IEC 61850-9-3: Will simplicity supersede complexity?

With the release of the IEC 61850-9-3 “Power Utility Profile” in the middle of 2015, the precision time protocol (PTP) defined in IEEE 1588-2008 became officially an integral part of the 61850 world. But what does this mean for the planning of future substation environments? Will 9-3 replace the earlier introduced “Power Profile” defined in IEC C37.238-2011? Or will we face a battle of profiles?
These and several other questions in relation to IEC 68150-9-3 are addressed in this paper. Based on the current implementation situation and the findings from the IEC 61850 interoperability plugfest 2015, the paper explores the differences and commonalities of the two PTP profiles for power applications and their interoperability.

IEC 61850-9-3 Will simplicity supersede complexity?

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About the Authors:

Christian_Riesch — **Christian Riesch** studied Electrical Engineering at the Vienna University of Technology (VUT), Austria and received the Dipl.-Ing. (M.Sc.) degree and the Ph.D. degree in 2005 and 2009, respectively. From 2005 to 2009 he was a Research Assistant with the Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems, VUT, conducting research in the field of miniaturized sensor technology. In 2009 he joined the hardware development team of OMICRON in Klaus, Austria, and worked on solutions for the time synchronization of measurement systems. Since 2016 he is with INFICON Ltd. in Balzers, Principality of Liechtenstein, developing sensors for vacuum technology applications.

Wolfgang Schenk - Sales and Application Engineer for IEEE1588 PTP Timing Solutions — **Wolfgang Schenk** studied Electrical Engineering at the Munich University of Applied Sciences (MUAS), Germany and received the Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering (B.Eng.) in 2005. In 2007 he received his Master degree in Electrical and Microsystems Engineering (M. Eng.) at the OTH Regensburg, Germany. From 2007 to 2012 he worked as Hardware Test Engineer and Hardware Developer for major companies active in the automotive industry. In 2013 he joined OMICRON Lab, as Sales and Application Engineer for IEEE1588 PTP Timing Solutions.