GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

CENTRAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY

(MINISTRY OF POWER)
6th Floor (N), Sewa Bhawan, R. K. Puram, New Delhi-110066
Tel. Fax: 26103246, e. mail: celegal-cea@gov.in,
website: www.cea.nic.in

PUBLIC NOTICE
In exercise of powers under Section 177 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (No. 36
of 2003), the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) proposes to notify the
Regulations namely “Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards
for Communication System in Power Sector) Regulations, 2018. The
proposed draft regulations are available on the CEA website www.cea.nic.in.
The Regulations can also be seen in the office of Chief Engineer (Legal),
Room No. 622(N), Sewa Bhawan, R.K.Puram, New Delhi-110066 on any
working day from 10th April, 2018 to 26th May, 2018 between 1100 hrs to
1600 hrs. Members of the public are requested to send their comments on the
draft Regulations to Chief Engineer (Legal), Room No. 622(N), Sewa
Bhawan, R.K.Puram, New Delhi-110066 by post or through e-mail latest
by 26th May,2018.

(P C Kureel)
Secretary, CEA
 DRAFT TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM IN POWER
SECTOR
(Proposed under Section 177- subsection (1) and (2g) read with
Section 73-subsection (b) of Electricity Act, 2003)

CENTRAL ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY

 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

New Delhi – 110066

March 2018

CONTENTS

Description Page No.

2
INTRODUCTION

14
PART I
General

16
PART II
Standards Applicable To Wideband Communication (Fibre Optic)

17
PART IIA
Standards Applicable To Wideband Communication (Fibre Optic
Cable)

21
PART IIB
Standards Applicable To Wideband Communication (Wideband
Network)

23
PART III
Standards Applicable To Power Line Communication (PLCC)

32
PART IV
Standards Applicable To Radio (GPRS)

35
PART V
Standards Applicable To VSAT

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in

Power Sector

1. Short Title and Commencement

(1) These regulations shall be called the Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for
Communication System in Power Sector) Regulations 2017.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette.

2. Definitions
In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires –
a) “Act” means the Electricity Act, 2003 as amended from time to time;
b) “Ancillary Services” means in relation to power system (or grid) operation, the services
necessary to support the power system (or grid) operation in maintaining power quality,
reliability and security of the grid e.g. active power support for load following, reactive
power support, black start, etc.;
c) “ANSI Standards” means those standards and specifications approved by the American
National Standards Institute.
d) “Associated communication system” means a communication system associated with a
project set up for exchange of voice/video/data with load despatch centre as per Grid
Code.
e) “Analog Signal” means digital representation of a continuous value (for example, a
power flow)
f) “Auxiliary Power Supply” means dedicated alternate DC power source which serves as
back-up in the absence of primary power source.
g) “Commission” means the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission referred to in sub-
section (1) of Section 76 of the Act;
h) "Central Transmission Utility” means any Government Company which the Central
Government may notify under sub-section (1) of Section 38 of the Act;
i) “Communication Channel” means a dedicated virtual path configured from one user
node to another user node, either directly or through intermediary node(s) to facilitate
voice, video and data communication and tele-protection system;

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

j) “Communication Interface” means a dedicated physical connectivity to the

communication network for exchange of data and information for the Data provider and
intervening communication system;
k) “Communication network” means an interconnection of communication nodes through
a combination of media, either directly or through intermediary node(s);
l) “Communication Protocol” means a system of rules and well-defined formats that allow
two or more entities of a communications system to exchange information via any kind
physical medium;
m) “Communication system” is a collection of individual communication networks,
communication media, relaying stations, tributary stations, terminal equipment usually
capable of inter-connection and inter-operation to form an integrated communication
backbone for power sector. It also includes existing communication system of Inter State
Transmission System, Satellite and Radio Communication System and their auxiliary
power supply system, etc.
n) “Control Command” means a representation of an instruction to perform a defined action
(for example a generation increase);
o) "Control Centre" means NLDC or RLDC or REMC or SLDC or Area LDC or Sub-LDC or
DISCOM LDC including main and backup as applicable as well as market operators
centre
p) “Communication Service Provider” means a person or Utility authorized to establish
and/or operate communication system;
q) "Data" means a set of values of analog or digital signal including a text, voice, video,
tele -protection, alarm, control signal, phasor, status of device, weather parameter,
parameter of a machine or the power system, market related data, clearing house
information, etc.;
r) “Communication Equipment” means any part of equipment used to transmit Operational
Data from Data Provider’s station to Station/Control Centre
s) “Data Provider” means a person such as a Generating Company including Grid
connected Captive Generating Plant, RE Generator, Transmission Licensee,
Distribution Licensee, a Bulk Consumer, whose electrical system is connected to the
ISTS or the intra-State transmission system, Market Operators and Service Providers
(Ancillary, Weather and Forecast) providing service to facilitate system operation
functions;
t) “Data Collecting Node” means a wideband node established to collect data from multiple
Data Providers, Market Operators and Ancillary Service Providers;
u) “Digital Signal” means digital representation of equipment status information (for
example, a circuit Breaker and isolator status);
v) "Earth Connection" means connection between conducting parts and general mass of
earth by an earthing device

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

w) "Forecasting Service Provider (FSP)" means a service provider who provides forecast
data related to Renewable Energy Resources and Demand for use of Users.
x) “Generating station” means a generating station as defined in Section 2 (30) of the Act.
y) “Grid Code” means the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Indian Electricity
Grid Code) Regulations, 2010 as amended from time to time or subsequent reenactment
thereof.
z) "Inter-State transmission system" means the ISTS as defined in Section 2 (36) of the
Act;
aa) “Intervening Communication” means a communication system that transfer the Data
from one communication system to others seamlessly;
bb) “ITU-T Standards” means those standards and specifications approved by the
International Telecommunications Union–Telecommunication Group;
cc) “BIS Standards” means those standards and specifications approved by Bureau of
Indian Standards.
dd) “Meter” means a device suitable for measuring, indicating and recording consumption
of electricity or any other quantity related with electrical system and shall include,
wherever applicable, other equipment such as Current Transformers(CT), Voltage
Transformer (VT) or Capacitor Voltage Transformer (CVT) with necessary wiring and
accessories.
ee) “Market Operation Service” means a person or entity providing services to facilitate
market operation like Power Exchanges, Market Clearing House etc.
ff) "National Load Despatch Centre" means the centre established under subsection of
Section 26 of the Act;
gg) “PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit)" means a device which provides time synchronized
phasor information (both magnitude and phase angle) for one or more phases of AC
voltage or current waveforms in real time.
hh) “Person” shall include any company or body corporate or association or body of
individuals, whether incorporated or not, or artificial juridical person;
ii) "Real time operation" means action to be taken at a given time at which information
about the electricity system is made available to the concerned Load Despatch Centre;
jj) “Real time data” denotes information relating to current operating state of power system
in accordance with system operation and control requirements.
kk) “Regional Load Despatch Centre" means the Centre established under subsection of
Section 27 of the Act;
ll) “Remote Terminal Units” (RTU) means a device suitable for measuring, recording and
storing the consumption of electricity or any other quantity related with electrical system,
weather and status of the equipment in real time basis and exchanging such information
with the data acquisition system for display and control and shall include, wherever

