Testing in IEC 61850 - Advanced Topics and Extended Possibilities

Since IEC 61850 became the widely used standard for substation communication with a lot of implementations testing is an important issue. The standard in its original version covered some possibilities and approaches for testing in general and for measures of performance. According to the approach of IEC 61850 the IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices) contains a data model to be used for different services. To cover testing issues the data model contains testing information. The lessons learned in implementations in different voltage levels should be explained. A lot of technical issues will be solved with the second edition of IEC 61850. This presentation describes the intentions of IEC 61850 with special regard to the testing topic. It also discusses the usage of Sampled Values, which requires accurate time synchronization, and GOOSE; and the possibilities for distinguishing between 'real' and 'simulated' signals. Future new approaches and network load issues are also outlined.