Advanced simulation of IEDs

IEC 61850 is the established standard for substation communication. Since the standard describes different stages of lifecycle of Substation Automation Systems the demands for specification, testing, and especially simulation differ. The approach described in this study can be used in the different stages and fulfil practical requirements. It describes the requirements for simulation and proposes an implementation applicable. If a single Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) and its data model to be simulated in technical investigation phase is sufficient at Factory Acceptance Testing and Site Acceptance Testing multiple IEDs and utilised services as GOOSE and reports will be needed. In addition, the methods described for indicating test mode/behaviour and simulation indication become important. The simulation has to be embedded in testing environment and interact with tools to be used for visualisation of changes in IED's data model. Advanced services in IEC 61850 like setting groups control, switching device control and file transfer have to be added. The requirements will be discussed from a utility's perspective. The method described can be extended for routine testing and maintenance testing, e.g. after firmware upgrades. An outlook develops a vision to be utilised for automation and control testing.