Reference Manual

Schweitzer SEL Events

Master Protocol
Documentation for part number P-SMPR-2101
© 2012 Cooper Power Systems, LLC – All rights reserved.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Cooper Power Systems

Energy Automation Solutions
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Suite 200
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Canada G6Z 2C5
Phone: +1.418.834.0009
Fax: +1.514.227.5256
Email: PSMO-sales@cooperindustries.com
Web: http://www.cooperpower.com

Technical Support: PSSJ-support@cooperindustries.com

S1120-20-3, version 9
The Schweitzer SEL Events master protocol component contains YMODEM file transfer protocol
code that is distributed under the terms of the 'MIT license', as follows:
Copyright (c) 2006 J.D.Medhurst (a.k.a. Tixy)
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to
do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1
2. Features.................................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Communication Features .......................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Supported Requests ................................................................................................................. 2
2.2.1 Device Data Retrieval ................................................................................................. 3
2.2.2 Device Control ........................................................................................................... 3
3. Configuration Settings ............................................................................................................. 4
3.1 General Settings....................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Analog Input Settings ............................................................................................................... 6
3.2.1 Fault Distance Analog Input Settings ........................................................................... 6
3.2.2 SER Analog Input Settings .......................................................................................... 6
3.2.3 History Analog Inputs Settings .................................................................................... 8
3.3 Binary Input Settings ................................................................................................................ 9
4. Implementation Details ......................................................................................................... 11
4.1 Startup Sequence ................................................................................................................... 11
4.2 Scan Cycle ............................................................................................................................. 11
4.3 Relay Unexpected Responses .................................................................................................. 13
4.4 Link Down / Link Up Behavior ................................................................................................. 13
4.5 SER ....................................................................................................................................... 14
4.6 Extended SER ........................................................................................................................ 14
4.6.1 SER Analog Inputs ................................................................................................... 14
4.6.2 SER Binary Inputs .................................................................................................... 14
4.7 YModem Transfer ................................................................................................................... 15
5. Troubleshooting ..................................................................................................................... 16

SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL ●i

Tables
Table 2-1 Communication features ...................................................................................2
Table 2-2 Request subset used for the basic scan cycle ...................................................3
Table 3-1 General settings .................................................................................................5
Table 3-2 Fault distance analog input settings .................................................................6
Table 3-3 SER analog input settings ..................................................................................8
Table 3-4 History analog input settings ............................................................................8
Table 3-5 Binary input settings ...................................................................................... 10
Table 5-1 Troubleshooting .............................................................................................. 16

ii ● SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL

1. Introduction
This manual provides the information required to install and set up an SEL Events master
protocol component in an SMP Gateway.
This protocol component is used exclusively to retrieve events from any SEL device. Except for
clock synchronization, it cannot be used to configure and control these devices.
The reader must be familiar with the SMP Gateway environment, master protocol concepts and
the SEL protocol specification before proceeding with this document. This information can be
acquired by reading the following documents:
 Protocol Common Concepts Reference Manual, S1120-11-1, COOPER Power Systems, LLC.
 SEL user manuals and datasheets.
 SMP Gateway User Manual, S1120-10-1, COOPER Power Systems, LLC.

SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL ●1

2. Features
This chapter enumerates the features provided by the SEL Events master protocol component.

2.1 Communication Features

The following communication features are available when interconnecting devices to the SMP
hardware:

Feature Comment
Serial Port The SEL Events master protocol component supports RS-232
interfaces at bit rates of up to 115200 b/s.
Link Sharing This protocol component can share a serial port connection with the
SMP Gateway’s SEL master protocol component. The latter interacts
with the end device via binary requests (Fast Meter) while the SEL
Events component uses ASCII requests. Most SEL devices support
the simultaneous use of both requests.
Passthrough This protocol component allows passthrough connections.
Connections If used on a shared link, the passthrough connection must be
configured to suspend activity of the IED whose address is 2.
TCP/IP This protocol component supports communications over a TCP/IP
link.

Table 2-1 Communication features

2.2 Supported Requests

Most SEL ASCII requests are supported by the SEL Events master protocol component, but only a
subset of these is used for the basic scan cycle. All other required requests must be defined in
the AIT file.
The following table illustrates the request subset used for the basic acquisition cycle.

Request Description
ACC Request access to level 1 requests.
TAR n Request the device Word row number n.
HIS n Request the list of all “n” event summaries.
EVE n Request event report n with 4 samples per cycle.
Note that event reports can be requested using any other setting by
simply defining the request to use in the AIT file.
CEV n Request event report n with 4 samples per cycle in compressed
ASCII format.
Note that event reports can be requested using any other setting by
simply defining the request to use in the AIT file.
SER n Request the last “n” rows of sequences of events.
DAT Set the device clock to the specified date.
TIM Set the device clock to the specified time.
IRI Obtain the status of the IRIG-B signal.

