CCS Finds SCADA over Frame Relay is Faster, Better, Cheaper than analog.
“Frame Relay has proven to be faster, better and cheaper than analog service” according to Dan Allen, SCADA electrical technician for Continental Cooperative Services (CCS), in Jacksonville, Illinois. CSS in Illinois has switched a number of analog links over to Frame Relay. The CCS SCADA network uses C3Ilex protocol, DNP3 protocol, and C3Ilex and DAQ Electronics equipment. After running the network over Frame Relay for nearly two years, the results are resoundingly positive.
Who is CCS?
Continental Cooperative Services (CCS), based in Harrisburg, Pa., was created in March 2000, the result of a strategic alliance between Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CCS/Allegheny), the wholesale power supplier to Pennsylvania and New Jersey electric cooperatives; and the Illinois Soyland Power Cooperative, Inc. (CCS/Soyland). One of the goals of the alliance is to reduce General and Administrative costs. The Jacksonville office of CCS has certainly done just that by moving to Frame Relay.
How CCS heard about Frame Relay
Jeff Tankersley of DA Solutions, a SCADA systems consultant from Waverly, Illinois was working with EnerStar, an electric and propane cooperative in East Central Illinois. It was at EnerStar where Jeff first encountered Frame Relay and Frads being used for SCADA communications. Jeff was impressed with the reliability and simplicity of the DCB, Inc Frame Relay equipment being used at EnterStar and heard good things about both Frame Relay service in general and the Frads in use at Enerstar. Jeff soon communicated this information to CCS. Jeff has worked with CCS in Jacksonville for a number of years and knew of their analog maintenance problems and the desire for a better solution. He soon convinced CCS to at least give Frame Relay a try. It was working fine for EnerStar and should for CCS, too.
Frame Relay is Faster
The analog links ran at the rather low speed of 1200 bps over 202T modems. The Frame Relay links are 56 Kbps, with the RTUs and host computer ports running at 9600 bps. This is 8 times faster than the old 1200 bps links. It means more data can be collected from more drops on a multipoint circuit in less time than before.
CCS, like most electric utilities, is moving toward a 4-second goal. Every RTU is polled within 4 seconds or less when the 4-second goal is met. With 1200 bps lines, this goal is very difficult to reach. By speeding up the lines to 9600 bps, CCS has removed the communications lines as one of the impediments to reaching the 4-second goal. There are still issues with RTUs and host computers, but those issues are separate from the communications speed now that CCS is using Frame Relay. With the communications speed obstacle eliminated, CCS can concentrate on the other impediments to the 4-second goal.
Frame Relay is better, more reliable
The digital Frame Relay service has proven to be more stable than analog circuits. Frame Relay has less down time than the analog lines, provides better diagnostics, and if interrupted, gets back on line faster.
“I know for a fact”, says Dan Allen, “that there have been outages that AT&T found and fixed in the middle of the night and on weekends. They fixed some problems before we even knew about them. I know this from our system records that show the service is interrupted and restored without us being notified. This saves me from getting called out in the middle of the night or over a weekend.”
AT&T, the service provider for CCS, and other Frame Relay vendors, are able to do this fast problem detection and restoration because of the Frame Relay management. All customer Frame Relay equipment sends a short “keep alive” every 10 seconds to the phone company Frame Relay network. The vendor’s Frame Relay equipment responds to the keep alive. If the keep alive message from the customer equipment is not detected for about a minute, the Frame Relay management consoles at AT&T network management centers will display an alarm condition. In visual terms, the management displays go from green (good) to yellow (alarm) to red (failure). When a customer device fails, the missing keep alive shows the location that failed. Armed with this information, AT&T has been able to start repairing most problems before the customer is even aware of the failure. This is known as “proactive” network management.
CCS finds that in addition to faster response to problems, there are fewer problems per location with Frame Relay. Dan Allen says he can count on one hand the number of Frame Relay problems in the past 2 years. With the analog lines, he can count on a problem or more per month. On a per drop basis, Frame relay lines have less than half as many periodic problems as the analog lines, per Dan Allen.
