Reference Manual

MN912065EN, version 8

Conitel Slave Protocol

Documentation for part number P-SSPR-3801
For use with SMP Gateway software version 8.1R1 or later.
All brand and product names appearing in this document are the trademark or registered trademark
of their respective holders.

© 2020 Eaton – All rights reserved.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Eaton’s Energy Automation Solutions

1990 5th Street
Suite 220
Levis, Quebec
Canada G6W 5M6
Phone: +1.418.830-5800
Fax: +1.514.227.5256
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.Eaton.com/smartgrid

Technical Support: [email protected]

MN912065EN, version 8
 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Getting Assistance .................................................................................................1

2 Features 3
2.1 Communication .....................................................................................................3
2.2 Supported Requests ...............................................................................................3

3 Configuration Settings 5
3.1 General Settings ....................................................................................................5
3.2 Analog Input Settings ............................................................................................6
3.2.1 Analog Input Settings ..............................................................................6
3.2.2 Accumulator Inputs Settings ...................................................................7
3.3 Binary Input Settings .............................................................................................7
3.4 Analog Output Settings .........................................................................................8
3.5 Binary Output Settings ..........................................................................................8
3.6 Special Request Handling Settings ........................................................................9

4 Implementation Details 11
4.1 Startup Sequence ................................................................................................. 11
4.2 Scan Cycle ........................................................................................................... 11
4.3 Error Codes.......................................................................................................... 12

5 Troubleshooting 13

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual ●i

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

Tables
Table 2-1 Communication features ............................................................................................... 3
Table 2-2 Supported requests ........................................................................................................ 4
Table 3-1 General settings ............................................................................................................ 6
Table 3-2 Analog Input settings .................................................................................................... 6
Table 3-3 Accumulator Inputs settings ......................................................................................... 7
Table 3-4 Binary Input settings ..................................................................................................... 8
Table 3-5 Analog Output settings ................................................................................................. 8
Table 3-6 Binary Output settings .................................................................................................. 9
Table 3-7 Request Intervals line definition settings ...................................................................... 9
Table 4-1 Error codes.................................................................................................................. 12
Table 5-1 Troubleshooting .......................................................................................................... 13

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual ● iii

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

1 Introduction

This manual provides the information required to install and set up a Conitel slave protocol
component in an SMP Gateway.
This protocol component is used to retrieve data from a Conitel RTU (Remote Terminal Unit). It
can also be used to control such a device.
The reader must be familiar with the SMP Gateway environment, master protocol concepts and
the Conitel protocol specification before proceeding with this document. This information can be
acquired by reading the following Eaton documents:
 Protocol Common Concepts Reference Manual, MN912003EN, Eaton.
 SMP Gateway User Manual, MN912001EN, Eaton.

1.1 Getting Assistance

If you have any question regarding the performance, application or testing of any component of
this SMP product, do not hesitate to contact us. Our staff will be pleased to assist you.
Technical Support
Eaton’s Energy Automation Solutions

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1.877.834.0009
Toll Free: +1.800.815.2258

Business hours are from 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST, Monday to Friday.

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual •1

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

2 Features

This chapter enumerates the features provided by the Conitel slave protocol component.

2.1 Communication
The following communication features are available when interconnecting Conitel RTUs to the
SMP Gateway:

Feature Comment
Serial Port The protocol can be used as bit- or byte-oriented protocol. Bit-oriented can
be used only on the SMP SG-42xx platform equipped with an universal
communication module. To use this mode, you must set
the Communication Type general setting to Bit-Oriented and the Baud
Rate general setting to the baud rate supported by the RTU.
In Byte-Oriented mode, the protocol component supports RS-232, RS-
422 and RS-485 interfaces at bit rates of up to 115200 b/s.

Multidrop Multiple instances of this protocol component can share a single serial
port as long as different addresses and groups are used to identify the
RTUs, and if the serial hardware supports such a feature.

TCP/IP This protocol component supports TCP/IP communications.

Table 2-1 Communication features

2.2 Supported Requests

The following table enumerates the requests currently supported by the Conitel slave protocol
component:

Request Description
0x0 Scan Data

0x1 Execute Command

0x2 Trip (Check-Before-Operate)

0x3 Set Point A

0x4 Close (Check-Before-Operate)

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual •3

EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

Request Description
0x5 Set Point B

0x8 Reset

0xB Retransmit Last Message

0xF Freeze and scan accumulators with reset: Only supported with Special Handling Request.

Table 2-2 Supported requests

4● Chapter 2: Features
 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

3 Configuration Settings

This chapter lists the configuration settings to be specified for each Conitel slave protocol
component instance. The SMP Config software program is generally used to define these settings.
Only Conitel-specific settings of the protocol are described here. The settings common to all
protocol components are described in the Protocol Common Concepts Reference Manual.

