Software-Defined Analog Processing Based on IEC 61850 Implemented in an Edge Hardware Platform to be Used in Digital Substations

The IEC 61850 standard has brought new opportunities for developing Centralized Substation Protection and Control (CPC) platforms to be used in digital substations. The CPC operation requires a proper signal processing module that provides the necessary parameters and signals accurately and at times needed to ensure the platform’s control and protection services can operate correctly. This paper proposes and implements a sampled values-analog processing module (SV-APM) for a software-based CPC in a digital substation developed in the framework of the EPICS project. The SV-APM decodes the digital messages published by merging units and extracts the information required by control and protection functions implemented in a software-based CPC platform. To check SV-APM performance, a set of tests is carried out using Real-time digital simulator (RTDS) and EPICS platform in Hardware in the Loop configuration (HiL). These tests evaluate SV-APM behavior against disturbances in communication channels, voltage and current variations, harmonic contents and frequency variations. Furthermore, latency tests are carried out to evaluate CPC response times. From tests, it is concluded that SV-APM output satisfactorily fulfills all the time response and accuracy requirements demanded during its development.