Data Point DP Licensing for Communications Protocols: FAQ

A: We have done this with the benefit of the OPAL-RT user in mind:

Charging Data Point Licensing to users:

·         Keeps us competitive in the market

·         Keeps our users in the loop with the most significant progress/changes on each Communications Protocol

·         Enables us to support more Communications Protocols and support each one more effectively

·         Enables us to maintain an edge in pricing by only offering users what they need

·         Additionally, it helps us to better serve users by providing our communications protocols/drivers at a fair and competitive price that keeps all user types in mind, since it:

o   scales with performance needs

o   decreases when buying multiple protocols

o   Is limited by a maximum value

o   Is standardized for Ethernet-based communications protocols

o   Is independent of the number of cores and target performance

A: A data point corresponds to any data value exchanged with the simulator.

It can be a Boolean, an integer, a double, a status, a string, analog, digital, coil, register, etc.

It can be thought of as a variable that can be reported on.

​Examples​

·         One IEC61850 Sampled Value stream corresponds to 16 data points: 4 voltages, 4 currents, and 8 statuses.​

·         One C37.118 stream corresponds to 6 data points: 3 magnitudes, and 3 angles.​

We strongly recommend purchasing a pack of 1,000 DPs by default. This will cover 95% of use cases​.

It allows, for example, to do at the same time 30 SV and 80 PMU streams in a single simulation.

A: Default packaging is as follows:

·         Buy your driver: contact your salesperson/reseller for details.

·         Buy data points: contact your salesperson/reseller for details.

·         Data points can be used for any of our Ethernet-based drivers

·         Data points are available for all communication protocols activated​ and can be switched between drivers based on simulation needs

A: See Counting Up DPs, below.

A: To count up the number of data points you may potentially require, please see these examples:

i) A typical relay that uses IEC61850-9-2 SV​ in a simple application

·         Exchanges normally between 1 to 2 SV streams

·         One SV stream = 16 DP​s

ii) A typical relay that uses IEC61850-8-1 GOOSE​ in a simple application

·         Exchanges normally between 1 to 2 GOOSE streams

·         One GOOSE stream = 8 DPs

·         More complex applications may imply dozens of DPs per GOOSE stream

iii) A normal PMU that uses C37.118​

·         Exchanges normally between 1 to 2 streams

·         One C37.118​ stream = 6 DP​

NOTE: For DNP3, IEC 60870, MODBUS and OPCUA, you will need to know the number of values you want to exchange.

A: Counting the number of DPs​

Example 1​

·         Interface 80 PMUs with one stream. 80 x 6= 480 DPs​

Example 2 ​

·         Monitor 1,000 voltages and 500 currents with their status on a SCADA system using OPC-UA. (1,000 + 500) * 2 = 3,000 DPs​

Example 3​

·         Interface 4 relays using SV. Each relay needs 2 streams. ​2*4*16 = 64 DPs

·         DataPoints are effective in all new releases of RT-LAB and HYPERSIM beginning November 2019. They will be first deployed in HYPERSIM 6.1 and RT-LAB 11.2.​

·         Customers that upgrade their simulators from an older version of RT-LAB and HYPERSIM must update their simulator's license file to use the DataPoint system and will be licensed 1,000 DPs.​

·         Note that driver licenses are still per target. This means that if you have many systems, you will have to repeat these steps for each simulator.