Open Systems International, Inc has announced its ISO New England Remote Information Gateway (RIG) replacement solution stemming from OSI’s Remote Terminal Unit, OSIRIS (OSI Remote Information System).
OSIRIS has successfully completed DNP3 Level Two Conformance Testing and meets all aspects of the ISO-NE CFE Interface Specification to ensure secure, accurate, and reliable data transfer between the ISO-NE Communications Front End (CFE) System and its market participants.
OSIRIS has met the connectivity, configuration and performance requirements for communication between ISO-NE participants and ISO-NE. A cost-effective solution for market participants, OSIRIS aims to replace aging RIGs with state-of-the-art, secure technology. The existing RIGs are scheduled to reach end of life by Feb. 28, 2010.
RIGs currently used by ISO-NE market participants meet the following requirements:
- An Alarm Annunciator capable of being connected to external audio or visual devices
- An FTP Interface providing a means for a dedicated computer to receive dispatch data in a file format over a LAN
- Graphic displays monitoring system health
- DNP/Modbus slave protocol on a RS 232 serial port or TCP/IP on an optional Ethernet port
OSIRIS not only meets this functionality but exceeds it through offerings of remote configurability while supporting multiple masters without using additional ports. The secure RTU also provides full IEC61131-compliant programmable logic functionality.
One of the industry’s first Linux-based RTUs, OSIRIS has built-in security features to deliver secure communications for critical utility operations over serial or IP-based connections. It features several standard peripheral interfaces to allow expansion for new connections and devices.
Testing included multiple OSIRIS units, ensuring their ability to support separate concurrent sessions to ISO-NE’s CFE system and the capacity to support both Market Data and Reliability Data using the DNP 3.0 (Distributed Network Protocol, www.dnp.org). The development of DNP3 is a comprehensive effort to achieve open, standards-based interoperability between substation computers, RTUs, IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices) and master stations.
