Fundamentals of SCADA

Communications

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 Topics
• SCADA Systems
• Remote Terminal Units
• Communication Architectures
• Communication Philosophies
• RS-232 and RS 485
• MODBUS Protocol

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 SCADA System
• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System
• Comprises a number of Remote Terminal Units
(RTU’s) collecting field data connected back to a
master station via a communications system

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 Typical SCADA System
H M I 1 H M I 2 P r in te r

PC PC

S C A D A
S e rv e r

PC
R S -2 3 2

R a d io R a d io
M odem M odem

I n s t r u m e n ta t io n
& C o n tro l In O u t In O u t

A n a lo g D ig ita l

I/O
D a ta b a s e

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 Remote Terminal Unit
• RTU is a standalone data acquisition and control unit, generally
microprocessor based which monitors and controls equipment at some
remote location from the central station. A n te n n a

M o d e m E t h e rn e t
M a in R TU

C e n t ra l B u s

Po w e r C e n t ra l V o la t il e N o n A n a lo g A n a lo g D ig it a l D i g it a l
S u p p ly P r o c e s s in g M e m o ry V o la t il e In p u t O u tp u t In p u t O u tp u t
a n d U n it (R A M ) M e m o ry M o d u le M o d u le M o d u le M o d u le
A C M a in s
Ba c ku p
Po w e r
B a tte ry

O p t io n a l S e r ia l C o m m s P o r t s
(R S - 2 3 2 / R S - 4 2 2 / R S - 4 8 5 ) O p t io n a l

O p e r a t o r S t a t io n / P r o g r a m m a b le L o g ic C o n t r o ll e r
P r o g r a m m in g Te r m i n a l

S p a re R S -2 3 2 P o rt

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 Typical RTU Hardware
• Control Processor
• Analog I/O
• Digital I/O
• Counter Inputs
• Communications Interface
• Power Supply
• RTU Rack and enclosure
• Watchdog Timer
• Real Time Clock

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 Analog Input Module
P r o g r a m m a b le In put
G a in C h a n n el
S a m p le & A m p lif e r S a m p le &
H o ld f o r
H o ld
A/ D

+
A / D C o n v e rt e r S/H PGA S/H
-

Multiplexer
Input
S/H
S t a rt
C o n v e r sio n S a m p le
S/H
Gain
E nd of
B u ff e r/ F I F O c o n v e r sio n S/H

C lo c k Channel
D ata Read
Ready C o n ve rs io n C h a n n e l- G a in S a m p le
Read A rra y M e m o ry I n p ut s
D ata
S t e p / N e xt
B u s I n t e rfa c e Ti m in g S y s t e m C h a n n el

E xt. C lo c k
PC
D ATA
E x t. T rig g e r
BUS

Status &
C o ntr o l
L in e s

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 A/D Converters
• Integrating A/D
– low sample rate
– high accuracy

• Successive Approximation A/D

– high sample rate
– lower accuracy

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 Digital Inputs (Optically isolated)

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 Counter or Accumulator Inputs
Optical Isolation

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 Polled (or Master-Slave)
• Advantages:
– simple, predictable, no collisions
– quickly detect link failure

• Disadvantages:
– performance
– all slaves must be polled (cannot spontaneously
report alarms)

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 Prioritised Polling Technique
High Priority
RTU 1
RTU 2
RTU 3

RTU 9 RTU 8
RTU 1 RTU 3

RTU 2 RTU 2

Polling
RTU 1
RTU 3
Cycle
RTU 7
RTU 4

RTU 5 RTU 6

RTU 1 RTU 2 RTU 3

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 Peer to Peer (CSMA/CD)
• Advantages:
– Slaves can report alarms spontaneously
– Can have many stations
• Disadvantages:
– Need to control collisions (priorities)
– Can lead to network collapse
– Link failure detection slower
• Use Exception Reporting to cut down
unnecessary traffic

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 Connections between DTE & DCE

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 Voltage Levels for EIA-232
D riv e r R eceiver
D a t a L i n e D riv e r D ata R e c eiv er
+25 V +25 V

0 (S pace)

+5 V
+3 V

0 V 0 V

-3 V
-5 V

1 ( M a rk )

-2 5 V -2 5 V

D ata Lin e s

C o n t r o l L i n e D ri v e r C o n tr o l R e c e iv e r
+25 V +25 V

1 (On)

+5 V
+3 V

0 V 0 V

-3 V
-5 V

0 ( O ff )

-2 5 V -2 5 V

C o n tr o l L i n e s

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 EIA-232 Transmitters and Receivers
DTE Device DCE Device
+V +V
Line Driver Data Transmit Line Receiver

2 2
TTL -V OV TTL
+V +V
Line Receiver Data Receive Line Driver

3 3
-V Vt -V
Signal Common
OV
7 7
Logic 1 : Vt = -V
Logic 0 : Vt = +V
Note: TTL 0V = 0 +5V= 1

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 RS 485
• RS-485 is the most common voltage standard in
use today for multi-drop communication systems.

• Because:
• It is very resistant to noise
• It can send data at high speeds
• And can go long distances

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 EIA-485 Interface Standard
• Distance: up to 1200m (4000 ft)
• Speed: up to 10 Mbps
• Up to 32 line drivers - balanced, tri-state
• Up to 32 balanced receivers

NOTE can only address 32 devices

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 Installation of Bias Resistors
to Minimize Noise
B A
560 120 560

120

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 Modbus Protocol
• Developed by Modicon for use with Process
Control Systems.

• Estimated by Control Engineering Magazine that

over 40 % of industrial interfacing was done
using this Protocol.

• Even the new Fieldbus state of the art standards

appearing today have a Modbus Gateway.

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 Open Protocol
• While Modbus is not an actual system it is a
protocol used on many industrial systems

• Although it is an old standard (written in Fortran in

the 1970s) it has become a highly successful Open
protocol (defacto standard)

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 MODBUS Protocol
• Originally intended to link Modicon PLC’s with
intelligent terminals

• Half-duplex, Master/slave operation

• Connects 1 Master with up to 247 slaves

• Typically used with a multidrop bus

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 A De-facto Standard
• Relatively Slow compared to other buses.
• Widespread acceptance.
• PLC jargon used in describing the standard....but
used in instruments/gas chromatographs....etc
• Two versions:
– Modbus RTU (Modbus-B sometimes)
– Modbus ASCII
– Very similar structure

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 Physical Layer
• No physical layer specified so Modbus can be used
with a variety of interface standards:
– RS-232/RS-422 (point-to-point)
– RS-485 (multidrop bus)
– Bell 202 modem (switched and leased lines)
– “Modbus modem” (baseband line driver on twisted pair
up to 5000m)
– Asynchronous, byte-oriented frames

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 Modbus Protocol Structure

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 Memory Structure

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 Application Layer
• Two types of messages:
– Query/response - specific slave addressed
– Broadcast - address 00, no response required

• Function codes specify:

– what the slave is to do
– what section of the memory map to find or deposit the
data
• e.g. Coil Status, Input Status, Input Register, Holding Register

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 Exception responses
• Are returned if error conditions occurred during
communications

• the most significant bit of the function code is

set in the returning message

• the error code is returned in the data field

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 Validating Changes
• Can you trust the response that comes back
when you are changing a critical parameter on
the device?

• Methods to check:
– Do a subsequent read request of that parameter.
– Check some other associated parameter..e.g. start a
pump, check flow rate...

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