across a broad range of temperatures. 

Teleprotection: Safeguarding the electrical grid

Critical to grid operations is the protection of power lines, through teleprotection. Teleprotection systems were developed alongside the electrical grids themselves, and the operational communication networks used are mainly driven by those applications. In 1940, the average telephone user was just getting to grips with the rotary-dial telephone, while Hitachi Energy was deploying power-line communications: utilizing the electrical transmission infrastructure to carry teleprotection data and avoiding the need for a separate Pilot Line.

Public telecom networks have evolved at an amazing speed, this has been primarily driven by new applications (e.g. smartphones, YouTube, email) which results in a growing demand for increased bandwidth. Subsequently this has resulted in network solutions with a higher capacity for data transmission with a lower focus upon the quality of service. Teleprotection systems, in contrast, have always operated under the pressure of protecting critical infrastructure. Reliability and quality of service is paramount, resilience is required, while new technologies and techniques must prove themselves robust enough to match, or exceed, the existing equipment before they can safely be used in the electrical network.

Longevity: Investment cycles in utilities are much longer than those in the public telecom sector.

Protection and control equipment in electrical substations, which is ultimately connected to utility communication equipment, is particularly long-lived. The ultimate goal of commissioning an all-Ethernet/IP network is still far away, particularly for Hitachi Energy, which link hundreds or even thousands of established substations.

A basic requirement of such a system would be longevity, with guaranteed performance as per established technologies. Unlike the full network refurbishments often seen in public telecommunications networks, utility networks evolve slowly, increasing in size and slowly migrating to new technologies in a step-by-step approach. This evolution means that high interoperability between existing and new installations as well as parallel operation of both is a must.

Utility environment:

These days most offices grind to a halt in the face of a failed internet connection, but no industry compares to electrical transmission in being dependent on robust, resilient, and predictable communications. Only suppliers with an intimate knowledge of the industry can supply, and maintain, equipment capable of meeting that unique set of demands.

In addition to extremes of temperature, utility communications equipment is also exposed to magnetic and electrical fields, which are particularly severe during short-circuit events. In order to maintain the high levels of availability required, especially in emergency situations, utility communications equipment must offer a robust and reliable design that has proven capabilities for providing accurate functionality under extreme conditions. In dusty and remote environments, where regular maintenance cannot be guaranteed, fan-less designs are preferable.

Features 

Communication Networks compared

* Supported with additional protocols 
1 Deterministic network performance not as good as with SDH technology 
 
Cybersecurity: Layered communication architectures ensure improved network security.

Packet-based networks use publicly documented protocols, and utilities are potential targets, so a comprehensive (and co-ordinated) security policy is essential across the entire network.

Depending on the application requirements, different measures need to be taken, starting from denial of service protection, protection against data modification using authentication, up to encryption of confidential data, and centralized user account management. This ensures a ‘defense in depth’ approach and is supported by the FOX615 platform. Additionally, the static approach of MPLS-TP, with much fewer protocols being potential targets for attacks, and the natively integrated SDH technology reduce potential attack surfaces.

WAN modernization: An outstanding multiservice platform for real-time utility communication

Hitachi Energy's FOX615 is a hybrid solution supporting traditional TDM (PDH / SDH) and Multi-Protocol Label Switching - Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) – the latest standard designed to address the new applications using packet-switched technology natively. The majority of existing communication networks of power utilities are based on Time Division Multiplexing, TDM, which allocates dedicated circuits to specific communications and thus guaranteeing the required communication performance parameters such as bandwidth, latency, and symmetry. New standards today are based on packet-switched technologies (e.g. IEC 60870-5-104 or IEC 61850) and therefore integrate natively into a packet-switched MPLS backbone network.

Well known features of SDH networks were left behind when MPLS was originally created for dynamic public telecommunication networks and implemented as IP/MPLS. That’s why an enhancement of the standard was required, leading to MPLS-TP bringing back those missing features from SDH to the MPLS world such as bidirectional and static channel routing or end to end channel supervision using Operational Administration Maintenance (OAM). FOX615 provides native MPLS-TP and SDH functionality as part of the hybrid approach implemented.

The combination of state of the art SDH technology and future MPLS-TP technology provides an easy and flexible way to migrate technology in a utility network. All FOX615’s which are deployed in the field today can easily be upgraded to MPLS-TP. It also allows the parallel implementation of SDH and MPLS-TP in one node, separating traffic according to their performance requirements. One further option is to just implement a pure MPLS-TP node. FOX615 today offers much more to a utility than any other multiservice platform for real-time utility communications.

FOX615 the utility communication solution

FOX615 is designed to be deployed in harsh environment ranging from extreme temperatures to magnetic and electrical fields, which can be particularly severe during short-circuit events. Furthermore it includes integrated telecprotection interfaces for distance as well as for differential protection. These interfaces are designed to work in TDM as well as in MPLS-TP networks. Especially the implementation of differential protection over PSN networks imposes huge challenges, as the PSN inherent jitter has to be compensated to guarantee a reliable functionality. FOX615 can guarantee the communication channel performance required of those critical application. Additionally FOX615 provides the possibility to distribute exact Time of Day information, pass it on to end devices and can help to become more independent of any 3rd party clock source e.g. GPS.