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

applicable, other equipment such as transducers, relays with necessary wiring and
accessories.
mm) "Renewable Energy Management Centres" means the centres being established in
India to enable forecasting, scheduling and monitoring of renewable energy generation.
nn) “Round trip delay” is the total time taken for a signal to be sent and the acknowledgement
to be received between the two communication endpoints.
oo) "SCADA" means Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System that acquires data
from Data provider locations over communication links and processes it at control centre
for monitoring, supervision, control as well as decision support;
pp) “Ancillary Service Providers” means a person or entity providing service like ancillary
service to facilitate system operation;
qq) “State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC)” means the centre established under subsection
of Section 31 of the Act;
rr) “State Transmission Utility” means the board or the Government Transmission
Company as specified by the State Government under sub -section (1) of Section 39 of
the Act;
ss) "Site Common Drawing" means a drawing prepared for every interface point at site,
which depicts layout of connectivity, allocation of channels/users and common services
for the interface;
tt) "Site Responsibility Schedule" (SRS) means a Schedule for demarcating the ownership,
responsibility for control, operation and maintenance of the equipment at the interface
point;
uu) “System Operation Function” includes monitoring of grid operations, supervision and
control over the Transmission System, real time operations for grid control and dispatch,
system restoration following grid disturbances, compiling and furnishing data pertaining
to system operation, congestion management, black start coordination and any other
function(s) assigned to the control centre under the Act or any regulations and orders of
the Commission;
vv) “Weather Service Providers(WSP)” means a service provider who provides data related
to weather like wind speed, temperature, humidity, irradiation, cloud cover etc. for use
of forecasting application at Control Center.
ww) “Wide band Node” means interface point on the wideband data communication system
with an ability to simultaneously transport multiple signals of very high capacity
bandwidth requirement.

3. Applicability of the Standards

These standards shall be applicable to all Communication Service Provider, Central & State
Generating Company including Grid connected Captive Generating Plant, RE Generator,

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Transmission Licensee, Distribution Licensee, a Bulk Consumer whose electrical system is

connected to transmission system, Market Operation Service Providers and other Service
Providers like Forecast, Weather and Ancillary services.

4. Objectives

1) To ensure seamless integration, reliable, redundant and secure communication

2) To ensure that any network change shall not cause any adverse effect on functioning of
existing Communication System. The Communication System shall continue to perform
intended function with specified reliability, security and quality.
3) A Data Provider or an intervening communication system provider is required to be
aware, in advance, of the standards and conditions his system has to meet for being
connected into the Communication System.

5. Functional Requirement

The primary function of the communication network is to provide a highly secured and reliable
voice and data communication system in support of the WAM (Wide Area Monitoring) System,
SCADA/EMS system, Protection System, Market Operation Service and Service Providers
(Forecast, Weather and Ancillary services). The communication interfaces for WAM system,
SCADA/EMS system, Protection system, Market Operation Service and Service Providers
(Forecast, Weather and Ancillary services) is for low & high speed data, express voice circuits
and administrative voice circuits
The communication system shall finally form a wideband backbone on all India basis to
support the requirement of the Power System Operation and Market operation.

6. Standards and Codes of Practice

1) The Communication service providers shall follow the industry best practices and
applicable industry standards in respect of the equipment installation and its operation
and maintenance.

2) The communication equipments shall comply with the relevant Fibre Optic Association
(FOA) Standards, BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), British Standard (BS), or
International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC) Standard, or American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) or any other equivalent International Standard, ITU-T
(International Telecommunications Union–Telecommunication) / CCITT (Consultative

6
 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Committee for International Telephony and Telegraphy), CISPR (International Special

committee on Radio Interference). The latest version of Standards shall be followed.
Provided that whenever an International Standard or International Electro-Technical
Commission Standard is followed, necessary corrections or modifications shall be made
for prevailing local ambient conditions before adoption-of the said Standard.

3) The effects of wind, storms, floods, lightening, elevation, temperature extremes, icing,
contamination, pollution and earthquakes etc. shall be considered in the design and
operation of the connected facilities.

7. Lightning & Surge Protection

Communication equipment (indoor & Outdoor) shall have a separate earth connection, which
is isolated from grounding of electrical equipment in that premises, connected to all metallic
cubicles and other non-energized metallic equipment. Sufficient protection shall be provided
for lightning and electric surge as per relevant standards of IEC (model by IEC 61000-4-5).
Earth connection shall be done in accordance with the norms of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE)-80. The resistibility of communication equipment installed
against over voltage and over current shall be as per ITU-T (K 20) recommendations.

8. Access Policy

Data & Information is a valuable asset for the Indian Power System where strict confidentiality
shall be maintained. Protecting information assets from unauthorized, incorrect or accidental
access, use, modification, destruction or disclosure is responsibility and obligation of every
person involved. Communication System access shall be designed, developed, built,
configured and maintained in such a way that only authorized users have access to all
information and every tool permitted to do their job.

The Communication Service Provider’s Information Security department is responsible for

developing, implementing, and maintaining the Access Policy and the related Procedures.
Compliance with this Policy is mandatory. Non-compliance or a violation of this Policy is a
serious offense and may result in the revocation of access to the Communication System.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

9. General Conditions

1) Communication System shall be planned up to the interface points of the Data provider
including the interfacing equipment at the respective location.
2) Interface point of the Data Provider shall be substations and generating stations
connected to 132 kV and above, respective LDC control center including DISCOMs and
Market Operator and Service provider (Ancillary, Weather and Forecast) for the
dedicated National wideband backbone network. However, DISCOM can have their own
communication system for data and information connectivity for their electrical
distribution system either on wideband or using other mode of communication system
suitable for operation and maintenance.
3) Communication service provider shall be responsible for Design & Engineering,
implementation, reliable operation, security of its own equipment as per the
Communication planning criteria and guidelines for development of reliable
communication system for the Power System subject to the compliance of operation and
maintenance guideline and other statutory standards.
4) Central/State Transmission Utility while planning should consider the intervening
communication service provider design of the communication system for seamless
interfacing of the intervening communication system to have National Wideband
Backbone.
5) Communication service provider shall ensure Centralized monitoring of its
communication network and shall provide necessary facilities for monitoring the system
for identification of fault and generation of various reports on availability of the
communication system.
6) Data Provider shall be responsible for the planning, design, implementation and secured
operation of its own equipment to be interfaced with the communication System.
7) Data Provider, whose system is proposed to be interfaced with the communication
system, shall furnish the Data to the appropriate Control Centre as prescribed by them.
8) Communication Service Provider, whose system is proposed to be interfaced with the
communication system, shall furnish the requisite information to the Load Despatch
Centre as well as to the Market Operator / Financial Clearing House as per the format
prescribed by the appropriate Load Despatch Centre and Market Operator.
9) These standards are not to be relied upon to protect the plant and equipment of the Data
provider or the intervening Communication System Provider.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

10) Every connection/interfacing with the intervening communication system shall be

covered by a connection agreement between the parties sharing the communication
service as below:
a) Intervening Communication System shall be of State Communication service
provider or a Distribution System Communication Provider as the case may be.
b) Intervening physical communication media provider shall be of Transmission
Licensee (Private / Govt.), JVs as the case may be.
c) The interface agreement shall contain general and specific technical conditions
supported by interfacing details and layout drawings for the interfacing.

10. Site Responsibility

1) A Site Responsibility Schedule (SRS) for every interface point shall be prepared by the
owner of the Data Provider /Communication Service Provider where interfacing is taking
place.
2) Following information shall be included in the Site Responsibility Schedule, namely, -
a) Schedule of telecommunication interface equipment;
b) Schedule of Auxiliary Power supply equipment catering the tele-communication
equipment;
c) Schedule of physical and software access if any;
d) Schedule of patching details (for example in STM level, E -1 level, TCP/IP level)
channel routing;
e) Schedule of maintenance requirement; and
f) Cyber Security rules applicable to each equipment.
g) Number of fiber connectivity to the STM n
h) Type of connectors required for making the connection though
i) Any other specific information provided by the Equipment manufacturer
j) Any other specific requirement with mutual discussion
k) Site / Node Common Drawings for each interface point

3) Following information shall also be furnished in the Site Responsibility Schedule for each
item of equipment installed at the interfacing site, namely: -
a) the ownership of equipment;
b) the responsibility for access to equipment;
c) the responsibility for maintenance of equipment;

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

d) the responsibility for operation of equipment;

e) the Incharge of the site; and
f) the responsibility for all matters relating to safety/security of equipment at site.

