Web deploying an integrated GIS/SCADA/OMS solution

Abstract

This paper suggests an integration approach for SCADA/GIS/OMS systems that remains independent of vendors and paves the way for Web deployment of operational functionality.

Utilities face the challenge of integrating disparate operational systems such as SCADA and GIS. The integration solution provided by most vendors is often dependent on a particular GIS or SCADA system that limits interoperability.

This paper suggests an integration approach that remains independent of any particular GIS or SCADA vendor. By using a Distribution Management System (DMS) concept that interfaces with any GIS and SCADA system, users can access spatial information and real-time data through a single screen. Risks and business drivers are identified that influence integration decisions.

The establishment of an independent DMS platform provides a platform for the deployment of a Web based user interface. Various solutions are discussed that enable utilities to use standard Web techniques to disseminate real-time information across the company and externally to customers. The trade-off between true real-time performance and functionality are examined and flexible solutions described.

The philosophy presented within this paper suggests that:

"To solve an integration problem - you use an integration solution."

Introduction

Clear business benefits exists for utilities that can establish an effective Distribution Management System (DMS). These benefits include improved customer service, increased network reliability and reduced operational costs.

To implement a modern Distribution Management System (DMS) that meets the current and future needs of a utility, there are two major steps that must be achieved.

The first goal is to successfully integrate the static GIS network data with the real-time SCADA data. The successful integration of these two systems achieves a huge technical milestone for the company - a single 'operational' network model.

The second goal is to then expose this net- work model to the company without com- promising security, performance or functionality. Web technologies offer unique benefits in disseminating specific data, sourced from back-end computing systems, to meet the individual needs of a diverse user base.

Complicating the process of designing an effective DMS architecture is the volatility of the utility industry that sees countless mergers and acquisition. With each merger comes a new SCADA and GIS system that must be incorporated into the overall DMS plan.

This paper suggests an approach for inte- grating SCADA and GIS data that remains independent of any particular SCADA or GIS vendor. Solutions are then discussed that describe how an abstraction layer may be used to expose the real-time 'operational' network model to users via web technologies.

Steps discussed include:

Step 1 – Achieving a single ‘operational’ network model

• Option 1 - Build the DMS within the SCADA
• Option 2 - Build the DMS within the GIS
• Option 3 - Build the DMS as an independent platform

Step 2 – Web enabling the network model to the users

• Build the GUI in web enabled components.
• Implement an Abstraction Layer
• Utilise a Web Server
• Utilise Thin or Thick clients depending on user needs.
• Flexibility is highlighted as the key ingredient to a successful DMS implementation.

Business Objectives

Distribution Management Systems have the potential to deliver substantial business benefits. These include a wide array of efficiency gains and customer service tools that assist both operational and non-operational areas of a business. In addition to the core beneficiaries of a DMS e.g. Control Room Operators, Dispatchers etc, is a range of other potential beneficiaries including Customers, System Planners, Energy Traders, Media Relations and Suppliers.

Immediate DMS benefits for electric utilities include standardising work practices, automating manual tasks, operating the network at higher utilisation levels and improving service reliability. Other benefits include empowering the workforce to manage customer queries and emergency situations more effectively. While many of these benefits are achievable regardless of the DMS architecture, it is the ability to support future applications, which some utilities are already exploring that will truly test the robustness of an open DMS design.

Industry Regulators will continue to demand greater reliability and reporting of network outages. Market competition will force product/service differentiation between utilities. The success in hitting these ever-moving goal posts will depend greatly on the ability of utilities to leverage their Information Technology and to deliver information to the people that need it to make effective decisions.

The Need to Integrate

Systems such as GIS, SCADA, Trouble Call, Customer Information, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Works Management all hold pieces to the puzzle in effectively managing the network and the customers. While these systems continue to faithfully serve, it is their ability to communicate and interact with each other that provide the maximum benefit to the business. Integrating information from operational systems provides added value for decision making.

Many steps have already been taken towards integrating such systems and it is the presence of an overall strategy that guides both short and long term decisions towards a target solution.

Step 1 – Achieving a single ‘operational’ network model

Utilities have historically maintained several different network models. The GIS system is usually the master repository for the static network model including connectivity and attribute data. The SCADA maintains the real-time status of the dynamic network elements, and other peripheral systems may maintain network data specific to customers or devices.

If disparate data from GIS and SCADA systems need to be integrated - how and where is the best place to store the resulting single real-time 'operational' network model? There are three main options.

• Option 1 - Build the DMS within the SCADA
• Option 2 - Build the DMS within the GIS
• Option 3 (preferred option) - Build the DMS as an independent platform

Option 1 - Build the DMS within the SCADA system

In the early 1990's the importing of GIS data into a real-time SCADA system had been achieved and deployed in isolated projects. What this approach tended to do however, was force the SCADA system to deviate from its original design characteristics.

