How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850

Using MGate 5119

Moxa Technical Support Team

[email protected]

Contents
1 System Topology ....................................................................................................... 2
2 Protocol Simulators ................................................................................................... 3
2.1 IEDScout ......................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Modbus Slave .................................................................................................. 3
3 How to Simulate Modbus TCP Sever by Modbus Slave ............................................... 4
4 How to Configure the MGate 5119 ............................................................................. 6
5 How to Simulate an IEC 61850 Client by IEDScout .................................................. 14
6 Communication Test ................................................................................................ 16
6.1 Read Data Test ............................................................................................. 16
6.2 Write Test ..................................................................................................... 19
6.3 Report Test ................................................................................................... 21

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Released on Apr 21, 2022

About Moxa
Moxa is a leading provider of edge connectivity, industrial computing, and network infrastructure
solutions for enabling connectivity for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). With over 30 years of
industry experience, Moxa has connected more than 71 million devices worldwide and has a
distribution and service network that reaches customers in more than 80 countries. Moxa delivers
lasting business value by empowering industries with reliable networks and sincere service.
Information about Moxa’s solutions is available at www.moxa.com.
How to Contact Moxa
Tel: 1-714-528-6777
Fax: 1-714-528-6778
Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

1 System Topology
In this technical note, we show how the MGate 5119 converts between an IEC 61850
client and Modbus TCP server. We use IEDScout (PC 1) as an IEC 61850 client and
Modbus Slave (PC2) as the Modbus TCP server.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 2 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

2 Protocol Simulators

2.1 IEDScout
IEDScout is an ideal tool for substation automation engineers working with IEC 61850
devices. IEDScout allows engineers to look inside the IED at its communication. All data
modeled and exchanged becomes visible and accessible.

Download website: https://www.omicronenergy.com/en/products/iedscout/

2.2 Modbus Slave

Modbus Slave is the very popular Modbus slave simulator to test and debug your Modbus
devices. It supports Modbus RTU/ASCII and Modbus TCP/IP.

Download website: http://www.modbustools.com/download.html

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 3 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

3 How to Simulate Modbus TCP Sever by Modbus

Slave
After executing Modbus Slave, configure all related parameters in the Slave Definition
window under the Setup tab:

• Starting Address as 0
• Quantity as 8

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 4 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Then, set the Display Format as 32 Bit Unsigned  Big-endian and configure their
tag names as AnIn1, AnIn2, AnOut1 and AnOut2 respectively, as in the following
figure.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 5 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

4 How to Configure the MGate 5119

For the MGate 5119 settings, go to web console to configure. The setting steps are:

• Step 1. Select Protocols (Protocol Conversion)

• Step 2. Configure Protocol 2 (Modbus TCP Client Settings)
• Step 3. Configure Protocol 1 (IEC 61850 Sever Settings)
• Step 4. Map Tags

Step 1. Protocol Selection (Protocol Conversion)

We must configure each protocol’s role in the MGate 5119. In this demo, we want to bring
a Modbus TCP server to an IEC 61850 network, so configure the settings as below. After
protocol selection, the next step is to configure each role of the MGate.

Step 2. Configure Protocol 2 (Modbus TCP Client Settings)

In Client Settings, we use the default settings. For details, you can refer to the MGate
5119 User’s Manual.

This demo would like to monitor and control the Modbus slave device by the IEC 61850
client; and, therefore, configure the corresponding Modbus commands. We will create
four commands: two for monitoring Analog Input data and two for controlling Analog
Output data.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 6 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

An example of the command settings for Analog Input is shown below:

We input Name as AnIn1, input Read quantity as 2, and Data type as uint32 to
create the Tag as AnIn1. Also, the Endian Swap should be configured as Word to meet
the display style of the Modbus Slave data.

In this demo, we create the four Modbus commands as below:

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 7 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Step 3. Configure Protocol 1 (IEC 61850 Server Settings)

Under IEC 61850 Sever Settings, you will find the SCL Source settings:

The MGate 5119 as an IEC 61850 server must have its own substation configuration
language (SCL) file, which can be imported or created by the MGate 5119 itself. In this
demo, we select Local SCL file generator and click Create & Edit to configure the SCL
file.

Under SCL file settings – Basic Setting, we keep the default settings:

Under SCL Source – Logical Node, create logical nodes by clicking the Add button. The
page with the settings will pop up.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 8 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

To add a logical node, select the Class as GGIO-Generic process I/O, input the Start
instance number as 1, Instance count as 1, choose AnIn and AnOut objects, and
input their Count as 2. Click OK to finish the adding.