11. Access at Connection Site/ Node

The Data Provider or the Intervening Communication Service Provider, as the case may be,
owning the interface site / node shall provide reasonable access and other required facilities
to the communication Service provider or its authorized representative, whose equipment is
installed or proposed to be installed at the interface Site for installation, configuration, testing,
operation and maintenance, etc. of the equipment.

12. Performance

12.1 Volume of data

1) Communication Service Provider shall be capable of transmitting all Operational Data /

Market operation data required by appropriate Control Centre and includes but not
limited to all data that:
a) was in use at the time this Standard came into effect;
b) has been requested in writing by appropriate Control Centre and other Service
Provider
2) The transmission of additional Operational Data beyond that required by Control Centre
for System Operation as specified in Indian Electricity Grid Code or any agreement
between System Operator and Data Provider does not diminish the obligations of the
Data Provider to comply with this Standard.

12.2 Age of data

Operational Data shall be available from all the Data Providers in response to a poll within the
time intervals specified in following Tables. The time interval is calculated from the instant
the data first gets converted to digital form.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Time Interval Time Interval Via Data

( Seconds ) Concentrator (Seconds)
Category Data Type 765/ 220/ Below 765/ 220/ Below
400 132* 132* 400 132* 132*
kV kV kV kV kV kV
Analog
AGC Signal 2 2 3 2 2 3
Value
Status
2 3 4 2 3 5
Despatch Indication
Data Analog
4 5 6 4 5 7
Value
PMU Data Analog 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04
* Wherever 110kV is used in transmission system, 132kV may be replaced with 110kV

Time Interval Time Interval Via Data

Category Data Type
( Seconds ) Concentrator (Seconds)

Forecast Data Value 60 60 60 60 60 60

Weather Data Value 60 60 60 60 60 60
Market Data Value 60 60 60 60 60 60

12.3 Control command delay

Communication System shall relay the Control Command from the Control Centre to relevant
equipment within 2 seconds, whether the command is transmitted directly or via a Data
Concentrator.

13. Reliability

1) The total period of outages shall be less than 12 hours on monthly basis for Data
Provider’s interface with total outages in a rolling 12-months assessment period shall be
less than 36 hours. Accordingly, Data Provider shall maintain adequate redundancy
while designing the system.
2) The total period of outages shall be less than 12 hours on monthly basis for wideband
node with total outages in a rolling 12-months assessment period shall be less than 36
hours.
3) The total period of outages shall be less than 12 hours on monthly basis for
communication media with total outages in a rolling 12 months’ assessment period shall
be less than 36 hours.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

4) Communication service Provider shall have above redundancy while designing the
system taking into account the following:
a. Route diversity required to take care likely failure of the physical path
b. The likely failure rate of their element
c. The likely time to repair for their elements
d. The assessment for planned outages for their elements
e. Any other required factor

14. Security

Data Provider, Communication Service Provider and Control Centre Owner connected to the
communication system shall have robust programs in place to adequately and continuously
manage cyber security risks that could have adversely impact power system communications
and supporting system and infrastructure.

The cyber security program should use reasonable endeavors to address the following
functions:

1) Understanding of cyber security risks to the systems, assets and risk assessment and
implement risk management strategies.
2) To have controls and safeguards necessary to protect or deter cyber security threats
with implementation of access control, data security, data protection.
3) Continuous monitoring to provide proactive and real time alerts of cyber security related
events
4) Analysis of observation(s) related to various activities related to violation of cyber
security; and implement mitigation policy.
5) Business continuity plans/Disaster Management Plan to maintain resilience and
recovery capabilities after a cyber-breach.
6) Adequate training to the persons, who are authorized to have access to the
communication system, on cyber security to continuously update the threat perception.
7) Carry out cyber security audit within predefined interval, through Govt. approved
agencies to ensure security.
8) Implementation of relevant provision(s) contained in the Cyber Security Policy issued by
Govt. of India from time to time.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

15. Safety of Communication Equipment

Communication Service Provider shall be responsible for the safety of its equipment installed
at the premises as well as equipment located outside the premises of Data Provider, Control
Centre Owner.

Data Provider, Control Centre Owner & Market operator shall be responsible for the safety of
the communication equipment installed by them for interfacing with the equipment installed
by the communication service provider.

16. Testing to confirm compliance

Testing shall be carried out as and when the equipment of Data Providers, the communication
service provider, intervening communication system Provider, the Control Center or of other
service provider’s is replaced/upgraded to confirm the compliance to these standards.
Prior to test, the concerned person, which intend to upgrade / replace the communication
equipment shall
a. Coordinate with all the concerned for relaying the data to be tested
b. Prepare and submit a test procedure for the testing to all the concerned
c. Submit detailed equipment test report to the Concerned RPC for compliance

17. Site Common Drawings

Site / Node Common Drawings shall be prepared for each interface point where connection
is taking place by the Communication Service Provider jointly in coordination with the Users /
Service Provider.

18. Maintenance

Communication service provider shall have a centralized monitoring facility to support

maintenance activity.

1) The response time to failure shall be decided to maintain the outage time specified under
para 13 of these standards.
2) Monthly Outage plan may be planned and approved by concerned Communication
Service Provider in concerned RPC as per detailed procedure finalized by RPC.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

3) Notice to be issued to concerned Data Provider as well as to the concerned Load

Despatch Center / Service Provider / Market Operator five days’ notice of a planned
outage of any of the service likely to cause failure of data communication.
4) Concerned Load Despatch Center / Service Provider / Market Operator may defer the
request in case it will adversely affect the Power System Security.
5) Inform the progress of related rectification work to Data Provider as well as to the
concerned Load Despatch Center / Service Provider / Market Operator.
6) Consult with the concerned Load Despatch Center / Service Provider / Market Operator
about the priority of the related rectification works in case the failure is causing or likely
to cause Outage.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

SCHEDULE
Standards for interfacing to the communication System

Part – I
General

1. Standard Interfaces

The following standards may be followed while interfacing the equipment with the
communication system:

Interfaces Type Standards

Electrical Interface Ethernet IEEE 802.3 / IEEE 802.3u
Ethernet VLAN IEEE 802.1 P/Q
Serial RS-232 / RS 422 / RS 485 / X.21 / X.25 /
G.703 / V.35 /
Optical Interface ITU-T G.957, G.958
Teleprotection Relay
IEEE C37.94 ,ITU-T G.703
/Control
Voice 2-wire FXO/2-wire FXS/ 4- wire E&M
SDH ITU-T G.821/G.826

2. Local Monitoring

All the interfaces shall be provided with audio/visual status indication to indicate its normal
operation as per respective standards.

3. Centralized Supervision & Monitoring

Each Communication Service Provider shall have centralized supervision and monitoring
system by providing Network Management System (NMS), through integration of different
Element Management System, if any, for wideband, Centralized Management Console(CMC)
for other communication wherever feasible to support the operation and maintenance of all
the interfaces of communication system.

