Adistributedcontrolsystem(DCS)ispartofamanufacturingsystem.

Distributedcontrolsystems(DCS)areusedinindustrialandcivilengineeringapplicationstomonitorandcontrol
distributedequipmentwithremotehumanintervention.
Itisgenerally,sincethe1970s,digital,andnormallyconsistsoffieldinstruments,connectedviawiringtocomputer
busesorelectricalbusestomultiplexer/demultiplexersandA/D'soranalogtodigitalandfinallytheHumanMachine
Interface(HMI)orcontrolconsoles.ADCSisaprocesscontrolsystemthatusesanetworktointerconnectsensors,
controllers,operatorterminalsandactuators.ADCStypicallycontainsoneormorecomputersforcontrolandmostly
usebothproprietaryinterconnectionsandprotocolsforcommunications.SeePAS.
DCSisaverybroadtermthatdescribessolutionsacrossalargevarietyofindustries,including:
*Electricalpowergridsandelectricalgenerationplants
*Environmentalcontrolsystems
*Trafficsignals
*Watermanagementsystems
*Refiningandchemicalplants
*Pharmaceuticalmanufacturing
Thebroadarchitectureofasolutioninvolveseitheradirectconnectiontophysicalequipmentsuchasswitches,pumps
andvalvesorconnectionviaasecondarysystemsuchasaSCADAsystem.
ADCSsolutiondoesnotrequireoperatorinterventionforitsnormaloperation,butwiththelinebetweenSCADAand
DCSmergingsystemsclaimingtoofferDCSmayactuallypermitoperatorinteractionviaaSCADAsystem.

SCADAistheacronymforSupervisoryControlAndDataAcquisition.SCADAmaybecalledHumanMachine
Interface(HMI)inEurope.Thetermreferstoalargescale,distributedmeasurement(andcontrol)system.SCADA
systemsareusedtomonitorortocontrolchemical,physicalortransportprocesses.
Contents
*1Systemsconcepts
*2HumanMachineInterface
*3Hardwaresolutions
*4Systemcomponents
*5RemoteTerminalUnit(RTU)
*6MasterStation
*7Operationalphilosophy
*8Communicationinfrastructureandmethods
*9FuturetrendsinSCADA
*10Practicaluses
*11Externallinks

Systemsconcepts

ThetermSCADAusuallyreferstoacentralsystemthatmonitorsandcontrolsacompletesite.Thebulkofthesite
controlisactuallyperformedautomaticallybyaRemoteTerminalUnit(RTU)orbyaProgrammableLogicController
(PLC).Hostcontrolfunctionsarealmostalwaysrestrictedtobasicsiteoverrideorsupervisorylevelcapability.
Image:SCADAschematicoverviews.png
DataacquisitionbeginsattheRTUorPLClevelandincludesmeterreadingsandequipmentstatusesthatare
communicatedtotheSCADAasrequired.Dataisthencompiledandformattedinsuchawaythatacontrolroom
operatorusingtheHMIcanmakeappropriatesupervisorydecisionsthatmayberequiredtooverridenormalRTU
(PLC)controls.(ASCADAsystemincludesallthepieces,HMI,controllers,I/Odevices,networks,software,etc.)
SCADAsystemstypicallyimplementadistributeddatabasewhichcontainsdataelementscalledpoints.Apoint
representsasingleinputoroutputvaluemonitoredorcontrolledbythesystem.Pointscanbeeither"hard"or"soft".A
hardpointisrepresentativeofanactualinputoroutputconnectedtothesystem,whileasoftpointrepresentstheresult
oflogicandmathoperationsappliedtootherhardandsoftpoints.Thepointvaluesarenormallystoredasvalue
timestampcombinations;thevalueandthetimestampwhenthevaluewasrecordedorcalculated.Aseriesofvalue
timestampcombinationsisthehistoryofthatpoint.
It'spossibletopurchaseaSCADAsystem,orDistributedControlSystem(DCS)fromasinglesupplier.It'salsopossible
toassembleaSCADAsystemfromcomponentslikeWonderwareHMI,AllenBradley&GEPLCs,Ethernet
communicationdevices,etc.