Frame Relay is inherently more reliable, get fixed faster
Frame Relay service tends to have more “up time” and get fixed faster for several reasons. One reason is that Frame Relay is digital service, rather than analog. Digital service is not effected by the variety of electrical disturbances than can effect analog circuits. Further, the infrastructure of the phone network is almost 100% digital now. Providing analog service requires the addition of bridging and line equalization equipment that is not native to a digital network. In terms of the age of the phone system, the digital equipment is newer, smaller, more modular, easier to repair with spare cards than are the older analog components. Another significant issue is the thinning of the phone company ranks of personnel with analog expertise. The majority of phone company technicians are trained and experienced in digital technology. The analog savvy personnel are gradually retiring from the phone companies.
Future savings
The Frame Relay network has been so successful, so cost effective, that it is being expanded to include all the remote SCADA sites served by CCS in Illinois. Today the analog circuits still outnumber the digital circuits by two to one, so CCS is looking forward to considerable savings and improved network service. Frame Relay pricing is now below that of analog. The remaining analog circuits will be phased out and replaced with Frame Relay circuits. Not only will costs go down, but the reliability of the communications network will go up.
Future increased speed and throughput
Frame Relay makes it very easy to further increase speeds and to add more communications channels for new applications. If CCS finds it necessary to increase the port speeds of the RTUs to get faster response times or pass more data, it is certainly easy to do. Their Frads (Frame Relay Access Devices) run over 56 kbps lines and the serial port speeds can be increased up to 38,400 bps from the current 9600 bps port speeds.
Space Savings
When CCS finishes converting from analog to Frame Relay they will nearly empty a 19-inch communications equipment bay. At the main office, a single 16-port Frad replaces 16 analog modems. Each of the analog modems is the size of a single Frad. When the conversion to all Frame Relay is finished, CCS gains the space of half of a full height equipment bay. Even if they cannot eliminate an entire bay, they will have much more working room in the bay by eliminating equipment crowding.
Future applications
CCS has a number of meters in the same locations as the RTUs. The metering data from remote locations is collected manually at this time. CCS could collect this metering data using MV90 software and dial up modems, but at a cost of nearly $1,000 per site just for the lightning protection equipment. Dial up lines also have the additional recurring monthly cost of a phone line, typically at a cost of about $40 per month. Since CCS is already running Frame Relay to most of these locations, the metering data at those locations can be collected using the DCB Frads. CCS just needs a Frad with more than 1 port at each of the joint RTU/metering locations. The DCB Frads support virtually all async SCADA and metering protocols, without the need for any special options or firmware.
More Frame Relay in the future
Dan Braden, Regional Office Coordinator in the Jacksonville office, confirms Dan Allen’s assertion that Frame Relay is cheaper and better. Mr. Braden says that CCS had a 2 year AT&T contract that is now ending. At this renewal time, he finds that Frame Relay costs have dropped below the cost for analog service. In addition, there is healthy pricing competition between various vendors, such as AT&T, MCI and Sprint. This helps keep the pricing competitive. Mr. Branden is looking forward to increased savings on communications costs.
Initially, just 10 remote locations were being served with Frame Relay. The monthly costs have proven to be lower, and the CCS network maintenance burden is less with Frame Relay. Because of their successful experience, CCS will move all of their communication lines to Frame Relay. “We have better luck all round with Frame Relay”, is Dan Braden’s summary of the situation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Straayer is President of Data Comm for Business, Inc., a position he has held since founding the company in 1981. Prior to that, Mr. Straayer was Vice President of Compre Comm, Inc, from 1977 until 1981.
Mr. Straayer is a graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield with a degree in Communications. Mr. Straayer has consulted for AT&T, Harris Bank and
Trust, General Telephone and other major companies. He has been an instructor in data communications courses for the Federal Reserve, EDS/GM and for many public data communications courses.
Mr. Straayer was a telecommunications manager with the State of Illinois where he was responsible, in 1977, for a $35,000,000 budget. He was responsible for the 1977 implementation of a credit card calling system that included voice recognition equipment to automate the placing of credit card calls.
