Implementation of multi-port Ethernet interface preprocessor board for IEC61850 process bus

IEC 61850 is the first and only global standard for substation automation. It standardizes all the communication interfaces, data module and information in the substation. There are three functional levels in substation: station, bay, and process. The sampled values (SV) data and Generic object oriented substation event (GOOSE) messages are transmitted through Ethernet in process bus. In peer-to-peer Ethernet communication mode, the digital relays are connected to lots of merging units (MU) directly to receive SV data and exchange GOOSE message with other intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). This requires so many Ethernet ports that no applicable processor can provide. Because the SV data and GOOSE message are time critical information, they should be transmitted and received as quickly as possible; the process time of SV data and GOOSE message may affect the digital relays´ performance greatly. A multi-port Ethernet interface preprocessor board is developed to solve the above problems. The preprocessor board can provide enough Ethernet ports to meet the Ethernet port requirement. The hardware architecture of the preprocessor board is given, field programmable gate array (FPGA) functions, system update scheme and application scheme are explained in detail. At last, a real application of the preprocess board is given.