The system shall have displays for audio/visual alarm generation facility to the operator to
facilitate quick fault detection and shall have alarm generation and logging facility. The
NMS/CMC shall facilitate access to the equipment for configuration and fault restoration as

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

well to facilitate monitoring the performance of the communication system through generation
of reports on availability of major equipment as well as the data channels.

4. Data Retention

The Communication Service provider shall keep evidence of compliance on availability for the
previous two calendar years plus the current year for all the interfaces which are in operation.
Communication service provider shall keep 90 days of historical data.

5. Maintainability

The communication system provider shall permit in-service diagnostic testing to be executed
both locally and from remote (NMS) locations to facilitate performance trending, efficient
diagnosis and corrective resolution of all the interfaces in operation. The communication
service provider shall maintain required testing equipment and tools to facilitate testing of the
interfaces of the communication system at the time of fault and during the course of
maintenance.

6. System Upgradability & Expandability

All Communication interfaces shall be sized (though not necessarily equipped) to support
system / subsystem expansion / upgradation to full capacity as provided by specified
aggregate transmission rates. Equipment units provisioned for equipped subunits shall be
terminated with appropriate termination interfaces.

7. Training

Specialized training shall be provided to the persons manning the centralized monitoring
center and the field support staff to ensure quick fault detection and restoration of the
communication system.
Training shall be provided to the maintenance persons on all communication equipment for
its operation and maintenance.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Part – II
Standards applicable to wideband Communication (Fibre Optic)

The primary function of the communication network is to provide a highly reliable voice and data
communication system in support of the WAM System, SCADA/EMS system, Protection System, &
Market Operation Service. The communication interfaces for WAM system, SCADA/EMS system is
for low & high speed data, express voice circuits and administrative voice circuits as defined as
follows:

(a) High speed bundled n x E1 support including Ethernet, GbE (Gigabit Ethernet)
(b) High speed E1 channel support
(c) 64kbps & n x 64 kbps data & Protection channel support
(d) Low speed (300 -1200 bps) data channel support
(e) Voice (2 wires, 4 wires) channel support.
(f) Data transport supporting Network Management channels
(g) C37.94 Interface card for tele protection of lines
(h) Additional requirement, if any

The communication system shall finally form a wideband backbone on all India basis to support the
requirement of the Power System Operation and Market operation.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Part – II A
Standards applicable to wideband Communication (Fibre Optic Cable)

1. General Requirement

a) All wideband communications shall be established using fibre optic communication

consisting of underground Fibre optic cable, OPGW & ADSS.
b) Un-armored cable shall be laid within a PVC/ Hume duct pipe. The cable shall be rodent
and termite proof.
c) The cable may contain 12/24/48 nos. Dual Window Single Mode (DWSM) or Dual
Window Multi Mode (DWMM) fibre depending on the local network design and
requirement envisaged and shall consider the overall design and requirement of the
backbone network.
d) Approach cable for OPGW termination to Fibre Optic Distribution Panel (FODP) shall
be armoured cable and matching the fiber count equal to OPGW cable to maintain
uniformity and ease of utilization of fibers.
e) Attenuation coefficient of the fibre shall be < 0.35 dB/km at wavelength of 1310 nm and
< 0.21 dB/km at wavelength of 1550 nm. Attenuation coefficient for each splicing and
connector shall < 0.05 dB. Induced attenuation due to temperature shall be < 0.05dB (
-60O C to +85O C)
f) The central fibre optic cable shall be protected through anti-hygroscopic tape/yarn, etc.
and shall be protected from damage due to forces like crushing, bending, twisting,
tensile stress and moisture, wide temperature variation, Hydrogen evolution etc.
g) The short Circuit Current for the OPGW cable shall be ≥ 6.32 kA for 1.0 second (for
220kV and above lines) and ≥ 5.60 kA for 1.0 second (for 132kV and 66kV lines); and
D.C. resistance at 20O C shall be < 1.0 ohm/km.
h) Everyday Tension (EDT) of the OPGW shall be < 20% of the Ultimate Tensile Strength
(UTS) of the OPGW.
i) The maximum permissible dynamic strain shall be +/- 150 micro strains.
j) Proof Stress Level shall be > 0.69 Gpa
k) Chromatic Dispersion; Maximum shall be 18ps/ (nm x km) @ 1550 nm ;3.5 ps/ (nm x
km) @ 1288-1339, 5.3 ps/ (nm x km) @ 1271-1360 nm

l) Zero Dispersion Wavelength shall be 1300 to 1324 nm

m) Zero Dispersion Slope shall be 0.092 ps/(nm²xkm) maximum
n) Cable Cut-off Wavelength λcc shall be < 1260 nm

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

o) Bend Performance shall be:

@ 1310 nm (75±2 mm dia Mandrel), 100 turns: Attenuation Rise < 0.05 dB
@1550 nm (30±1 mm radius Mandrel), 100 turns; Attenuation Rise < 0.05 dB
@ 1550 nm (32±0.5 mm dia Mandrel), 1 turn; Attenuation Rise < 0.50 dB
p) Polarization mode dispersion coefficient shall be < 0.2 ps/km½

2. Standards and Code of Practices

The fibre cable shall be conform to standards as below:

i) ITU-T recommended G.652D

ii) IEEE – 1138- 1994, IEEE – 1138-2009
iii) Electronics Industries Association (EIA)/ Telecommunications Industry Association
(TIA) 455-78A, 455-3A, 455-62A, 455-164A/167A/174, 455-168A/168A/175A, 455-176,
455-59, EIA/TIA 598, EIA 455-104.
iv) International Electro Technical Commission Standards, IEC 60304, IEC 60794-1-2,
IEC60811-5-1, IEC 60794 – 4 – 10, IEC 60793 – 1 – 20, IEC 60793 – 1 – 40, IEC 60793
– 1 – 42, IEC 60793 – 1 – 45, IEC 60793 – 1– 47
v) Bell core GR-20
vi) Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) Specification no. GR/OFC-17/01 June
2007 (including all subsequent amendments)
vii) American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM): AI67-92, ASTM:751-92b, ASTM:
A370-82, ASTM: D2581-91, ASTM: D2287-81, ASTM: D638 for FRP, ASTM: D217,
556,93-IP-34 for Jelly, ASTM: D 570,211 for PBTP, ASTM: D1505 for poly Carbonate,
ASTM: D1633, 150 for HDPE, ASTM: D1248 for Jacket density.
viii) Applicable standards for testing the cables shall be:
a. Max. Tensile Strength – IEC60794 – I – E 1 (Under Ground Cable), IS 802:1995
and IS 875:1987 (OPGW), IEEE 1138-2009 clause 6.4.1.4 (OPGW)
b. Cable bend test – IEC 60794 – 1 – E 11
c. Repeated bending test – EIS – 455 – 104 IEC 60794 – 1 – E6
d. Crush Strength – IEC60794 – 1 – E3 (UG Cable) IEC 60794 – 1 – 2 Method E3 or
EIA/TIA 455 – 41B (OPGW)
e. Impact Test IEC60794 - 1 – E4 (UG Cable), IEC60794 - 1 – 2 E4 or EIA/TIA 455-
25B (OPGW)
f. Torsion Resistance – IEC 60794 – 1 – E 7
g. Kink Test IEC 60794 – 1 - E 10

