Longevity: Investment cycles in utilities are much longer than those in the public telecom sector.

Protection and control equipment in electrical substations, which is ultimately connected to

utility communication equipment, is particularly long-lived. The ultimate goal of commissioning

an all-Ethernet/IP network is still far away, particularly for Hitachi Energy, which link hundreds

or even thousands of established substations.

A basic requirement of such a system would be longevity, with guaranteed performance as per

established technologies. Unlike the full network refurbishments often seen in public

telecommunications networks, utility networks evolve slowly, increasing in size and slowly

migrating to new technologies in a step-by-step approach. This evolution means that high

interoperability between existing and new installations as well as parallel operation of both is a must.

Utility environment:

These days most offices grind to a halt in the face of a failed internet connection, but no industry

compares to electrical transmission in being dependent on robust, resilient, and predictable

communications. Only suppliers with an intimate knowledge of the industry can supply,

and maintain, equipment capable of meeting that unique set of demands.

In addition to extremes of temperature, utility communications equipment is also exposed to magnetic

and electrical fields, which are particularly severe during short-circuit events.

In order to maintain the high levels of availability required, especially in emergency situations,

utility communications equipment must offer a robust and reliable design that has proven

capabilities for providing accurate functionality under extreme conditions.

In dusty and remote environments, where regular maintenance cannot be guaranteed,

fan-less designs are preferable.

WAN modernization: An outstanding multiservice platform for real-time utility communication

Hitachi Energy’s FOX615 is a hybrid solution supporting traditional TDM (PDH / SDH) and

Multi-Protocol Label Switching – Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) – the latest standard designed

to address the new applications using packet-switched technology natively. The majority of

existing communication networks of power utilities are based on Time Division Multiplexing,

TDM, which allocates dedicated circuits to specific communications and thus guaranteeing

the required communication performance parameters such as bandwidth, latency, and symmetry.

New standards today are based on packet-switched technologies (e.g. IEC 60870-5-104 or IEC 61850)

and therefore integrate natively into a packet-switched MPLS backbone network.

Well known features of SDH networks were left behind when MPLS was originally created for

dynamic public telecommunication networks and implemented as IP/MPLS. That’s why an

enhancement of the standard was required, leading to MPLS-TP bringing back those missing

features from SDH to the MPLS world such as bidirectional and static channel routing or end

to end channel supervision using Operational Administration Maintenance (OAM).

FOX615 provides native MPLS-TP and SDH functionality as part of the hybrid approach implemented.

Hitachi Energy’s FOX615 is an outstanding multi-service multiplexer which enables

the extension of existing communication infrastructure, as well as the smooth

migration to future technology.

Key highlights

• Easy and flexible way to migrate technology in a utility network

• With its latest IEC61850 interface the FOX615 also acts as a substation IED

• Enables GOOSE based protection applications of digital substations

FOX615 provides native MPLS-TP and SDH functionality as part of the hybrid approach implemented.

The combination of state of the art SDH technology and future MPLS-TP technology provides an easy

and flexible way to migrate technology in a utility network. All FOX615’s which are deployed in the

field today can easily be upgraded to MPLS-TP. It also allows the parallel implementation of SDH

and MPLS-TP in one node, separating traffic according to their performance requirements.

One further option is to just implement a pure MPLS-TP node. FOX615 today offers much more

to a utility than any other multiservice platform for real-time utility communications.

Hitachi Energy’s FOX615 is an outstanding multi-service multiplexer which enables

the extension of existing communication infrastructure, as well as the smooth

migration to future technology.

Key highlights

• Easy and flexible way to migrate technology in a utility network

• With its latest IEC61850 interface the FOX615 also acts as a substation IED

• Enables GOOSE based protection applications of digital substations

FOX615 provides native MPLS-TP and SDH functionality as part of the hybrid approach implemented.

The combination of state of the art SDH technology and future MPLS-TP technology provides an easy

and flexible way to migrate technology in a utility network. All FOX615’s which are deployed in the

field today can easily be upgraded to MPLS-TP. It also allows the parallel implementation of SDH

and MPLS-TP in one node, separating traffic according to their performance requirements.

One further option is to just implement a pure MPLS-TP node. FOX615 today offers much more

to a utility than any other multiservice platform for real-time utility communications.

Overview

Reliable connectivity for communications networks

Designed to meet the most stringent functional, performance, and environmental

requirements of demanding power utility communication network applications,

this hybrid device has a compact and robust 19-inch-wide and 1HU-high metallic

housing supporting fanless operation.

The multiplexer is fully integrated into the FOX61x system family and can be managed

with FOXMAN-UN/FOXCST, which provides the lowest total cost of ownership by enabling

service migration simply through configuration. The intuitive user interface and the unified

network management system ensure an easy operation of the operational technology

(OT) infrastructure.

FOX610 provides a rich selection of interfaces.

• On the WAN side, FOX610 provides:

• 2x SFP+/SFP based 10GBASE/1GBASE

• 2x SFP based 1GBASE

• 1x RJ45 electrical 10/100/1000BASE-T

• Ethernet/MPLS-TP-ports

The FOX610 is a compact Ethernet/MPLS-TP access multiplexer with MPLS-TP

(Multi-Protocol Label Switching – Transport Profile) functionality for building,

operating, and maintaining fast and reliable packet-switched networks for

mission-critical applications.

Key highlights

• Designed for packet-switched transport in mission-critical networks

• Designed for demanding applications

• High metallic housing supporting fan-less operation

• Interoperable with FOX system family

On the LAN side, FOX610 provides:

• 4x SFP based 10/100/1000BASE

• 4x RJ45 electrical 10/100/1000BASE-T

• Ethernet access ports

All electrical access ports are supporting Power over Ethernet (PoE) and PoE+

(limited to a sum of 84 W (watts) total output power over all ports).

Local management with FOXCST is enabled by a RJ45 10/100BASE-T port.

An alarm interface provides

• 2x alarm inputs for general purposes

• 2x alarm output for system-alarms (NO/NC)

The integrated DC power supply has redundant inputs.

All interfaces are accessible on the front of FOX610.

The EDS500 product family of rugged Ethernet/SHDSL managed switches

and FSK-based analog modems has been specifically designed for critical

infrastructure and industrial applications with enhanced, robust communication

technology that ensures minimal downtime and enables predictive failure

notification and encrypted management.

Depending on the model, data communication features two-wire copper lines,

starting at very low baud rates (FSK-based analog modems) or SHDSL/EFM

connections with up to 15 Mbps data rate, and ranges up to Ethernet

(copper and optical). SFP slots and suitable SFP modules provide connectivity

over optical multimode or single mode fibers up to 80 km, both for Duplex LC

(two fibers) and Simplex LC (bi-directional over one fiber).

Several models provide Power-over-Ethernet ports (IEEE 802.3at / PoE+ and above).

The EDS500 managed switches for optical and copper Ethernet are certified

for IEC 61850. The Ethernet/SHDSL switches support a variety of useful,

reliable and intelligent functions, such as MSTP/RSTP/STP (IEEE 802.1Q/w/D),

VLAN, IEEE 802.1X, HTTPS, SNMPv3. SSH, SCP, QoS, rate limiting, ACL/packet filter,

RMON, LLDP, L2TP, IGMP snooping, ITU-T G.8032 ERPS ,and many more,

making EDS500 suitable for any harsh industrial environment.