Fundamentally, SCADA systems are designed with a purposely-sized database, very high- speed data event processing, high reliability and rather simple graphical display functionality. The data volume associated with GIS systems was substantially higher than that of typical SCADA systems and the spatial data display requirements were considerably different to the rather basic single line diagrams SCADA systems were designed to display. As a consequence, compromises had to be made to achieve this architecture e.g. Simplification of the network model.

Option 2 - Build the DMS within the GIS system

GIS systems were never originally designed or used as real-time operational tools. GIS platforms were rarely deployed in such a manner as to guarantee 24 hour by 7 day availability with seamless failover. The primary function of GIS systems was to store data, provide a set of tools to maintain the data and allow easy importing and exporting of data to other systems.

As the business need developed to integrate real-time data with geographical data, GIS companies recognised this, and began developing strategies to adapt their systems. This adaptation however proved to be a far more complex exercise than anticipated. The system performance that was required to effectively handle real-time dynamic data was difficult to achieve on a platform that was never intended to perform such high throughput levels. While significant steps have now been made by GIS companies, the guarantees of 24 by 7 availability and the ability to process real-time data at up to 200 events per second for 10 or 20 seconds (as in the case of storm conditions) remain promises that GIS companies are still reluctant to make.

Option 3 – Build the DMS as an independent platform

Deciding on a solution to the integration challenge begins with identifying sound philosophical positions on which to base the decisions. The philosophies that the majority of utility companies are adopting include choosing best of breed products, utilising modular design techniques and allowing the ultimate business needs to drive the technical architecture.

Given that SCADA has major limitations regarding its ability to display spatial data, and GIS has inherent problems managing real-time data, it would appear that neither option provides an optimal solution for the business. Both options involve compromising the specialised nature of each system and impose limitations for the future development of other business systems.

A logical conclusion would therefore be to integrate SCADA and GIS data on a platform that can support both spatial and real-time data while providing the necessary performance requirements. This platform would also provide the basis to integrate other data and related technologies such as trouble call and customer information. This allows the user to put in place an integration platform rather than just a distribution management 'product'. By utilising a modular design, the user maintains the flexibility to choose best of breed products including trouble call, dispatch, power analysis etc.

A complete DMS product therefore stands on its own merits as an integration platform built to handle real-time and spatial data, with open interfaces to external systems and a modular internal software structure. This solution guarantees that current demands are met and future needs can be confidently accommodated by simply building new mod- ules and interfaces with the existing 'open' DMS platform. The DMS platform then provides the basis for specialist applications such as:

• Outage Management
• Switching Management
• Storm Management
• Power Analysis
• Load Management

Flexibility is the key

By using an independent DMS, a utility is no longer bound to a particular GIS or SCADA vendor. If the utility was to merge with a second utility with a different GIS and SCADA system, the utility has the choice to either decommission systems or simply provide another interface into the new GIS and SCADA systems.

This flexibility extends to the integration of other systems that may contribute data to the operational network model eg. Switch asset databases, land base maps etc. By ensuring that the DMS has a modular internal architecture, the additions of new software functionality can also be achieved at the minimum cost and risk. Utilities may have no immediate need for Load Flow analysis, but may wish to add such functionality in the years to come.

The internal architecture of the 'ideal' DMS then becomes:

• real-time data base (Operational network model)
• generic interfaces (GIS, SCADA etc)
• optional software modules (switching management, dynamic ratings etc)

A modular approach to Distribution Management Systems allows SCADA, GIS and other external systems to live out their natural life-cycle and eventually be replaced with products from any preferred vendor.

Step 2 – Web enabling the DMA

There has been a great deal written about the power of web technologies, and how 'eBusiness' will transform business. By remaining true to the position that 'the business requirement should guide the technical solution', there is the opportunity to utilise web technologies in operational systems such as DMS. Care needs to be taken however to ensure that all the business requirements are considered including security, performance and functionality.

Why Web-enable your DMS?

Having established a central, single 'operational' network model in the shape of a DMS, the challenge then becomes providing access to the system, for the areas of the business that need it.

Traditional methods would involve running a version of the client software on each workstation that required access to the data or DMS functionality. This traditional client/server approach may still be the best alternative for some business areas, but not necessarily for all.

Web technologies offer a variety of benefits including:

• reduced licensing costs when delivered to a wider audience,
• reduced effort in deploying and maintaining client software,
• standard development tools and plug-ins,
• common look and feel to graphical user interface (GUI) and,
• leveraging public and corporate infrastructure.

