Efficient application of GPRS and CDMA networks in SCADA system

A communication system plays an important role in SCADA system, and various communication media have been applied to meet the SCADA system´s objective. Wireless communication becomes an attractive option as communication network in some cases, such as small amount of data communication for extremely remote substation, remote debugging temporarily for newly-built generation plants and backup communication. This paper presents a communication system using general packet radio service(GPRS) and code division multiple access (CDMA) wireless communication networks in SCADA system. Several technologies for GPRS and CDMA networks such as Access Point Name(APN), IP security protocol(IPSec), Virtual Private Network(VPN), packet assembly disassembly and dual-network online synchronously have been newly developed. Pilot project as proof-of-concept in Henan province of China was done, before going for large scale deployment. It is eventually revealed that, although being a little slower in response to sudden faults in power networks if compared with wired communication networks, this wireless communication system is still of great significance to many practical uses in SCADA system.