21.5 IEC 60870-5-103 communication protocol
IP14615-1 v2
21.5.1 Application
IP14864-1 v1
M17109-3 v6
TCP/IP
Control
Center
IED IEDIED
Gateway
Star coupler
Station
HSI
ANSI05000660-4-en.vsd
ANSI05000660 V4 EN-US
Figure 423: Example of IEC 60870-5-103 communication structure for a substation
automation system
IEC 60870-5-103 communication protocol is mainly used when a protection IED
communicates with a third party control or monitoring system. This system must have
software that can interpret the IEC 60870-5-103 communication messages.
When communicating locally in the station using a Personal Computer (PC) or a
Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) connected to the Communication and processing
module, the only hardware needed is optical fibres and an opto/electrical converter for
the PC/RTU, or a RS-485 connection depending on the used IED communication
interface.
21.5.1.1 Functionality
M17109-38 v3
IEC 60870-5-103 is an unbalanced (master-slave) protocol for coded-bit serial
communication exchanging information with a control system. In IEC terminology a
primary station is a master and a secondary station is a slave. The communication is
based on a point-to-point principle. The master must have software that can interpret
1MRK 504 163-UUS A Section 21
Station communication
Transformer protection RET670 2.2 ANSI 941
Application manual