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Overview
Tamarack is a leader in the development of IEC 61850, and has supplied software and services to many vendors currently active in implementing and deploying devices utilizing this standard.
The modular approach to building high performance embedded implementations of IEC 61850 typically requires very little custom, device-specific code. The IEC 61850 Software package includes both server
and client side implementations, along with development tools and examples.
Tamarack's IEC 61850 Software is unique in that it was designed from the start for small device implementations.
Tamarack has applied formal computer science techniques, along with experience in embedded systems and communication, to develop the smallest, fastest and easiest to use implementations on the market.
The code is written in ANSI standard C. The code is very compact, and has been used under Linux, Windows®, VxWorks®, pSOS® and a number of other operating systems (as well as in
stand-alone, OS-less, applications), and on a variety of processors (including 8 bit) and compilers. The code supports either single or multi-threaded operation, and was written to conform to good
embedded software practices such as avoiding costly dynamic memory allocation and de-allocation,
IEC 61850 defines a set of object models for representing specific utility devices. Tamarack
provides software and tools for the design and implementation of products based on these models within the IEC 61850 framework.
The IEC 61850 specifies application layer services for data
acquisition and control functions, mapped onto ISO/IEC 9506 - Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS). MMS in turn operates over the OSI upper layer protocols ACSE, Presentation and Session. All
of these protocols operate over the IETF RFC1006 (OSI protocols over TCP/IP. Tamarack’s IEC 61850 software packages implement all of these specifications using a simple interface to 3rd-party and
native OS TCP/IP stacks.
The IEC 61850 architecture is prepared to be extended to other mappings of the application layer services beyond MMS, so that existing models can be supported over future
protocol stacks (“future proofing”). The Tamarack software architecture was designed to accommodate future mappings, as demonstrated by our XML mapping, which provides concurrent access to
the data models using HTTP/XML protocol with no additional custom software.
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What’s Involved?
As an example, implementing an embedded IEC 61850 server with Tamarack's software typically requires the following steps:
- Compile the Tamarack components using the target compiler.
- Develop initialization code based on configuration techniques used on the device.
- Interface with software's main loop, or create Tamarack process.
- Develop the software to handle the physical interface (Ethernet). At this point, the basic port can be tested using a fixed dummy device model and the tools provided by Tamarack.
- Using Tamarack’s modeling tools, generate either static compile-time dictionary for the device model(s) to be used, or provide interface between the device's configuration and the run-time
dictionary generation software. Note that once the basic models have been selected, a PC-based server can be immediately generated which will operate on the network and server the selected model
using randomized data. These simple generated servers have proven invaluable in testing IEC 61850 clients, and allow the model and all object classes to be tested against the master station database
prior to completing and shipping of the actual device.
- Final system test using Tamarack provided software tools.
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Product Features
The Tamarack IEC 61850 Software contains server and client components.
Server-Side
- Implements a compact IEC 61850 server for embedded systems. The package includes MMS encoding, decoding, and services for the IEC 61850 subset of MMS, along with the required subsets of OSI Session, Presentation, and ACSE. The object modeling and Object Dictionary generation software (ObjPREP), RFC 1006 interface software, and the Tamarack generalized transport interface are shipped as part of the package. It also includes sample initialization and main loop software (for both Windows and Linux). A small HTTP server provides IEC 61850 object data in XML and HTML format. IEC 61850 GSE services (GOOSE and GSSE) are also supported. Testing tools provided include the Tamarack MMS Test Client, various forms of IEC 61860 servers, and a decoder for analyzing logs of transport data as optionally recorded by the stack.
Client-Side
- Implements IEC 61850 client services. Applications range from devices requiring simple read/write access to peer devices in the network to complex gateway devices and RTUs which must use self-description techniques and reporting models to access data from subordinate devices and which then serve the data acquired to other clients. Includes client-side encoder/decoder, plus software to handle Client side of data access, reporting, and log retrieval.
Porting and integration services are as well available. Contact us for a quotation (see Contact Information).
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