“Frame Relay has proven to be faster, better and cheaper than analog service” according to Dan Allen, SCADA electrical technician for Continental Cooperative Services (CCS), in Jacksonville, Illinois. CSS in Illinois has switched a number of analog links over to Frame Relay. The CCS SCADA network uses C3Ilex protocol, DNP3 protocol, and C3Ilex and DAQ Electronics equipment. After running the network over Frame Relay for nearly two years, the results are resoundingly positive.
Who is CCS?
Continental Cooperative Services (CCS), based in Harrisburg, Pa., was created in March 2000, the result of a strategic alliance between Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CCS/Allegheny), the wholesale power supplier to Pennsylvania and New Jersey electric cooperatives; and the Illinois Soyland Power Cooperative, Inc. (CCS/Soyland). One of the goals of the alliance is to reduce General and Administrative costs. The Jacksonville office of CCS has certainly done just that by moving to Frame Relay.
How CCS heard about Frame Relay
Jeff Tankersley of DA Solutions, a SCADA systems consultant from Waverly, Illinois was working with EnerStar, an electric and propane cooperative in East Central Illinois. It was at EnerStar where Jeff first encountered Frame Relay and Frads being used for SCADA communications. Jeff was impressed with the reliability and simplicity of the DCB, Inc Frame Relay equipment being used at EnterStar and heard good things about both Frame Relay service in general and the Frads in use at Enerstar. Jeff soon communicated this information to CCS. Jeff has worked with CCS in Jacksonville for a number of years and knew of their analog maintenance problems and the desire for a better solution. He soon convinced CCS to at least give Frame Relay a try. It was working fine for EnerStar and should for CCS, too.
Frame Relay is Faster
The analog links ran at the rather low speed of 1200 bps over 202T modems. The Frame Relay links are 56 Kbps, with the RTUs and host computer ports running at 9600 bps. This is 8 times faster than the old 1200 bps links. It means more data can be collected from more drops on a multipoint circuit in less time than before.
CCS, like most electric utilities, is moving toward a 4-second goal. Every RTU is polled within 4 seconds or less when the 4-second goal is met. With 1200 bps lines, this goal is very difficult to reach. By speeding up the lines to 9600 bps, CCS has removed the communications lines as one of the impediments to reaching the 4-second goal. There are still issues with RTUs and host computers, but those issues are separate from the communications speed now that CCS is using Frame Relay. With the communications speed obstacle eliminated, CCS can concentrate on the other impediments to the 4-second goal.
Frame Relay is better, more reliable
The digital Frame Relay service has proven to be more stable than analog circuits. Frame Relay has less down time than the analog lines, provides better diagnostics, and if interrupted, gets back on line faster.
“I know for a fact”, says Dan Allen, “that there have been outages that AT&T found and fixed in the middle of the night and on weekends. They fixed some problems before we even knew about them. I know this from our system records that show the service is interrupted and restored without us being notified. This saves me from getting called out in the middle of the night or over a weekend.”
AT&T, the service provider for CCS, and other Frame Relay vendors, are able to do this fast problem detection and restoration because of the Frame Relay management. All customer Frame Relay equipment sends a short “keep alive” every 10 seconds to the phone company Frame Relay network. The vendor’s Frame Relay equipment responds to the keep alive. If the keep alive message from the customer equipment is not detected for about a minute, the Frame Relay management consoles at AT&T network management centers will display an alarm condition. In visual terms, the management displays go from green (good) to yellow (alarm) to red (failure). When a customer device fails, the missing keep alive shows the location that failed. Armed with this information, AT&T has been able to start repairing most problems before the customer is even aware of the failure. This is known as “proactive” network management.
CCS finds that in addition to faster response to problems, there are fewer problems per location with Frame Relay. Dan Allen says he can count on one hand the number of Frame Relay problems in the past 2 years. With the analog lines, he can count on a problem or more per month. On a per drop basis, Frame relay lines have less than half as many periodic problems as the analog lines, per Dan Allen.
Frame Relay is inherently more reliable, get fixed faster
Frame Relay service tends to have more “up time” and get fixed faster for several reasons. One reason is that Frame Relay is digital service, rather than analog. Digital service is not effected by the variety of electrical disturbances than can effect analog circuits. Further, the infrastructure of the phone network is almost 100% digital now. Providing analog service requires the addition of bridging and line equalization equipment that is not native to a digital network. In terms of the age of the phone system, the digital equipment is newer, smaller, more modular, easier to repair with spare cards than are the older analog components. Another significant issue is the thinning of the phone company ranks of personnel with analog expertise. The majority of phone company technicians are trained and experienced in digital technology. The analog savvy personnel are gradually retiring from the phone companies.
