ABSTRACT

This document describes about the usage of mobile phones (smart phones) in the SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition).

SCOPE

Scope of this document is limited to describing integration of SCADA features in mobile.  Design details about each system will not be covered in this document.

INTRODUCTION

Technology is changing very fast and there is a need to look for usage of new technologies in the SCADA system. Traditional SCADA system used to monitor and control remote devices. MMI(Man Machine Interface) which is located at master station is used to represent the plant schematic, historical trends, current trends etc.. These workstations are fixed and installed at master station or near a plant location which are connected network. Plant engineers used to stick to the desktop to monitor and track the plant details.

     With the introduction of smart phones and PDAs and upcoming 3G and 4G services, there will be seamless connection from mobile phone to internet network. Smartphones have good resolution, memory and processor capability which coming with mini office, email, chat, music plays, video play features. So, using these technology SCADA features can be extended as think client and thin client.

     Thick Client will reside on cell phone and when ever there is connection, it should connect to the SCADA Server and stream the required details.

     Thin client is run in mini browser which resides in the mobile phones. HTTP protocol can be used to request and get the response and render the required details like trends, logs, alarms etc..

     The advantage of having SCADA on mobile is

• Users need not stick to one place
• Management can get the reports and important information instantly where ever they are
• Control information can be sent online
• Availability of data always, during your travel also
• Anywhere data available (based on network availability)
• Can be integrated with existing standard protocols like HTTP, HTTPS
• Can work offline also and store the required data on the mobile for future use

     The Disadvantage of having SCADA on mobile is

• Exposure of SCADA network to external world
• Risck of hacking the SCADA system by hackers
• Leakage of SCADA data, if proper security methods are not adapted
• Network non-availability leads to disconnection to the system and not able to send if we need to send any important information
• Smart phone limitations like battery, applications and phone features
• Thick clients needs to be developed on various platforms available with varied resolutions and limitations
• Thick clients require high end resolution and memory capability to display trends etc..
• Rendering of mobile pages and compliant to the varied mobile configurations is a challenge

Architecture of SCADA network with mobile

Note:  In the above figure, Internet has both wireless and wireline connection

• A thick client can be developed that will be connecting to the web server using HTTPS Protocol.

• It can use Web services to provide the required data

• Web server should connect to SCADA server for fetching the information.

• The wireless network can be private or public

• Security Measures should be taken while sending and receiving the data

• Thick clients needs to be developed based on each platform like Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian, Motorola BREW etc..

• Platform independent technologies like J2ME can be used where ever possible

• If the data is provided in think clients like minibrowsers, then the rendering pages needs to be tested in all available platforms