How to Web enable a DMS

1. Build the GUI in individual web enabled components. The DMS GUI will consist of several different functional components. These include Network Diagrams, Alarms, Events, Graphs, Trends, Tables, Reports etc. Building each component as a separate object, using an appropriate technology simplifies future web deployment.
2. Implement an Abstraction Layer An abstraction layer serves to insulate the client architecture from the database and server applications. This removes costly and prohibitive dependencies between client functionality and back end platform technology. It also provides a middle-ware communication backbone for integration with other systems.
3. Utilise a Web Server A commercially available web server such as IIS or Apache can serve as an integrated web deployed operational 'portal'.
4. Utilise Thin or Thick clients depending on user needs.

   Thin Client

   For part time users that only require casual access to limited information, a thin client solution will suffice. The thin client option may require no more than a web browser installed on the client machine. The 'Web Server' then services requests made by the client user. Response times to display information such as network diagrams, customer numbers off supply, switch status etc. should approach 5 seconds, depending on the bandwidth and the complexity of the graphic images being rendered by the Web Server. This is considered near real-time and suitable for most non-operational users. Functionality through a thin client option will normally be restricted to basic functions depending on implementation.

   Thick Client

   For users that require full functionality and fast response, a thick client web solution will be the answer. A 'thick' client simply means that there is more software residing on the local client machine. This provides the added benefit of reducing network traffic and enabling greater functionality. The disadvantage is that more effort is required to maintain the software on each client machine, and license costs for the DMS software may be greater. A technical solution that combines technologies such as Active Server Pages (ASP), HTML, script, DCOM+, ActiveX, JAVA, XML, SOAP and C# will provide a flexible solution that can easily be adapted to newer technologies as they emerge.

Future DMS Business Applications

While utilities all apply individual strategies to systems integration, there are clear and distinctive trends emerging within the industry. Mobile Data Terminals incorporating Global Positioning Systems that are linked through Computer Aided Dispatch systems are pro- viding cost savings and efficiency improvements for utilities. Sophisticated Voice Response Units with dynamic data links to SCADA and metering information, are driving up the baseline for customer service levels. Caller Line Identification can enable a utility to greet an individual customer with a personalised, recorded message about an outage.

The introduction of a contestable market place has seen a dramatic emphasis placed on the issue of metering. Integrating metering information into a DMS environment provides an organisation with an opportunity to monitor not only usage data but also quality and reliability of supply. The ability to then control and coordinate customer load from a central control system becomes possible.

Web-based DMS solutions will provide the mechanism to disseminate mission critical data to internal decision-makers and external stakeholders. They will also provide web based reporting tools necessary to satisfy management, regulators and customers.

Industry Direction

Product diversification has already seen electric and gas utilities branch out into new service streams including telecommunications, banking etc. These developments all present demands on systems that can link the business with the customer and control the services and products being supplied. DMS is emerging as a key technology in the integration of new and sophisticated competitive technologies. Utility sales and marketing teams are identifying growing customer demands for differentiated products and services, but currently lack the technology or infrastructure to deliver such options.

Acquisitions and mergers of utilities are becoming an ever-increasing occurrence within the industry. With every merger comes a new set of challenges for the companies involved including aligning business directions, integrating different technologies, blending work cultures and coping with high levels of change and uncertainty. Systems need to be adaptable and able to respond to rapid changes in direction.

An aging workforce in many specialist areas of the power industry raises concerns of skill succession, and the direction most utilities are taking is to reduce the dependence on highly experienced individuals by migrating detailed information into operational computing systems.

What is required for an IT strategy to survive such a volatile industrial climate is the underlying ability to provide fast and reliable access to critical data.

Conclusion

While new SCADA, Trouble Call and Customer Information Systems all have additional features over their previous versions, they are all essentially replacements of existing systems. DMS however can be considered a totally new tool that offers unique benefits and opportunities to an organisation.

As utilities compete to become successful Total Service Providers they place greater emphasis on utilising technology to provide a competitive advantage. Strategies that deliver hard benefits today as well as laying foundations for future diversification are being employed worldwide. Adopting a holistic view of the company and the industry when considering DMS architectural options protects both the short and long-term interests of the business. Utilising web technologies enable utilities to leverage both public and corporate infrastructures.

The challenge to integrate critical data, such as that contained within GIS, SCADA and other business systems presents fundamental decisions that will set the course for future development. Technology selection will determine the ease with which a DMS solution can utilise standard web development tools.

By choosing a DMS that remains independent of any specific GIS or SCADA product, a business receives optimum performance from a purpose built system and retains maximum flexibility to explore future business and technical initiatives.

Many companies that have successful deployed a DMS, state quite clearly that the DMS proved to 'Integrate the Business, not just the Data'.

At the heart of the DMS is the successful integration of GIS and SCADA. This paper has suggested that:

"To solve an integration problem - you use an integration solution."