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

h. Drip Test IEC 60811 – 5 – 1 or IEC 60794 – 1 – E14

i. Water ingress test IEC60794 – 1 – 2 F 5 or EIA/TIA 455-82B
j. Attenuation variation with Wavelength IEC 60793 – 1 – 40 or EIA/TIA 455 – 78A
k. Attenuation at water Peak IEC 60793 – 1 – 40 or EIA/TIA 455 – 78A
l. Temperature Dependence on Attenuation IEC 60793 – 1 – 52 or EIA/TIA 455 –
3A (UG Cable) IEEE 1138-2009 clause 6.4.3.7 or IEC 60794 – 1 – 2 Method F1
(OPGW)
m. Bend Performance IEC 60793 – 1 – 47 or EIA/TIA 455 – 62A (UG cable), IEEE
1138-2009 clause 6.4.2.3 or IEC 60794 – 1 – 2 method E11 (for OPGW)
n. Mode Field diameter IEC 60793 – 1 – 45 or EIA/TIA 455 – 164A/167A/174
o. Chromatic desperation IEC 60793 – 1 – 42 or EIA/TIA 455 – 168A/169A/175A
p. Cladding diameter IEC 60793 – 1 – 20 or EIA/TIA 455-176
q. Point discontinuities of attenuation IEC 60793 – 1 – 40 or EIA/TIA 455 – 59
r. Core – Clad concentricity error IEC 60793 – 1 – 20 or EIA/TIA 455 – 176
s. Fibre tensile Performance IEC 60793 – 1 – 31 or EIA/TIA 455 – 31B (UG cable),
IEEE 1138-2009 clause 6.4.1.3 or IEC60794 – I – 2 E1 or EIA/TIA 455 – 33B
(OPGW)
t. Seepage of filling compound EIA/TIA 455 – 81B
u. Short Circuit Test IEC 60794 – 4 – 10 or IEC 60794 – 1 – 2 (2003) Method H1 or
IEEE 1138-2009 clause 6.4.3.3
v. Aeolian Vibration Test IEC 60794 – 4 – 10 or IEC 60794 – 1 – 2 Method E19 or
IEEE 1138-2009 clause 6.4.3.1
w. Galloping IEEE 1138 – 2009
x. Sheave Test IEC 60794 – 1 – 2 (2003) Method E18 B or IEEE 1138-2009 clause
6.4.2.1
y. Creep Test IEEE 1138 – 2009
z. Fibre Strain Test IEEE 1138 – 1994
aa. Strain Margin Test IEEE 1138 – 2009
bb. Stress Stain Test IEEE 1138 – 2009
cc. Cable cut off wavelength Test IEEE 1138 – 1994
dd. Fault current / Lightning Test IEC 60794 – 4 – 10 or IEC 60794 – 1-2 (2003)
ee. D.C. Resistance Test IEC 60228 or IEEE 1138-2009 clause 6.4.1.5
ff. Mechanical Strength Test for suspension Assembly IEC 61284: 1997

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

3. Functional Requirement

a) The attenuation coefficient for wavelengths between 1525 nm and 1575 nm shall not
exceed the attenuation coefficient at 1550 nm by more than 0.05 dB/km. The attenuation
coefficient between 1285 nm and 1330 nm shall not exceed the attenuation coefficient
at 1310 nm by more than 0.05 dB/km. The attenuation of the fibre shall be distributed
uniformly throughout its length such that there are no point discontinuities in excess of
0.10 dB.

The overall optical fibre path attenuation shall not be more than calculated below:

Maximum attenuation @ 1550nm: 0.21 dB/km x total km + 0.05 dB/splice x no. of splices
+ 0.5 dB/connector x no. of connectors

Maximum attenuation @ 1310nm: 0.35dB/km x total km + 0.05 dB/splice x no. of splices

+ 0.5 dB/connector x no. of connectors.

b) All splices shall be encased in Fibre Optic Splice Enclosures. Suitable splice enclosures
shall be provided to encase the optical cable splices in protective, moisture and dust
free environment. Splice enclosures shall comply to ingress protection class IP 66 or
better.
c) No more than 12 fibres shall be terminated in a single splice tray. They shall be filled
with suitable encapsulate that is easily removable should re-entry be required into the
enclosures.
d) All FODPs shall be of corrosion resistant, robust construction and shall allow both top
or bottom entry for access to the splice trays. Ground lugs shall be provided on all
FODPs and shall be properly grounded. The FODP shall meet or exceed ingress
protection class IP55 specifications.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Part – II B
Standards applicable to wideband Communication (Wideband Network)

1. General Requirement

a) The wideband network shall be planned in such a manner to connect all stations at
132kV and above network and all wind plant developer having aggregate capacity more
than 50MW capacity (at a single connection point) and solar developer of more than
10MW aggregate capacity (at a single connection point), all Load Despatch Centres at
State, Regional and National Level, Renewable monitoring Centre for data exchange
and voice connectivity.
b) The wideband network shall be planned to cater protection requirement of transmission
system as envisaged by the concerned Utility.
c) Wideband network shall be planned with route diversity and shall ensure channel
redundancy for different data exchange and voice communication requirements.
d) Network equipment shall be synchronized through provision of GPS clock to achieve
the desired functionality as per standard ITU-T G.811 criterion specially the protection
requirements. The holdover quality of clock shall meet ITU-T G.812 standard
requirements.
e) At least 10 hrs battery backup shall be provided for the communication equipment for
all the nodes including repeater stations.
f) The minimum guaranteed life for all the wideband communication equipment shall be
15 years.

2. Standards and codes of Practices

a) Transmission quality shall be as per ITU-T G.821, G.823, G.826

b) Terminal equipment shall be designed as per ITU-T G.783
c) Optical interface shall be FC-PC and shall be as per ITU-T G.957, G.958
d) Network synchronization shall be as per ITU-T G.813
e) Management Functions shall be as per ITU-T G.774, G.784
f) Protection architecture shall be as per ITU-T G.841
g) Built-in testing and Alarm shall be as per ITU-T G.774,G.783, G.784
h) The link performance for ES, SES and BER for the fibre optic links shall correspond to
National Network as defined in ITU-T G.826

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

3. Functional Requirement

a) The wideband network shall be designed in a manner to ensure absolute channel delay
less than 10 ms and Channel delay asymmetry less than 0.1 ms required for protection
applications.
b) Network shall be configured for automatic switchover to the alternate path/ route in case
of failure of one path and the switching time delay shall be less than 50ms.
c) At any digital signal level, reapplication of a lost signal shall result in automatic
resynchronization and full restoration to normal operation without manual intervention.
All alarms incident to the signal failure, shall be automatically cleared at the equipment,
rack and monitoring levels and normal operation indications restored and reported.
d) Terminal Equipment shall support automatic switchover function between the redundant
modules. All required modules and hardware to support the automatic switch over shall
be provided.
e) Network Management System (NMS) shall provide the capability to monitor, reconfigure
and control elements of the telecommunications network from a centralized location and
at each node of the network.
f) The new node, when added to the existing network, the terminal equipment shall be
compatible to the existing one and shall be possible to integrate with the existing
respective centralized monitoring equipment i.e. Network Management System (NMS)
either at State level or at Central level for complete monitoring, reconfiguration and
control.
g) Equipment planned shall be sized (though not necessarily equipped) to support system/
subsystem expansion to full capacity. Equipment units provisioned for equipped
subunits shall be terminated at appropriate patching facilities or termination blocks.
Power supplies and TMN shall be sized for maximum equipped system capacity.
h) Terminal equipment shall be designed with required number of directions considering
the route redundancy required and future expansion, at least for next 5 years of the
network expansions.
i) The centralized monitoring system shall have provisions to generate Management
information reports showing availability of the communication nodes, availability of
configured channels, and type of failures/faults etc. for performance analysis.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Part – III

Standards applicable to Power Line Communication (PLCC)

