Modern control centers and computer networking

The automation of power system operation is generally achieved with the implementation of two control centers, one for the operation of the generation-transmission system and the other for the operation of the distribution system. These control centers are referred to, respectively, as the energy management system (EMS) and the distribution management system (DMS). The EMS may consist of several control centers in a hierarchy. The DMS may be made up of several independent distribution control centers. This article features the fundamental design aspects of modern EMS and DMS control centers (computer networks, distributed processing, and distributed databases), the linking of computer networks, and the communications that support such internetworking. The extension of such networking beyond the confines of system operation to other corporate networks is now made practical by the maturing concepts of client-server architectures and by the availability of modern communication technologies.<
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