Articles
Magic case #4: an MMS-server simulator — play the device and test the upper level
One run of Tekvel Magic — and the device chosen from the SCL comes alive: an MMS server is started from its data model, and a control panel opens in the browser. You change signal values and quality — and the upper-level client receives real dchg/qchg reports, exactly as from a real IED. The module works without a single physical device on the bench: an SCL file is enough. The fourth case in the series tackles the task from the other side of the table: for the first time Magic does not watch the traffic but generates it — it becomes an IEC 61850 server to test how the receiving side (SCADA, telecontrol server) receives and displays reports, including invalid quality, test data and rare scenarios. Plus an auto-sweep of values and quality for bulk testing in one click.
Digital twin of the Yamal LNG power system: automated updating of the DIgSILENT PowerFactory model from DMS data
The Yamal LNG plant is powered by an islanded on-site power station rated at 376 MW and built around eight gas-turbine units; its distribution network spans 110, 35, 10 and 0.4 kV and more than five hundred feeders. Islanded operation places tough demands on stability, short-circuit and protection-selectivity calculations — and therefore on how up-to-date the digital model is. The article describes a cycle that automatically updates a DIgSILENT PowerFactory network model from DMS telemetry: the load-flow calculation runs as a single process in external-control (Engine) mode, without opening the GUI, and starts automatically whenever a new export appears. All control, power-balance diagnostics and analysis of the accumulated case history live in a Windows notification-area icon. The solution was built in-house and, in operational effect, is comparable to commercial real-time modules whose licences for a power system of this scale run into tens of millions of roubles.
Turning a pcap into a technical report in one click: automated analysis of a digital substation's GOOSE traffic
On a digital substation, the end devices kept reporting a communication fault that just as suddenly cleared itself, and the cause stayed unclear — the alarm was a shared one. The only source of information was a pcap file about 11 minutes long — almost 186,000 GOOSE packets and more than 200 sources. A manual analysis in Wireshark at that scale would have taken hours. We show how, in a few minutes, the Tekvel Magic software turned the network capture into a structured Excel report of an unscheduled inspection.
Magical case #3: a documentation on IEC 61850 reporting — from an SCD or a set of CID files in one click
One run of Tekvel Magic software over SCL data — and you have a ready MS Word document - Signal list: a per-device summary, full detail of every URCB/BRCB control block and an element-by-element breakdown of every DataSet, with signal descriptions taken straight from the SCL. The module runs offline — from an SCD file or a folder of CID files, with no need to connect to the devices. The third case in the series closes the «how do you hand it over» task: handover documentation and as-built documentation in a single run, plus a separate «Configuration findings» document with a lightweight offline audit.
Magical case study #2: a report-control-block audit in IEDs — in one click
One click in Tekvel Magic software — and you have a MS Word protocol that covers every IED on the substation: a summary of all URCB/BRCB control blocks with their MMS reference, type, RptEna state, Owner client, triggers, optional fields, DataSet reference, BufTm and IntgPd; plus a detailed section decoding the bit fields and the element-by-element composition of every DataSet — with descriptions taken from the SCL file. The case closes the second half of the SCADA acceptance questions: «how it is configured» is now complemented by «how it is actually working right now», and you instantly see whether reports are sitting idle while SCADA collects data by periodic polling.
Magical Case Study #1: How to Verify That an SCD File Matches the Actual Device Configuration at a Digital Substation
A contractor hands over an SCD file claiming it matches the actual device configuration. But how do you verify that quickly and provably when there are 76 IEDs on site and no permanent monitoring system? A field case from Tekvel: the verification module in the Tekvel Magic software automatically compared the device configurations against the SCD and produced an engineering deviation report covering DataSets, GOOSE, Sampled Values and MMS reports in 15 minutes.
Long-Term Traffic Capture with dumpcap
How to use the dumpcap command-line utility for stable long-term network traffic capture — without Wireshark freezes or crashes.
confRev: How Configuration Revisions Can Ruin Communications
8 out of 10 configurators fail to fully recognize SCD files. We analyze the confRev attribute in GOOSE and SV: what happens when the value does not match the expected one, and how this nearly derailed the commissioning of a real project with 43 IEDs.
Transmission of data structures in a GOOSE message
GOOSE-messaging has been covered a lot in many technical papers and to add anything valuable to the subject is rather difficult. But we will try. And functional constrained data will help us with that.