HumanMachineInterface
TheHMI/SCADAindustrywasessentiallybornoutofaneedforauserfriendlyfrontendtoacontrolsystem
containingprogrammablelogiccontrollers(PLC).WhileaPLCdoesprovideautomated,preprogrammedcontrolovera
process,theyareusuallydistributedacrossaplant,makingitdifficulttogatherdatafromthemmanually.Additionally,
thePLCinformationareusuallyinacrudeuserunfriendlyformat.TheHMI/SCADAgathersinformationfromthe
PLCsviasomeformofcommunicationmethod,andcombinesandformatstheinformation.Sincetheearly1990sthe
roleofSCADAsystemsinlargecivilengineeringsolutionshaschanged,requiringthemtoperformmoreoperations
automatically.AsophisticatedHMImayalsobelinkedtoadatabasetoprovideinstanttrending,diagnosticdata,
scheduledmaintenanceprocedures,logisticinformation,detailedschematicsforaparticularsensorormachine,and
expertsystemtroubleshootingguides.Sinceabout1998,virtuallyallmajorPLCmanufacturershaveofferedintegrated
HMI/SCADAsystems,manyofthemusingopenandnonproprietarycommunicationsprotocols.Numerousspecialized
thirdpartyHMI/SCADApackagesofferingbuiltincompatibilitywithmostmajorPLCshavealsoenteredthemarket,
allowingmechanicalengineers,electricalengineersandtechnicianstoconfigureHMIsthemselves,withouttheneedfor
acustommadeprogramwrittenbyasoftwaredeveloper.

Hardwaresolutions
SCADAsolutionsoftenhaveDistributedControlSystem(DCS)components.Useof"smart"RTUsorPLCs,whichare
capableofautonomouslyexecutingsimplelogicprocesseswithoutinvolvingthemastercomputer,isincreasing.A
functionalblockprogramminglanguage,IEC611313,isfrequentlyusedtocreateprogramswhichrunontheseRTUs
andPLCs.UnlikeaprocedurallanguagesuchastheCprogramminglanguageorFORTRAN,IEC611313hasminimal
trainingrequirementsbyvirtueofresemblinghistoricphysicalcontrolarrays.ThisallowsSCADAsystemengineersto
performboththedesignandimplementationofaprogramtobeexecutedonaRTUorPLC.

Systemcomponents
ThethreecomponentsofaSCADAsystemare:
1.MultipleRemoteTerminalUnits(alsoknownasRTUsorOutstations).
2.MasterStationandHMIComputer(s).
3.Communicationinfrastructure

RemoteTerminalUnit(RTU)
TheRTUconnectstophysicalequipment,andreadstatusdatasuchastheopen/closedstatusfromaswitchoravalve,
readmeasurementssuchaspressure,flow,voltageorcurrent.BysendingsignalstoequipmenttheRTUcancontrol
equipment,suchasopeningorclosingaswitchoravalve,orsettingthespeedofapump.
TheRTUcanreaddigitalstatusdataoranaloguemeasurementdata,andsendoutdigitalcommandsoranalogue
setpoints.
AnimportantpartofmostSCADAimplementationsarealarms.Analarmisadigitalstatuspointthathaseitherthe
valueNORMALorALARM.Alarmscanbecreatedinsuchawaythatwhentheirrequirementsaremet,theyare
activated.Anexampleofanalarmisthe"fueltankempty"lightinacar.TheSCADAoperator'sattentionisdrawnto
thepartofthesystemrequiringattentionbythealarm.Emailsandtextmessagesareoftensentalongwithanalarm
activationalertingmanagersalongwiththeSCADAoperator.

MasterStation
Theterm"MasterStation"referstotheserversandsoftwareresponsibleforcommunicatingwiththefieldequipment
(RTUs,PLCs,etc),andthentotheHMIsoftwarerunningonworkstationsinthecontrolroom,orelsewhere.Insmaller
SCADAsystems,themasterstationmaybecomposedofasinglePC.InlargerSCADAsystems,themasterstationmay
includemultipleservers,distributedsoftwareapplications,anddisasterrecoverysites.
TheSCADAsystemusuallypresentstheinformationtotheoperatingpersonnelintheformofamimic.Thismeansthat
theoperatorcanseearepresentationoftheplantbeingcontrolled.Forexample,apictureofapumpconnectedtoapipe
canshowtheoperatorthatthepumpisrunningandhowmuchfluiditispumpingthroughthepipeatthemoment.The
operatorcanthenswitchthepumpoff.TheHMIsoftwarewillshowtheflowrateofthefluidinthepipedecreaseinreal
time.
TheHMIpackagefortheSCADAsystemtypicallyincludesadrawingprogramthattheoperatorsorsystem
maintenancepersonnelusetochangethewaythesepointsarerepresentedintheinterface.Theserepresentationscanbe
assimpleasanonscreentrafficlight,whichrepresentsthestateofanactualtrafficlightinthefield,orascomplexasa
multiprojectordisplayrepresentingthepositionofalloftheelevatorsinaskyscraperorallofthetrainsonarailway.
Initially,more"open"platformssuchasLinuxwerenotaswidelyusedduetothehighlydynamicdevelopment
environmentandbecauseaSCADAcustomerthatwasabletoaffordthefieldhardwareanddevicestobecontrolled
couldusuallyalsopurchaseUNIXorOpenVMSlicenses.Today,allmajoroperatingsystemsareusedforbothmaster
stationserversandHMIworkstations.

