Communications - RTU Module

MultiSmart supports high speed ethernet and serial communications with open protocols in its RTU module. Open protocols means you are never locked in to one vendor.

DNP3 is the preferred protocol for communicating between the field hardware and a SCADA system.

Modbus is the preferred protocol for local communications in a control panel.

Other protocols can be added to the MultiSmart RTU as future enhancements. Contact us if you would like to see another protocol inside the product.

DNP3
DNP3 is an open and public protocol specifically designed for the requirements of telemetry. It has great flexibility and is widely used in the electricity industry, but the main benefits for the water industry are:

Date/time stamping - each event and alarm has a native date/time stamp. So if data is received by the SCADA system or historian either minutes or hours later the event is logged as occurring at the original time, not the time when the SCADA received it. This means if a radio failed and was not replaced for several hours, all of the data from that period would still make it to the SCADA and historian - not the case with a protocol like Modbus.

Different classes of data - for example, you can nominate critical alarms to be sent immediately, and event data (eg pump on/off times and level changes) to be sent every 30 minutes, or when polled by the SCADA system. And because the original date/time is always kept, the SCADA has a perfect record. This kind of arrangement ensures that bandwidth is used effectively, rather than having to send every event as it occurs (as happens with MODBUS protocol).
Guaranteed delivery - The protocol supports acknowledgements from the SCADA (or other master unit) to ensure that alarms are never lost.

Supported by many suppliers worldwide - because no manufacturer owns it, the customers don't get locked in to one supplier, giving customers peace of mind and a better choice of equipment.
Secure communications - read the white paper about DNP3 security. You can also visit the DNP3 users group website - www.dnp3.org

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