Full Description

For many years, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems have been deployed using common architectures,hardware designed to maximize communications, and multiple software sub-systemsthat are not integrated off the shelf. These traditional systems have evolved over timefrom totally centralized mainframe systems to distributed systems built with off-the-shelfhardware and custom software. The growth in capabilities of these systems has beencontrolled largely by two major factors: the availability of reliable communicationsbetween remote locations and the central host control room; and, by the capabilitiesof software used to manage the hardware systems.However, it is now possible to create more flexible and manageable SCADA systemsusing several key technologies that have been available for many years. Theseimportant technologies include object-oriented programming (OOP) and operationsenvironments, an improved communications infrastructure, and the use of robustsoftware tools that allow you to design, configure, and test SCADA systemsindependent of the hardware they are originally intended to work with, thus allowing youto upgrade to as yet unknown hardware without re-engineering the system. By incorporating these key components into existing SCADA systems, utility owners willsee a reduction in both time and cost associated with developing and maintaining aSCADA system. Owners will also see increased benefits from being able to establishand enforce consistent control and communication standards across their wholeenterprise.This paper details important shortcomings of existing SCADAarchitectures, explains how the use of specific new technologies can benefit waterSCADA applications, and describes how these technologies are built into automationsoftware.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 04/27/2003 Number of Pages: 9 File Size: 1 file , 150 KB