Operationalphilosophy
Insteadofrelyingonoperatorintervention,ormasterstationautomation,RTUsmaynowberequiredtooperateontheir
owntocontroltunnelfiresorperformothersafetyrelatedtasks.Themasterstationsoftwareisrequiredtodomore
analysisofdatabeforepresentingittooperatorsincludinghistoricalanalysisandanalysisassociatedwithparticular
industryrequirements.Safetyrequirementsarenowbeingappliedtothesystemasawholeandevenmasterstation
softwaremustmeetstringentsafetystandardsforsomemarkets.
Forsomeinstallations,thecoststhatwouldresultfromthecontrolsystemfailingisextremelyhigh.Possiblyevenlives
couldbelost.HardwareforSCADAsystemsisgenerallyruggedizedtowithstandtemperature,vibration,andvoltage
extremes,butintheseinstallationsreliabilityisenhancedbyhavingredundanthardwareandcommunicationschannels.
Afailingpartcanbequicklyidentifiedanditsfunctionalityautomaticallytakenoverbybackuphardware.Afailedpart
canoftenbereplacedwithoutinterruptingtheprocess.Thereliabilityofsuchsystemscanbecalculatedstatisticallyand
isstatedasthemeantimetofailure,whichisavariantofmeantimebetweenfailures.Thecalculatedmeantimeto
failureofsuchhighreliabilitysystemscanbeinthecenturies.

Communicationinfrastructureandmethods
SCADAsystemshavetraditionallyusedcombinationsofradioanddirectserialormodemconnectionstomeet
communicationrequirements,althoughEthernetandIPoverSONETisalsofrequentlyusedatlargesitessuchas
railwaysandpowerstations.
ThishasalsocomeunderthreatwithsomecustomerswantingSCADAdatatotravelovertheirpreestablishedcorporate
networksortosharethenetworkwithotherapplications.Thelegacyoftheearlylowbandwidthprotocolsremains,
though.SCADAprotocolsaredesignedtobeverycompactandmanyaredesignedtosendinformationtothemaster
stationonlywhenthemasterstationpollstheRTU.TypicallegacySCADAprotocolsincludeModbus,RP570and
Conitel.ThesecommunicationprotocolsareallSCADAvendorspecific.StandardprotocolsareIEC608705101or
104,ProfibusandDNP3.ThesecommunicationprotocolsarestandardisedandrecognisedbyallmajorSCADA
vendors.ManyoftheseprotocolsnowcontainextensionstooperateoverTCP/IP,althoughitisgoodsecurity
engineeringpracticetoavoidconnectingSCADAsystemstotheInternetsotheattacksurfaceisreduced.

FuturetrendsinSCADA
ThetrendisforPLCandHMI/SCADAsoftwaretobemore"mixandmatch".Inthemid1990s,thetypicalDAQI/O
manufacturerofferedtheirownproprietarycommunicationsprotocolsoverasuitabledistancecarrierlikeRS485.
Towardsthelate1990s,theshifttowardsopencommunicationscontinuedwithI/Omanufacturersofferingsupportof
openmessagestructureslikeModiconMODBUSoverRS485,andby2000mostI/Omakersofferedcompletelyopen
interfacingsuchasModiconMODBUSoverTCP/IP.TheprimarybarriersofEthernetTCP/IP'sentranceintoindustrial
automation(determinism,synchronization,protocolselection,environmentsuitability)arestillaconcerntoafew
extremelyspecializedapplications,butforthevastmajorityofHMI/SCADAmarketsthesebarriershavebeenbroken.
Recently,however,theveryexistenceofSCADAbasedsystemshascomeintoquestionastheyareincreasinglyseenas
extremelyvulnerabletocyberwarfare/cyberterrorismattacks.Giventhemissioncriticalnatureofalargenumberof
SCADAsystems,suchattackscould,inaworsecasescenario,causemassivefinanciallossesthroughlossofdataor
actualphysicaldestruction,misuseortheft,evenlossoflife,eitherdirectlyorindirectly.Whethersuchconcernswill

causeamoveawayfromtheuseofSCADAsystemsformissioncriticalapplicationstowardsmoresecurearchitectures
andconfigurationsremainstobeseen,giventhatatleastsomeinfluentialpeopleincorporateandgovernmentalcircles
believethatthebenefitsandlowerinitialcostsofSCADAbasedsystemsstilloutweighpotentialcostsandrisks