1. General Requirement

a) This mode of communication shall be used in the grid network between two consecutive
substations as per requirement of Transmission Utility.
b) The PLCC system shall provide Speech, Data and Tele-protection requirements of the
Power system. Protection coupler may be an internal module or external sub-rack.
c) Mode of communication shall be duplex, independent TX and RX channels, operating
in the carrier frequency spectrum 40 to 500 kHz.
d) The PLCC terminal could be operated in APLC (Analogue), pure DPLC (Digital) or Mixed
mode (combination of Analog and Digital), taking into consideration the Signal to Noise
Ratio (SNR) of the link.
e) Supply voltage 48V DC +15%, –10%. (positive pole earthed)
f) In the input circuit of the PLCC terminal protective devices shall be provided in the form
of zener diodes or surge suppressers in order to eliminate any surge transfer through
the coupling device or the surge induced in the connecting path of HF cable.
g) Compressors and expanders shall be provided to improve voice transmission
characteristics for the system. The companders shall have at least 2:1 compression ratio
with a corresponding expansion ratio of 1:2. The operating range of compander shall be
compatible with the audio power levels specified for 4 wire operation. The improvement
gained by companders shall not be considered for power allocation and shall be in-hand
reserve.
h) Speech+Data channels shall independently fulfill the SNR requirements out of the power
allocated to its channel from the total power of the PLCC terminals.
i) Fail safe devices shall be provided to avoid a malfunction in one unit or damage of any
sub-assembly. All plug-in equipment shall be fitted with features to avoid improper
insertion. The electrical cables shall not be routed across sharp edges or near sources
of high temperature. The adjustments, which are susceptible to maladjustment from
accidental contact/ vibration shall be equipped with suitable locking devices.
j) The PLCC set shall be designed to give guaranteed performance from 0 to 500C. The
thermal capability of the equipment shall be so designed to be operational up to 550C
for 24 hours continuously.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

k) The carrier set shall be provided with suitable supervision and alarm facilities. Individual
parts of the carrier set should be accessible from front making it possible to place the
carrier cabinets side-by-side. All components and parts of the carrier set shall be suitably
tropicalised.
l) The type of PLCC and number of channels per line and number of codes per channel
shall be as per prevalent CEA Regulations.
m) The responsibility of maintenance of communication system shall lies with the transmission
licensee providing communication services.
n) The programmability of PLCC equipments shall be applicable for Digital PLCC only.

2. Standards and Codes of Practice

a) The equipment shall follow the industry best practices and applicable industry standards
in respect of the equipment installation and its operation and maintenance.
b) IEC62488 Part-1, Part-2, Part-3: 2012 shall be considered while planning for Power Line
Carrier Communication System in Power Utility, specifications for Analog and Digital
terminals.
c) All the equipment shall comply with the relevant Standards like BIS, International
Electro-Technical Commission (IEC) Standard, or International Telecommunications
Union–Telecommunication Group (ITU–T), IEEE or any other equivalent International
Standard:

Provided that whenever an International Standard or International Electro-Technical

Commission Standard is followed, necessary corrections or modifications shall be made
for ambient temperature, humidity and other conditions prevailing in India before actual
adoption-of the said Standard.

The details are given below:

 Line Trap: IEC-60353, IS-8792,

 Coupling Device: IEC 60481, IS-8997,
 Power Line Carrier Terminal: IEC60495,
 CVT: IS-3156,
 Coupling Capacitor & CVT: IEC60358,
 Coupling Capacitor: IS-9348,
 RF cables: IS-11967,
 Planning of SSB PLCC: IEC-663,

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

 Surge Arrestors: IEC-60099,

 HF Cable Testing: IEC-60096,
 Performance and testing of Teleprotection equipment: IEC-60834 Part-I,
 Characteristics values for inputs and outputs of single side band PLCC
Terminals: IS-9428,
 Frequency planning of power Line carrier equipment: IS-9528/IC62488 Part-I.
 IEC 60255-27 for product safety requirements (Relays and Protection
equipment)
 IEC 60834-1 for Command Systems (Tele Protection equipment)
 IEC 61000 Series for Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
 IEC 60950 Series for Electrical safety.
 IEC 60068 series for Environmental testing.
 Radiated Emissions as per CISPR 22
 Vibration as per EN60068 – 2 – 6
 Shocks parameter as per IEC 68 – 2- 27

d) The effects of wind, storms, floods, lightening, elevation, temperature extremes, icing,
contamination, pollution and earthquakes shall be considered in the design and
operation of the connected facilities.

3. Functional Requirement

a) PLCC equipment comprising of not limited to the following shall be provided:

i) Coupling devices (Line matching unit and protective devices).

ii) Coupling filters
iii) High frequency cable
iv) Power line carrier terminals
v) Tele Protection Equipment
vi) Private Automatic Exchange
vii) 48V DC power supply equipment
viii) Wave Trap for the above transmission lines

PLCC panels shall be located in the control room or in AC kiosks

b) PLCC link shall be provided with carrier protection of the transmission lines with tele-
metering and speech communication in dialing mode or express communication.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

c) Wave trap shall be inserted into the transmission lines to prevent undue loss of carrier
signal for all power system conditions.
d) Coupling device (Line matching unit and protective devices) shall be interposed between
the CVT and the connection line (co-axial cable) to the PLCC terminals to ensure:
i) The efficient transmission of signals from the connection line to the high voltage line
and vice versa.
ii) The safety of personnel and protection of low voltage parts of the installation against
the effects of power frequency voltage and over voltages. Phase-to-phase coupling
is to be adopted.
e) Coupling filters in conjunction with the capacitor of CVT shall constitute a broadband pass
filter. The characteristic impedance of the associated transmission line shall match with
the impedance of the connection line for PLCC transmitter/ receiver.
f) The primary of the coupling unit shall have low impedance at the operating frequency of
the transmission line (50Hz), so that the capacitor charging current (drainage of charging
current) of the CVT is grounded.
g) The matching transformer of the coupling device shall be provided with galvanic isolation
between input and output circuits and shall withstand a test voltage of at least 5kVrms for
1 minute.
h) The coupling device shall be provided with a protective device to protect the carrier
equipment against excess voltage on defective CVT.
i) A surge arrestor (SA) shall be connected directly between the primary and earth terminals
to protect the coupling device and the carrier frequency connection. The surge arrestor
shall have power frequency spark over voltage co-ordinated with the equipment ahead of
it.
j) The coupling device shall conform to the following carrier frequency operating
characteristics between phase to earth coupling units:
Nominal impedance 150 (for balanced secondary circuit)
1) Ω
(equipment side) 75 (for unbalanced secondary circuit)
2) Maximum composite loss dB 2
Return Loss dB Equal to or greater than 12 dB
3) Transmission band kHz 40 to 500

k) The composite loss is the power loss in the carrier signal after passing through the
coupling devices along with CVT’s. Coupling unit shall be loaded with its primary and
secondary impedance while capacitor is assumed to have no loss.
l) The capacitance of the CVTs with which the coupling unit is to be used for the above
transmission band shall be provided by transmission utility/owner.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

m) Two no. phase to earth coupling units shall be capable of inter-phase or inter-line coupling.
In case any separate matching transformer or matching unit is required, the same shall
be acceptable.
n) Suitable earth connecting switches for grounding the low voltage terminals of CVT for
carrying out maintenance or any other works on coupling unit shall be provided.
o) The coupling device shall be suitable for outdoor mounting and shall be fitted on the steel
structure. Temperature of metallic equipment mounted outdoor is expected to rise up to
650C with ambient temperature of 500C.
p) The connection between coupling device and CVT shall be with 6mm2 copper wire tapped
with 11kV insulation tapes.
q) High frequency cable shall be provided to connect coupling unit installed in the switchyard
to the PLCC terminals installed indoors.
r) The cable shall be lead sheathed and round steel wire armoured. The cable shall be
insulated to withstand a test voltage of 4kVrms for one minute between conductor and outer
sheath. The high frequency co-axial cable with 75Ω impedance (unbalanced) shall also
be acceptable.
s) The values of attenuation per km of the cable at various values of carrier frequencies in
the range of 40 KHz to 500 kHz shall be provided by the maximum attenuation at various
frequencies shall be as follows:

Frequency (kHz) Attenuation (dB/km)

10 0.8
60 1.4
300 3.3
500 4.7

The cable shall be supplied on drum lengths of 500 or 1000 meters.

t) Single side band PLCC terminals of latest version equipped for fixed frequency duplex
system working shall be provided for superimposed channels (multipurpose) for speech
and protection purpose. The PLCC terminals shall be provided with HF hybrid filters and
shall have necessary frequency stability so that adjacent channel working is possible.
u) The PLCC terminals shall be provided with emergency call facilities from the carrier sets
for point to point carrier communication with telephone set with suitable provision for
keeping inside the cabinet.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

4. Technical Requirement

a) Power line carrier communication (PLCC) conforming to latest IEC or equivalent

standard shall be provided as per requirement of Transmission Utility. PLCC shall be
suitable for use with the outdoor equipment viz. line traps, CVT, coupling device, HF
cable.
b) PLCC will primarily be provided for speech, protection and data services. PLCC
terminals shall be fully co-coordinated to match with the specific requirement for
transmission/ reception.
c) Carrier frequency of PLCC terminal
i) The PLCC equipment shall support PLCC mode of operation and Transmission
speed and spectral bandwidth shall be software programmable via PC/ Notebook.
ii) Modulation and coding shall be implemented as software functions in digital signal
processing (DSP) technology. Transmission mode shall be of duplex working type.
iii) The nominal carrier frequency shall be programmable from 40 to 500kHz
minimum.
iv) The carrier frequency stability shall be equal or better than ±1ppm over the
operating temperature range.
v) The nominal bandwidth for transmitting or receiving shall be programmable from 4
to 8 kHz in steps of 4kHz. PLCC terminal at bandwidth of 4 kHz shall be suitable
for following configuration:
 Speech + 4 x 1200 Baud Data (minimum)
 The data rates shall be selectable in steps, compliant with commonly used
standardized data rates such as 1200, 2400, 4800 and 9600Bauds
 The modems for the above requirement shall be supplied with DPLC and
shall be an integral part of the equipment.
 The gross speed and transmission bandwidth shall be programmable for up
to 28.800kbit/s in 4 kHz spectral bandwidth, up to 72 kbit/s in 8 kHz
bandwidth.
 Transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) bands shall be configurable for adjacent or
non-adjacent operation.
 Transmit output power shall be user programmable for 10, 20 or 40W PEP
(Peak Envelope Power). However, minimum 80W PEP transmit power shall
be supplied for achieving desired SNR in 765kV long transmission lines
(more than 300km) to overcome the noise.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

 The nominal output impedance shall be programmable as 75 or 125Ω

unbalanced, or 150 Ω balanced as an option.
 The return loss in the transmitter band shall be >10dB
 The tapping loss shall be <1.5dB (as per IEC:60495).
 The AGC range of the receiver shall be 40dB (minimum)

The system shall support automatic transmission speed adaptation (DSA- dynamic
speed adaptation) in at least 2 user-defined steps, self-adapting to the prevailing line
condition (noise and interference). In case of decrease of SNR, priority shall be given to
data over voice. However uninterrupted flow of data shall be ensured even at a level of
SNR =25dB.
The broadband modem shall provide a facility for automatic detection and suppression
of narrowband interferers.

d) System operation

i) The PLCC equipment shall be programmable via Laptop PC/ Note book/ Human
Machine Interface (HMI)/ Graphical User Interface (GUI) based on Windows OS.
ii) The PLCC system shall facilitate the programming and monitoring of the DPLC
terminals in the standard GUI/ HMI (Human Machine Interface).
iii) Programming software shall be incorporated in the HMI for monitoring and
programming of the PLCC terminals. One number Laptop PC with above
programming software shall be provided.
iv) Potential free contact shall be made available for monitoring alarm/ link failure of
the DPLC. The potential free contact shall be suitable for rated voltage of 0.1A,
220V DC.

e) Speech (voice signal) transmission

i) In digital telephony the data rate of compressed telephony shall be field

programmable using PC/ Notebook for each telephony channel
ii) Speech interfaces shall be configurable as 4-wire E&M, 2-wire FXO or 2-wire FXS.
iii) Inter-channel crosstalk shall be compliant with IEC60495.
iv) A compander according to ITU-T G.162 shall be configurable via HMI for each
speech channel. The digital PLCC shall be suitable for connection to PABX for
speech requirement.

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

v) A service phone shall be provided with each PLCC terminal, multiplex with the
main speech channel.

f) Broadband Data Transmission

i) The PLCC terminal shall be provided with an integrated modems for broadband/
high speed data transmission. Transmission speed and spectral bandwidth shall
be programmable via PC/ Notebook.
ii) The gross speed and transmission bandwidth shall be programmable for up to
28.800kbit/s in 4kHz spectral bandwidth, up to 72kbit/s in 8kHz bandwidth.
iii) The data rates shall be selectable in steps, compliant with commonly used
standardized data rates such as 1200, 2400, 4800 and 9600Bauds.
iv) The system shall support automatic transmission speed adaptation (DSA- dynamic
speed adaptation) in at least 2 user-defined steps, self-adapting to the prevailing
line condition (noise and interference). In case of decrease of SNR, priority shall
be given to data over voice. However uninterrupted flow of data shall be ensured
even at a level of SNR =25dB.
v) The broadband modem shall provide a facility for automatic detection and
suppression of narrowband interferers.

g) Data multiplexing

i) The PLCC terminal shall be provided with an internal multiplexer for the time
division multiplexing of up to 8 serial data channels which can be allocated
individually to the internal modems.
ii) Data ports shall be compliant with V.24/V.28, RS232 and/ or V.11/ X.21/ X.24 s
per functional requirement.
iii) All data ports shall be electrically isolated from ground and against each other.
iv) An Ethernet port shall be provided for equipment configuration via LAN, or for
general IP forwarding. It shall have facility to operate @ 9600bits/s at good SNR
of 35dB and above within the nominal Band width of 4kHz. The above functionality
shall be possible for SNR of 25dB for Band width of 8kHz.
v) Ratings & requirements of PLCC terminals:
1) Mode of transmission Single side band amplitude
modulation

2) HF range kHz 40 to 500

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

3) Nominal carrier frequency band kHz 1no.x 4 (for single channel sets)
2nos.x 4(for twin channel sets)

4) - Effectively transmitted speech freq. band Hz 300 to 3400or more

or signal freq. band when only speech or
signal is transmitted

5) Effectively transmitted, speech plus signal Hz Speech: 300 to 2000

freq band in case of multi-purpose air Signal: 2160 to 3400
conditioned kiosks use or more

6) Nominal Impedance:
Carrier freq side: Ω 150 balanced or
75 unbalanced
VF side: Ω 600

7) Nominal carrier freq power Adequate to maintain prescribed

S/N ratio under adverse conditions

8) Supply voltage (DC) V 48 (-10 to +15%)

9) Freq difference between voice freq band As per relevant IEC/ IS

transmitter and receiver in a pair of PLCC
terminals

10) Stability of carrier freq. from its nominal Hz ± 10

value

11) Effectively transmitted speech and data kHz Within 0.3 to 3.7
signal freq. band

12) Relative level across 600Ω (VF side)

- 4 wire transmit dB 0 to - 17
- 4 wire receive dB (-)3.5 to (+)8
- 2 wire transmit dB 0
- 2 wire receive dB (-)7

13) Level regulations control (Automatic Gain In case of a 30dB change in the
Control) carrier frequency signal level within
the regulation range, the change in
voice frequency receiver levels of
both speech & signals shall be less
than 1dB

14) Telephone signaling channel Frequency shift keying (pulse

distortions) of the tele-phonic
signaling channel at signaling speed

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

of 10 pulse per second shall be less

than 5ms for one pair of terminals.