The CCS Frame Relay Network
The Illinois CCS SCADA network connects the Jacksonville, Illinois office to several electrical transmission and switching stations and to 11 cooperatives that are distribution cooperatives:
- Adams Electric Cooperative
- Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative
- Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative
- Farmers Mutual Electric Cooperative
- Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative
- McDonough Power Cooperative
- Menard Electric Cooperative
- Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative
- Shelby Electric Cooperative
- Spoon River Electric Cooperative, Inc.
- Western Illinois Electrical Cooperative
Future savings
The Frame Relay network has been so successful, so cost effective, that it is being expanded to include all the remote SCADA sites served by CCS in Illinois. Today the analog circuits still outnumber the digital circuits by two to one, so CCS is looking forward to considerable savings and improved network service. Frame Relay pricing is now below that of analog. The remaining analog circuits will be phased out and replaced with Frame Relay circuits. Not only will costs go down, but the reliability of the communications network will go up.
Future increased speed and throughput
Frame Relay makes it very easy to further increase speeds and to add more communications channels for new applications. If CCS finds it necessary to increase the port speeds of the RTUs to get faster response times or pass more data, it is certainly easy to do. Their Frads (Frame Relay Access Devices) run over 56 kbps lines and the serial port speeds can be increased up to 38,400 bps from the current 9600 bps port speeds.
Space Savings
When CCS finishes converting from analog to Frame Relay they will nearly empty a 19-inch communications equipment bay. At the main office, a single 16-port Frad replaces 16 analog modems. Each of the analog modems is the size of a single Frad. When the conversion to all Frame Relay is finished, CCS gains the space of half of a full height equipment bay. Even if they cannot eliminate an entire bay, they will have much more working room in the bay by eliminating equipment crowding.
Future applications
CCS has a number of meters in the same locations as the RTUs. The metering data from remote locations is collected manually at this time. CCS could collect this metering data using MV90 software and dial up modems, but at a cost of nearly $1,000 per site just for the lightning protection equipment. Dial up lines also have the additional recurring monthly cost of a phone line, typically at a cost of about $40 per month. Since CCS is already running Frame Relay to most of these locations, the metering data at those locations can be collected using the DCB Frads. CCS just needs a Frad with more than 1 port at each of the joint RTU/metering locations. The DCB Frads support virtually all async SCADA and metering protocols, without the need for any special options or firmware.
More Frame Relay in the future
Dan Braden, Regional Office Coordinator in the Jacksonville office, confirms Dan Allen’s assertion that Frame Relay is cheaper and better. Mr. Braden says that CCS had a 2 year AT&T contract that is now ending. At this renewal time, he finds that Frame Relay costs have dropped below the cost for analog service. In addition, there is healthy pricing competition between various vendors, such as AT&T, MCI and Sprint. This helps keep the pricing competitive. Mr. Branden is looking forward to increased savings on communications costs.
Initially, just 10 remote locations were being served with Frame Relay. The monthly costs have proven to be lower, and the CCS network maintenance burden is less with Frame Relay. Because of their successful experience, CCS will move all of their communication lines to Frame Relay. “We have better luck all round with Frame Relay”, is Dan Braden’s summary of the situation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Straayer is President of Data Comm for Business, Inc., a position he has held since founding the company in 1981. Prior to that, Mr. Straayer was Vice President of Compre Comm, Inc, from 1977 until 1981.
Mr. Straayer is a graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield with a degree in Communications. Mr. Straayer has consulted for AT&T, Harris Bank and
Trust, General Telephone and other major companies. He has been an instructor in data communications courses for the Federal Reserve, EDS/GM and for many public data communications courses.
Mr. Straayer was a telecommunications manager with the State of Illinois where he was responsible, in 1977, for a $35,000,000 budget. He was responsible for the 1977 implementation of a credit card calling system that included voice recognition equipment to automate the placing of credit card calls.
