HMS Networks Ixxat SG-gateway smart grid gateways

HMS Networks has expanded its Ixxat SG-gateway series for the networking of energy components. Two multi-I/O versions allow traditional I/O-sensors as well as sensors or devices in Wi-Fi networks to be connected to energy systems using IEC 61850 and IEC 60870. Users benefit from direct and seamless access to sensor data from the control room, as well as IIoT capabilities for monitoring, maintenance and forecasting purposes.

The gateways enable device manufacturers, system integrators, energy suppliers and network operators to get instant status information into the control room through direct access to plant data from various sources. This enables efficient system operation and fast reactions to network disturbances, as well as remote monitoring and maintenance of devices and systems. The compact gateways are especially suitable for retrofitting plants and digitalisation of substations, and are used in many areas of energy automation, eg, in power plants and at large energy consumers.

Due to a wide range of supported interfaces and protocols, the products remove the need for installing several separate gateways, such as fieldbus gateways, sensor gateways, IoT gateways and firewalls. Adding to the existing support for IEC 61850, IEC 60870, EtherNet/IP, Profinet, MQTT and 4G, the two latest gateways feature multi-I/O and Wi-Fi capabilities (WLAN according to IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n). With this, traditional as well as wireless sensors can be easily connected to control rooms and cloud systems. Besides RS232/485 and Ethernet, eight digital I/Os (24 VDC) and eight analog inputs (0–20 mA or 0–10 V) are available for direct sensor connection, all switchable via software.

Example applications are temperature monitoring of high-voltage lines via Wi-Fi using Modbus TCP, pressure and density measurement of cooling liquids using Modbus RTU, and room temperature or humidity measurement in buildings using analog or digital I/O.