The signaling channel shall be

operated by a potential free open or
closed contact at the transmit side
and provide a potential free change
over contact at the receiver side. All
relays to be provided in the speech
circuits shall be hermetically sealed.

15) 300 - 400Hz: -0.9 to +3.0dB or +1.5dB for the complete band of 300
400 - 600 Hz: - 0.9 to +1.8 dB to 2000Hz (without com-pander).
600 - 1600 Hz.: - 0.9 to +0.9 dB
1600-2000 Hz. :- 0.9 to +1.8 dB

16) - Permissible limits for variation of overall loss (attenuation) of the speech channel relative
to 800Hz for back to back operation of one pair of terminals without com-pander

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Part – IV
Standards applicable to Radio (GPRS)

1. General Requirement

a) This type of communication may be used where no control function is envisaged and
are not proposed to be used in protection of power system equipment.
b) This mode of communication shall be used below 132 kV / 110 kV system for low speed
data acquisition system, where feasibility of access to wideband network is not possible.
c) Installation of this mode of communication shall be adopted after ensuring the available
signal level up to the required strength (25 dbm) and link availability (99.9 percent) for
interruption free operation of the communication system.
d) Shall be designed for satisfactory and continuous (24 X 7) operation in open
environment with Max temperature of 60 deg Centigrade and 100% humidity with hot,
tropical, dusty, humid, and conductive to rust and fungus growth.
e) Shall be designed for 110 Volts & 230 volts +/- 30%, 50 Hz AC supply or 48 V DC or
as specified.
f) Adequate isolation device to be provided with the modem which shall be capable to
withstand surges and voltage spikes of minimum 6 kV as per IEC 61000-4-5. The
modem shall safely withstand the fluctuations arising during transient and persistent
faults in the network without damage and mal operation.

2. Standards and Codes of Practice

a) EMI / EMC requirements

i) Electrostatic Discharge as per IEC 61000 – 4 -2
ii) Fast transient Burst as per IEC 61000 – 4 – 4
iii) Surges immunity as per IEC 61000 – 4 – 5
iv) Conducted Emissions as per IEC 61000 – 3 – 2 and CISPR 22
v) Radiated Emissions as per CISPR 22
vi) Radiate Immunity as per IEC 61000 – 4 – 3
vii) Vibration as per EN600068 – 2 – 6
viii) Shocks parameter as per IEC 68 – 2- 27
b) The modem shall be compliant with ETSI GSM Phase 2+ standards

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

c) The receiving device shall have IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP VPN support up to 8 concurrent
tunnels with max 70Mbps throughput
d) The communication equipment / modem shall comply with IP 65 rating.

3. Functional Requirement

a) Field interface shall be optical port / RS 232 / RS 485 / MODBUS / DLMS

b) Data received shall be automatically validated by validation rules
c) The modem shall support dual SIM cards
d) The receiving device shall support IEC - 60870 -5- 101 & IEC - 60870 -5-104 protocol &
DLMS for interfacing
e) The receiving end shall have multi WAN VPN Concentrator shall have built in facility to
manage at least 250 remote nodes for a fixed IP provided.
f) The receiving end shall have redundant Multi WAN VPN Concentrator with a fall over –
fall back feature for uninterrupted data communication
g) Gate way level security through single appliance (Unified Threat Management-UTM)
comprising of firewall, Antivirus, Intrusion Prevention system(IPS), Intrusion Detection
system (IDS) etc. shall be adopted to ensure Cyber Security.
h) The router shall be capable of handling VPN based security by assuming a fixed IP
issued by the Multi-AN VPN Concentrator at the SCADA end
i) Shall have the capability of data encryption with 3DES to ensure secured
communication network over GPRS(3G/4G), BROADBAND or latest.

j) Device can decide and act according to the best available link in redundant mode
configuration.

k) QoS and Bandwidth management for optimal bandwidth usage.

l) Centralized Monitoring at Control Centre shall be available. Modem shall also indicate
link availability and Bit Error Rate (BER).

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

Part – V
Standards applicable to VSAT

1. General Requirement

a) This type of communication shall not be used for control function and protection of power
system equipment.
b) This mode of communication shall be used for remote locations where access to
wideband network is not possible
c) The VSAT terminal shall be able to work with all geostationary satellites visible from
India and work efficiently from all parts of India.
d) The VSAT terminal shall work either on C-band or extended C band for interruption free
24 X 7 operation in extremely rainy (more than 10mm/hour intensity) and cloudy
conditions.
e) This mode of communication shall be adopted after ensuring the available signal level
up to the required level by the service provider and link availability (99.9 percent) for
interruption free operation of the communication system. NMS should be having facility
of maintaining link status along with signal strength of the nodes.
f) This mode of communication shall not be connected to the National wideband network.
g) The size of the antenna should be as per WPC/DOT guidelines. All regulatory clearance
from various regulatory bodies like DOT / WPC etc. shall be taken to operate the VSAT
communication as its guidelines.
h) The VSAT Service Provider shall have redundant configuration enabled in Network
Management System (NMS).
i) Pull Band width feature shall be adopted for the VSAT Network.

2. Standards and Codes of Practice

The equipment shall be conforming to latest revision of ITU-R recommendation S.580-6

3. Functional Requirement

a) Uplink and down link configuration shall be redundant (1 + 1)

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 Draft Technical Standards for Communication System in Power Sector

b) The network shall be designed based on FTDMA / MFTDAM / SCPC DAMA technology
or any other proven future technology with configurable data rate as per data
communication requirement.
c) Bit error rate shall be greater than 1 X 10 -7 (data) to 1 X 10 -4 (Voice)
d) Shall support Broadcast, Unicast, Multicast, TCP spoofing
e) Shall support IP RJ-45 (IP and E&M),
f) Receiving device should support IEC - 60870 -5-104 protocols for interfacing data as
well as to IPv4, IPv6, RIP v1, v2, ARP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, Telnet, IGMP, v1, v2, SNMP
for networking Utilities.
g) Necessary protection / Firewall with IPS shall be provided to ensure Cyber Security.
h) Shall be designed for 230 V +/- 30% AC power supply at 50 Hz.
i) Shall be designed for trouble free operation at temperature range -100 to 550 Centigrade
and humidity up to 95% non-condensing. Shall be designed for wind speed of minimum
80 kmph (Operational)
j) Shall be able to deliver bidirectional composite data traffic.
k) Round trip delay shall be less than 600 ms
l) The VSAT IDU (for remote sites) shall support TCP/IP without the need of an external
router.
m) The VSAT terminal shall have separate storage banks for software and firmware, to
enable configuration changes pertaining to either the terminal (firmware) or the overall
system architecture (software), without affecting the other.
n) The terminals should be able to take the software and firmware downloads from the hub
over the air, without any disturbance to the online user traffic while in operation on per
terminal (Unicast), per group (Multicast) or entire network (Broadcast) basis.

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