OSI's Secure RTU, OSIRIS™, Successfully Passes ISO New England Conformance Tests

March 13, 2009
Minneapolis, MN -- Open Systems International, Inc is pleased to announce its ISO New England Remote Information Gateway (RIG) replacement solution stemming from OSI's Remote Terminal Unit, OSIRIS™ (OSI Remote Information System). OSIRIS has ...

Minneapolis, MN -- Open Systems International, Inc is pleased to announce 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 secure technology. The existing RIGs are scheduled to reach end of life by February 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 utilizing additional ports. The secure RTU also provides full IEC61131-compliant programmable logic functionality.

    OSIRIS, one of the industry's first Linux-based RTUs, 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.

    About OSI

    OSI (www.osii.com) provides open, state-of-the-art and high-performance automation solutions to electric utilities worldwide. These solutions include secure RTUs and Appliances, Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems, and Generation Management Systems (GMS), as well as individual software products and e-business solutions for electric utility operations. OSI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

  • About the Author

    Amy Fischbach | Field Editor

    Amy Fischbach is the field editor for the Electric Utility Operations section of Transmission & Distribution World. She worked for Prism Business Media (now Penton) for eight years, most recently as the managing editor of Club Industry's Fitness Business Pro magazine. She is now working as a freelance writer and editor for B2B magazines. Amy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She serves as the national vice president of the American Society of Business Publication Editors. She can be reached at [email protected].

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