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REC615 Modbus Master Communication Protocol Manual

The protection relay is internally modeled according to the IEC 61850 standard. The Modbus Master protocol is implemented on top of this model.

The Modbus protocol standard defines one-bit digital data and 16-bit register data as RTU application data alternatives. The protocol does not define how this protocol application data should be used by a protection relay application. The usage depends on system specific application needs.

The relay provides a set of IEC 61850 data objects or function designs to which both measurements and one-bit data polled from Modbus Slaves can be mapped to. These data objects can then be read from a SCADA system over the IEC 61850 or other protocols available in the relay.

The IEC 61850 objects available for mapping polled data are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. IEC 61850 Modbus Master objects
Name Description Number of instances Type CDC Min/Max input values Note
MMVGAPC(x) Received Modbus binary value information 2 8-input/output binary type SPS – Single Point Status n 0 – False / 1 - True
MMVI4GAPC(x) Received Modbus 32-bit integer value information 5 4 input/output 32-bit integer type INS – measurement 32-bit Integer value -2000000.0 / 2000000.0 *
MMVF4GAPC(x) Received Modbus measured value information 10 4-channel 32-bit float type MV – measurement 32-bit float value -2147483648 / 2147483647 *

* Values outside these ranges saturate the input to min or max values and affects the quality of the mapped signal.

Table 2. Modbus Master data
Name Type Values (Range) Unit Description
Reset counters BOOLEAN

0=False

1=True

Reset counters
Received frames INT32 -1...2147483647 Number of received frames
Transmitted frames INT32 -1...2147483647 Number of transmitted frames
Checksum errors INT32 --1...2147483647 Number of frames that are discarded because of incorrect checksum
Received exc A INT32 -1...2147483647 Number of exceptions with code 01 or 02
Received exc B INT32 -1...2147483647 Number of exceptions with code 03
Connection errors INT32 -1...2147483647 Number of unexpected communication disconnections
Note: Additional information on the Modbus Master function designs can be found in the relay’s technical manual.

Dataset and Report Control in IEC 61850

Data update rate is dependent of data set and report control engineering in IEC 61850 tool. In most cases default values are suitable, as typically essential

measurement and indication data are by default mapped to IEC61860 dataset and report control block. However, it may be necessary to understand all dependencies, if some customization or modification to update rates is needed:

  • Data set content
  • Trigger options for report control
  • Signals selected in communication management (instantaneous or deadband supervised value)
Note: Engineering of dataset and report control blocks is described in IEC 61850 Engineering Guide.

Measurement data

Polled Modbus measurement data is included in a IEC61850 dataset and can be cyclically updated. The update rate is determined by the integrity period IntgPd (see IEC61850 Engineering Manual) of the report control block. There is no deadband setting for these measurements.

Indication data

Commonly used indication data, such as protection start/trip and other important values are by default included in a IEC61850 dataset. If the protocol has CMT mappings of indication data that does not belong to a IEC61850 dataset, the protocol adds this data automatically to an internal update mechanism that enables still a fast update for the time-critical events.

Control operations

This protection relay does not support control operations to slave units.

Application data compatibility

This protection relay is designed to operate with a wide range of Modbus slaves spanning from battery chargers to energy meters. The application solutions have been chosen to achieve the highest possible level of compatibility with the systems.

  • Application data is polled from different Modbus memory areas. Digital data is readable as packed bits in registers.
  • Primarily 16-bit register sizes are used for measurands; however, 32 bits are used only in some cases.
  • The measurands can be freely rescaled by the user in the communication management tool.
  • The addressing of the application data in the documentation and tools follows the so-called Modbus-PLC addressing principle, where the base address 1 is used. The assignable application data addressing for slaves in this relay spans between 1 and 65535.
  • The mapped data from slaves is assigned to the respective IEC61850 object signals. At the same time, these signals can be mapped to another protocol e.g. Modbus Slave, DNP3.0 and a SCADA system can then scan or poll these.

Quality update for measurement and indication data

Modbus Master objects or function designs’ signals quality is updated in the following cases:

  • Good Quality
    • The mapped slave unit(s) replies with the requests within the set timing constraints and its data value doesn’t saturate the input limits in the function design.
  • Bad/Old Quality
    • The quality status of the Modbus Master objects’ signals will change to BAD when
      • The mapped slave is unable to reply to the master within the set delay constraints, e.g. the slave is physically disconnected from the bus or shutdown.
      • The value received saturates the minimum or maximum value conditions of and object’s signal