About This Session
Following the success of our previous sessions on IEC 61850 fundamentals, data modeling, and communication services, we invite you to join us for Part 4: “Testing in IEC 61850 Systems – From the Lab to Commissioning.”
This session will explore how testing is performed throughout the lifecycle of an IEC 61850 system — from initial lab validation, through factory acceptance, to final on-site commissioning.
Testing plays a critical role in ensuring that systems behave as designed and that protection and control schemes operate safely and reliably. This webinar will break down how IEC 61850 provides standardized mechanisms to support testing, including simulation flags, logical node behavior, and virtual isolation — enabling utilities and vendors to test complex systems without interrupting live operation.
Participants will also see how Triangle MicroWorks testing tools, such as Distributed Test Manager (DTM) and IEC 61850 Test Suite Pro (TSP), can be used together to simulate, validate, and verify system behavior during each testing stage.
What You'll Learn:
- How IEC 61850 supports testing across the system lifecycle:
- Simulate Substation Design - Validate signal exchanges in System Configuration Description (SCD) file through simulation in DTM
- Lab Testing – Unit-testing individual IEDs and verifying functionality early in development
- Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) – Simulating missing IEDs and validating inter-bay communication using DTM and TSP
- Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) / Commissioning – Testing protection and SCADA functions safely in a live substation
- How Virtual Isolation enables protection testing without physical test switches or cable removal
- How simulation flags and the LGOS logical node provide visibility into simulated GOOSE streams
- How the Mode/Beh mechanism governs which data attributes are acted upon or ignored during testing
- Best practices for designing systems to be testable:
- Including .q and .t attributes in report and GOOSE datasets
- Designating dedicated Report Control Blocks (RCBs) for test tools
- Using simulated GOOSE messages to validate peer-to-peer communication
Companion Lab Exercise
As with previous sessions, attendees will receive access to an optional hands-on lab exercise designed to reinforce the material presented in the webinar. Using tools like Test Suite Pro and Distributed Test Manager, you'll simulate communication scenarios and validate IEC 61850 configurations.
Extended trial licenses will be provided for both tools, and participants are welcome to submit their completed exercises to receive a certificate of completion and 2 PDH hours.
Series Information
This is Part 4 of a multipart training series. If you'd like to receive updates on future modules, Join the Notification List
If you missed the earlier sessions or would like to catch up, you can view Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 on our IEC 61850 Training Series page. Both include companion exercises and live demo recordings.
Future Training Modules Include:
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Bottom-Up vs Top-Down IEC 61850 Engineering Process
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IEC 61850 Engineering Process including Application Modeling (BAPs)
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Security in IEC 61850
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Time Synchronization and Product Guidelines for Digital Substations
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