To query these objects more efficiently, add Dataset and choose the objects and the
attributes you are interested in. Under SCL Source – Dataset, click the Add button to
add the dataset.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 9 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Then, input the Dataset name and Description, choose the Logical node class and
Logical node instance that have been created, and select the Data Objects you want
to add to the FCDA (functionally constrained data attribute) list.

If you want the MGate 5119 to automatically notify the IEC 61850 client when an event
has been triggered, add a buffer or unbuffered report. Under SCL Source – Reports,
configure Reports by clicking the Add button. The page with the settings will pop up.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 10 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Then, input the Report name, Description and Report ID to identify this report.
Choose the Dataset name as D1, which is added via the above Dataset adding
procedure. You can define which data to include in the report through the settings for
Optional Fields.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 11 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Under IEC 61850 Client Settings, make a trusted client list. Click Add to add the
trusted client and input the client’s IP address.

If you want to use SSL to encrypt IEC 61850 MMS communication, enable Encryption
(SSL) and Authentication certificate and import the client’s certification.

If you only want to use certification to identify the client but not encryption, enable
Authentication certificate and import the client’s certificate. For the above two
conditions, you should also import CA certificate and Server certificate. In this demo,
we don’t use SSL encryption and certificate authentication.

Step 4. IO Data Mapping

After finishing step 2 and step 3 of the setting procedure, map these two protocol objects
in SLC Data setting.

Here is an example of mapping IEC 61850 to Modbus:

1. Select Data  lDevice1  GGIO1  MX  AnIn1  mag  f from IEC 61850 side.
2. Select modbus_tcp_client/10.123.20.41:502-sid1/AnIn1 from the Modbus side.
3. Click Data Mapping to map them.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 12 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

We use the same way to map the AnIn1, AnIn2, AnOut1 and AnOut2 tags. See below:

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 13 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

5 How to Simulate an IEC 61850 Client by

IEDScout
Click Discover IED, and the window for setting Connection parameters will pop up.
Input the MGate 5119’s IP Address. Click Advanced parameters to change the IED’s
other connection parameters, which must be the same as MGate 5119’s Connection
Parameters settings.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 14 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

After completing the settings, click Discover to connect the MGate 5119. IEDScout will
get the MGate 5119’s IED device data dictionary.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 15 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

6 Communication Test

6.1 Read Data Test

Change the value of Modbus Slave AnIn1 and AnIn2 as below:

Go to the System Monitoring  Protocol Status  Tag View page to check whether
the values have been updated. Under the Quality column, valid means the Modbus
command response works perfectly. The Source Timestamp shows the latest updated
time of Modbus values. The Gateway Timestamp is the latest Modbus response time.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 16 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Under IEDScout, select Data Model  lDevice1  GGIO1 node. Click Read All. It will
poll this node and show the latest data. If the communication works, the AnIn1.q validity
will show good.

If you disconnect the Modbus TCP connection, the Tag List shows Quality as invalid.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 17 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Under IEDScout, click Read All again. AnIn1.q Validity shows invalid and Quality
shows Failure.

You also can poll the dataset by selecting the DataSets  lDevice1  LLN0.D1 node:

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 18 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

6.2 Write Test

If you want to output value on AnOut1, select AnOut1, and click Control.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 19 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Then, the Control window pops up:

Since the MGate 5119 uses the SBO Control model, execute Select first and then
Operate. Input 123 in the Value field and click Select. The value's background
validation process elapses and displays its result in the Status section, which will fold out
when you click Select. If Select succeeds, click Operate to write your selected value for
the MGate 5119.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 20 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

Check the Tag List; the AnOut1 value is updated as 123. The MGate 5119 triggers the
Modbus write command, and Modbus Slave AnOut1 is updated as 123.

6.3 Report Test

In this demo, the MGate 5119 has a static report instance. We choose this report instance
from Reports  lDevice1  LLN0  R101 and click Enable:

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 21 of 22

Moxa Tech Note How to Convert From Modbus TCP to IEC 61850 Using MGate
5119

The Enable Report window pops up:

Enable the Data change trigger option, and the MGate 5119 will send the report when
the dataset value is updated. Enable the Integrity trigger option and change Integrity
period to 10000 ms. The MGate 5119 will send report every 10 seconds. Click the
Enable button, and the MGate 5119 acts on the report process.

Copyright © 2022 Moxa Inc. Page 22 of 22