Testing in IEC 61850 - advanced topics and extended possibilities

Since IEC 61850 became the widely used standard for substation communication with a lot of implementations testing is an important issue. The standard in its current version covers some possibilities and approaches for testing in general and for measurements of performance. They will be described and analysed. According to the approach of IEC 61850 the IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices) contain a data model to be used for different services. To cover testing issues the data model contains testing information, they will be described. A lot of technical issues will be solved with the second edition of IEC 61850. This paper describes the intentions with special regard to the testing topic. The news will be specified in detail. Ongoing projects with the usage of Sampled Values and GOOSE raise other questions. Distinguishing between "real" and "simulated" signals is a requirement, the possibilities for that will be explained in this paper. The wider use of Sampled Values requires accurate time synchronization. This paper describes possibilities and experiences made so far. Future new approaches will be outlined. Discussions about network load issues and final conclusions will complete this contribution.