PROBLEM:
Data Concentrators and Gateways are commonly used to aggregate device communications in complex SCADA systems. Often mapping thousands of data points from hundreds of IEDs, and frequently converting between various communication protocols, configuration is notoriously complex.
To ensure correct configuration, verification testing of point mapping and behavior is commonly required for customer acceptance. Due to scale and complexity, this testing has traditionally been performed manually. Time consuming and prone to error, each point must be tested one by one. Complexity increases further when protocol conversion is utilized, as characteristics or capabilities unique to one protocol can be translated in unexpected ways which are difficult to test using traditional methods.
SOLUTION:
Using the Gateway Test Action Manager Module, a powerful new module within Distributed Test Manager (DTM), this testing can now be largely automated. With DTM, data mapping and protocol conversion are tested faster and more reliably than possible via traditional methods. Test coverage can be quickly scaled to thousands of points across datatype, protocol, and devices, and configured tests can be run repeatedly for regression testing, an impracticality using conventional validation methods. Without the need for physical IEDs, testing may now be performed at any stage in the engineering process.