Expanding protection and control communications networks with wireless radio links

Extending reliable and dependable communications for protection and control applications beyond the substation fence to additional sites and field devices can sometimes be a challenging task. Uneven terrain, distance, or other factors can make running cable difficult or impossible. In some cases, wireless communication is a cost-effective and practical alternative to pulling cable. Radios have proven to be an effective means of extending communications for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and engineering access, as well as for critical protection and control applications using serial communications. Low-latency Ethernet protocols like Generic Object-Oriented Substation Event (GOOSE) are becoming popular for high-speed, point-to-multipoint signaling protection and control applications. Radios used in protection and control should be evaluated for the specific application for which they are intended. This paper examines the application of GOOSE over Ethernet radios and the associated challenges. The paper shares results from a real-world implementation, including results from GOOSE latency tests for protection and control applications.