3.1 General Settings

Each instance of this slave protocol component contains general settings, which set the general
behavior of the component. The following table shows the general settings that are specific to the
Conitel slave protocol.

Setting Description
Device Address The address of the RTU with which the protocol component communicates.
Note that 1 or more RTUs may have this address. These devices must however
use different groups.
Range: 1 to 15
Default value: 1

Communication Type The protocol can be used in three different communication modes:
 Bit-Oriented may be used only on the SMP SG-42xx platform equipped
with an universal communication module. To use this type, you must set
the Communication Type general setting to Bit-Oriented and the Baud
Rate general setting to the baud rate supported by the RTU.
 Byte-Oriented may be used with a standard RS-232 RTU.
 DCB ASYNC Adapter is required if a Conitel ASYNC ADAPTER from
Data Comm for Business, Inc. is used.
Note: The internal delay timeout of the DCB ASYNC Adapter must be long enough to
send a complete message to the Conitel slave protocol component.
Allowed values: Byte-Oriented
Bit-Oriented
DCB ASYNC Adapter
Default value: Bit-Oriented

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual •5

EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

Setting Description
Baud Rate When Communication Type is set to Bit-Oriented, this parameter must be set
to the baud rate of the device.
Allowed values: 600
1200
2400
4800
9600
38400
Default value: 1200

Pre-Transmission When the Communication Type setting is set to Bit-Oriented, this parameter
Mark indicates the length of the pre-transmission mark before sending the message.
Range: 20 to 2000 milliseconds
Default value: 40 milliseconds

Ignore Request with Indicates if the Conitel slave protocol component must reply with error or not if
Unknown Group the request uses an unknown group.
Range: Checkmark / no checkmark
Default value: Checkmark

Table 3-1 General settings

3.2 Analog Input Settings

3.2.1 Analog Input Settings
Each instance of this slave protocol component may contain several analog inputs. These settings
tell the component how to map data retrieved from the RTU to system analog data. The following
table shows all the analog input settings specific to the Conitel slave protocol.

Setting Description
Group Indicates the group from which the analog input value is to be retrieved.
Range: 0 to 15
Default value: 0

Block Indicates the block from which the analog input value is to be retrieved inside
the specified group.
Range: 1 to 16
Default value: 1

Section Indicates the section from which the analog input value is to be retrieved inside
the specified block.
Allowed values: A
B
Default value: A

Table 3-2 Analog Input settings

6● Chapter 3: Configuration Settings

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

3.2.2 Accumulator Inputs Settings

Each instance of this slave protocol component may contain several accumulator inputs. These
settings tell the component how to map data retrieved from the RTU to system analog data. The
following table shows all the accumulator input settings specific to the Conitel slave protocol.

Setting Description
Group Indicates the group from which the accumulator input value is to be retrieved.
Range: 0 to 15
Default value: 0

Block Indicates the block from which the accumulator input value is to be retrieved
inside the specified group.
Range: 1 to 16
Default value: 1

Section Indicates the section from which the accumulator input value is to be retrieved
inside the specified block.
Allowed values: A
B
Default value: A

Data Type Indicates the data type of the accumulator input.

Allowed values: 12-Bit
24-Bit
Default value: 12-Bit

Table 3-3 Accumulator Inputs settings

3.3 Binary Input Settings

Each instance of this slave protocol component may contain several binary inputs. These settings
tell the component how to map data retrieved from the RTU to system binary data. The following
table shows all the binary input settings specific to the Conitel slave protocol.

Setting Description
Group Indicates the group from which the binary input value is to be retrieved.
Range: 0 to 15
Default value: 0

Block Indicates the block from which the binary input value is to be retrieved inside
the specified group.
Range: 1 to 16
Default value: 1

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual •7

EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

Setting Description
Section Indicates the section from which the binary input value is to be retrieved inside
the specified block.
Allowed values: A
B
Default value: A

Bit Index Indicates the bit index from which the binary input value is to be retrieved
inside the specified section.
Range: 1 to 12
Default value: 1

Data Type Indicates the data type of the accumulator input.

Allowed values: One-bit Status Type A
One-bit Status Type B
One-bit MCD Type A
One-bit MCD Type B
One-bit MCD Type C
Default value: One-bit Status Type A

Table 3-4 Binary Input settings

3.4 Analog Output Settings

Each instance of this slave protocol component may contain several analog outputs used to control
the RTU. The following table shows all the analog output settings specific to the Conitel slave
protocol.

Setting Description
Group Indicates the group to which the analog output value is mapped.
Range: 0 to 15
Default value: 0

Data Type Indicates the data type of the accumulator input.

Allowed values: Setpoint A
Setpoint B
Default value: Setpoint A

Table 3-5 Analog Output settings

3.5 Binary Output Settings

Each instance of this salve protocol component may contain several binary outputs used to control
the RTU. The following table shows all the binary output settings specific to the Conitel slave
protocol.

