Schneider Electric offers a wide variety of solutions to enable users to utilize the IEC61850 communication protocol with their products.

For existing installations with devices that have only 2-wire RS-485 Modbus capability, two products presently offered (as of 2012) are the Sepam ECI850 Server and the PowerLogic G3200 Gateway.  Since these 2 products are very similar in appearance, some users may ask if they are completely interchangeable. This FAQ provides some details on this question as it pertains to IEC61850 configuration.

1) Sepam ECI850 Server

This server was primarily designed to work with the Sepam Series 20, 40, and 80 relays.  It is an Ethernet to RS-485 (Serial) converter with default libraries that enable communication with Sepam relays.  To build CID files for communication with Sepam relays, the following Schneider Electric software utilities can be used: SFT2841 and CET850 V2.1 (or higher).  If SFT2841 is used, certain IEC61850 parameters (such as Report Control Blocks and Datasets) cannot be configured.  Presently, the SFT2841 software includes primarily libraries for the Sepam relays, and it does not have libraries for other devices such as PowerLogic-ION meters.

2) PowerLogic G3200 Gateway

This gateway was developed to communicate with a wider range of Schneider Electric products.  It is also an Ethernet to RS-485 (Serial) converter, but the firmware is significantly different compared to the ECI850 Server.  In addition to having drivers for standard products such as the Sepam relays and PowerLogic-ION meters, this gateway can support custom device types and legacy products such as the Sepam 2000.

To configure CID files for the G3200, the CET850 V2.1 (or higher) software should be used.  Presently, the Sepam SFT2841 software does not include default libraries that enable the user to build CID files for the G3200 gateway.

To summarize, regarding IEC61850 configuration, CID files for a given device should be built only using the software designed specifically for that device, and they cannot be ported from one type of device to another (unless specifically stated in the product documentation).  So, ECI850 and G3200 CID files are not interchangeable, and the user should use the correct software and ICD templates for each device when starting a new project.

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