CPTT and the IEC 60870-5 family

The IEC 60870-5 family has been successively developed by the [ IEC ] (International Electrotechnical Commission) in the last years. National standard commitees, like the German [ DIN ] (Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V.), have adopted the standards as national standards.

The IEC 60870-5 family defines based on the five basic standards IEC 60870-5-1 (frame formats), -2 (link transmission procedures) -3 (structure application data), -4 (information elements) and -5 (basic application functions)
the companion standards IEC 60870-5-101, -102, -103 and -104.

The IEC 60870-5 protocol family is used widely throughout Europe.

IEC 60870-5-103 is used for the transmission of protection events between IEDs (Intelligent End Devices) and control systems. The protocol was specially developed to transmit protection information in the correct chronological order. It is possible to pass on the protection events through file transfer using IEC 60870-5-101.
The messages are normally transmitted through serial connections. The frame format is FT1.2.

COMPROTware:Testtool offers in this protocol:

• Simulation of Controlling and Controlled Station.
• Extensive state engine to implement protocols.
• Monitoring on the serial line.
• Interactive input of messages.
• Different application oriented view formats for message traffic.

In contrast to IEC 60870-5-101/-104 and IEC 60870-5-102, the IEC 60870-5-103 standard does not specify any ASDU labels. Since ASDU labels greatly simplify the reading of messages, we propose using these ASDU labels to close this gap.

To get an impression of IEC 60870-5-103 in CPTT, here is a link to an example file with IEC 60870-5-101 protocol traffic:
 120308-Iec103-Partyline-Monitoring.mlg

The linked IEC 60870-5-103-MLG file contains monitored protocol communication on a partyline between one control system and several devices.
This page describes how to install CPTT in viewer version (cost-free), how to access the MLG file and explains some CPTT formatting and filtering options.

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IEC 60870-5-102 was developed for the transmission of counter readings.
The messages are usually transmitted through serial connections. The frame format is FT1.2.

COMPROTware:Testtool offers in this protocol:

• Simulation of Controlling and Controlled Station.
• Extensive state engine to implement protocols.
• Monitoring on the serial line.
• Different application oriented view formats for message traffic.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)