8● Chapter 3: Configuration Settings

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

Setting Description
Group Indicates the group to which the binary output value is mapped.
Range: 0 to 15
Default value: 0

Modifier Indicates the modifier to which the binary output value is mapped.
Range: 1 to 12
Default value: 1

Table 3-6 Binary Output settings

3.6 Special Request Handling Settings

Each instance of this slave protocol component contains several special request handling settings,
which indicate special handling when a type of request is received. The following table shows all
the special request handling settings.

Setting Description
Request The type of request associated with this special request handling.
Request: Freeze and Scan Accumulators with Reset (Broadcast)

Binary Logical The name of the binary logical output to control when the slave receives a
Output request of the type indicated in the Request parameter.

Table 3-7 Request Intervals line definition settings

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual •9

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

4 Implementation Details

4.1 Startup Sequence

The protocol component goes through the following steps upon startup:
 Parses the configuration file.
 Initializes the various logs, traces and statistics.
 Subscribes to all the configured I/O points, and reads the current value and state of all the I/O
points.
 Waits for a connection request from the Conitel master station.
 Starts the scan cycle.

4.2 Scan Cycle

The protocol component manages the RTU polling cycle according to the following principles:
 The protocol is half duplex.
 The slave must never send data without having first received a request for data.
 A response is sent to each request, except for broadcast requests or the request is not
addressed to the slave.

The Conitel response processing rules are:

 A request is valid only if it arrives within the configured time limit.
 A request is valid only if it has the correct BCH.
 The overall request format must be coherent and as expected.

Link initialization occurs under the following circumstances:

 The SMP is being restarted.
 The communication link is being reset due to too many consecutive errors of any type.
 A RTU Reset was requested from the user.
Once the link has been initialized, and as long as it remains active, a regular scanning cycle is used
on a continuous basis. Note that the link is not considered active until a valid association is made.

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual • 11

EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

4.3 Error Codes

When the Conitel slave protocol component detects an error or receives an illegal command, the
function Error Response from Remote (Function Code 6) is sent back to the master station with
one of these error codes:

Error Code Description

0 Illegal function or function not supported.

2 Output group not defined.

3 Illegal execute. Previous message was a not trip/close message or the group is
different than the last trip/close group.

4 Bad modifier code in the trip/close message.

E Retransmit message was first message.

29 Check-before-execute process error.

2A Execute process error.

33 Input group not defined.

Table 4-1 Error codes

Note that all the error codes, except for the code 33, are same error codes as the C-300 device

12 ● Chapter 4: Implementation Details

 EAS-SA QF-MKT-02 Rev.02

5 Troubleshooting

The following table lists solutions to common problems experienced with this protocol:

Problem Solution
The SMP gateway is This problem can be due to one of the following:
not communicating
 There is a problem in the SMP gateway settings, which results in a failed startup.
with the master
station.  RTU addressing problem: The Device Address configured in the general settings
does not match the one configured in the master station.
 Cable problems: Make sure you are using the right cables and that they are
working properly. If possible, swap cables with one that is known to work.
 Serial interface configuration problem: Serial interfaces on an SMP gateway can
be configured in RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485. The interface configuration may
not be compatible with the interface configuration of your IED.
 DTE-DCE problems: SMP ports are configured in DTE mode. Use a straight
cable to connect to a modem or to most IED maintenance ports. You should,
however, use a NULL modem when connecting directly to a PC. Use a breakout
box to diagnose the problem.
 Baud rate, parity, data bit and stop bit problems: These settings must be
configured identically at both ends of the configuration (serial links only). For the
SMP gateway, this information is available via the connection statistics or via the
configuration file itself.

The link to my RTU This problem could be due to a number of things:

keeps resetting.
 Bad link quality: The link quality is bad and too many exchanges are corrupted as
they travel from one end of the connection to the other. Consult the link’s
connection and scan statistics to determine whether the link’s checksum error
ratio is acceptable. Take corrective action if necessary.
 The link times out on a regular basis: You should consult the link statistics to
determine if that is what is happening. This may be due to bad link quality, if it is
accompanied by checksum errors. However, it may also be caused by defective
IED behavior or incorrect configuration of the Inactivity Timeout setting.
Increase the duration allowed for link timeouts if you have doubts.
 The link systematically resets following a specific exchange: Consult the link
traces to verify if this is happening. This behavior is usually due to protocol
incompatibility. If you have some knowledge of the application-level protocol,
you should be able to identify what it is that the client side is asking that the other
side cannot handle or, alternatively, what it is that the other side is responding
that the client side cannot handle. In some cases, you may be able to modify your
configuration to avoid the problem-causing exchange.

Table 5-1 Troubleshooting

Conitel Slave Protocol Reference Manual • 13