99-1 Focus for 1999
DLMS in Standardisation
The base Document for DLMS is the International Standard IEC 61334-4-41: 1996 "Distribution automation using distribution line carrier systems - Data communication protocols - Section 41: Application protocols - Distribution line message specification. The whole 61334 series is managed by IEC TC57 (POWER SYSTEM CONTROL AND ASSOCIATED COMMUNICATIONS). In the meantime, the interest for DLMS has become a broader one, and other technical committees have started to establish documents. IEC TC13 (EQUIPMENT FOR ELECTRICAL ENERGY MEASUREMENT AND LOAD CONTROL) has released three DLMS related Technical Reports, and quite a few work items are active in its WG14. Other organisations are also working on DLMS based definitions, e.g. CEN TC294 (COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS FOR AND REMOTE READING OF METERS) has presented a quite detailed document on gas, water and heat meters during its last Plenary Meeting.
The DLMS User Association is focussed on implementations. There is some work to do in order to "smooth out" the different views of the standardising committees and working groups.
Coloured Books
The "Blue Book" (Interface Objects) and the "Green Book" (Communication Profile) have been presented here in earlier issues. The green book is devoted to communications, the blue book to object oriented application descriptions. This blue book will be enlarged significantly in 1999, this means that the modelling of energy (mainly electricity) meters will be pushed further, including tricky objects like "time switches" and "load profiles".
Object names are formally well defined in the blue book, but the real meaning of these abstract names is not given there. The new "Orange Book" will take care of these definitions. This book is based on a work item of IEC TC13 WG14 which was initiated by a German new work item proposal named "Energy-Data-Identification-System". The system describes Identification codes, only those for electricity are detailed at the time being. The code is grouped into "medium", "channel", "quantity", "value type", "rate" and "period". This code (or a part of it) is also used to be shown at the beginning of a display of a meter, followed by the actual value. An example: 1.1.3.8.2.6 means "electricity", "channel 1", "reactive power", "time integral" (energy), "rate 2" (e.g. low tariff), "period 6" (e.g. consumed during a previous month).
Back to the title: This year will be hard work to get products out, which means to agree on specifications which are based on real developments, and to streamline them afterwards in order to find a convergence to standardisation, either already existing, or newly initiated by the new developments.