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 Request Description
QUIT Return to Access Level 0.

Table 2-2 Request subset used for the basic scan cycle

2.2.1 Device Data Retrieval

The HIS request is used to retrieve the list of all event reports available on the device. This list is
analyzed by the protocol component to determine if event reports that have not yet been
retrieved should be retrieved. If any analog input history line is configured, the protocol
component also analyzes the HIS response in order to place values in the protocol analog inputs.
The information from the distance-to-fault points also comes from this list.
The EVE request is used to retrieve event reports produced by the device. These reports are
stored in files, as they are received from the device. Refer to the Protocol Common Concepts
Reference Manual for more details on file format, management, and so on.
The CEV request is used to retrieve event reports produced by the device in compressed ASCII
format. These reports are stored in files, as they are received from the device. Since the EVE and
CEV requests retrieve the same information in a different format, they cannot be used
simultaneously. Refer to the Protocol Common Concepts Reference Manual for more details on
file format, management, and so on.
The SER command is used to retrieve sequence of events reports. These reports are stored in
files, as they are received from the device. Refer to the Protocol Common Concepts Reference
Manual for more details on file format, management, and so on. If any analog input SER line is
configured, the master protocol component also analyzes the SER response in order to place
values in the protocol analog inputs. If any SER binary inputs are configured, the response is also
analyzed to get the value of those points.
The TAR command is used to retrieve the target values from the relay. If any binary input values
are configured, the target response is analyzed to update these values. The TAR command is
also used to save a view of the targets at the event retrieval time.
The IRI command is used to obtain the status of the IRIG-B signal. It is then used to apply a
status to the event’s time tag, indicating that the device was synchronized at the time of the
event or that the time tag is unreliable.
2.2.2 Device Control
Except for clock synchronization requests (DAT and TIM), the component does not perform any
device control requests in the basic scan cycle.

SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL ●3

3. Configuration Settings
This chapter enumerates the configuration settings that one must specify for each SEL Events
master protocol component instance. The SMP Config software program is generally used to
define these settings. You will use a template supplied by Cooper Power Systems, so as to take
advantage of all the functions that are supported.
Note: Only those settings specific to the Schweitzer SEL Events master protocol are described
here. The settings common to all master protocol components are described in the Protocol
Common Concepts Reference Manual.
3.1 General Settings
Every instance of this master protocol component contains general settings, which set the
general behavior of the component. The following table shows the general settings that are
specific to the Schweitzer SEL Events master protocol.

Setting Description
Scan Interval The number of milliseconds between two complete scan cycles. A
value of 0 means that there will be no delay between scan cycles.
Range: 0 to 604,800,000 milliseconds (7 days)
Default value: 3,600,000 milliseconds (1 hour)
Rx Timeout The number of milliseconds to wait for the end device to respond to
a request before attempting any retries. The timer is started after
the last data of a request is transmitted to the remote device.
Range: 100 to 30,000 milliseconds
Default value: 5000 milliseconds
Rx Silence Timeout The number of milliseconds to wait after the last received byte
before assuming that the data received from the device is a
complete response.
Range: 100 to 30,000 milliseconds
Default value: 2,000 milliseconds
Tx Interchar Delay Indicates the number of milliseconds between characters when
transmitting over the communications link. This feature is disabled
when the delay is set to 0.
Range: 0 to 5,000 milliseconds
Default value: 0 milliseconds
Rx Retry Count The number of consecutive times a bad response (or no response)
must be received before a communications failure is declared and
an attempt is made to re-initialize the link.
Range: 0 to 10
Default value: 9
AIT File Name Acquisition information template file name. This setting is
mandatory if you have enabled one of the events in the Event File
settings.
Range: 1 to 259 chars
Default value: none

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 Setting Description
Date Format Indicates the date format, as configured on the device.
Allowed values:
 MM/DD/YY
 YY/MM/DD
Default value: MM/DD/YY
Clock Sync Indicates whether or not the device clock must be synchronized. If
you put a checkmark, the device time is updated at each scan
cycle.
Range: checkmark / no checkmark
Default value: no checkmark
Time Zone Indicates the time zone to which the device clock is adjusted. The
drop-down list includes typical time zones, from “GMT-12:00
Dateline: Eniwetok, Kwajalein” to “GMT +13:00 Nukualofa”.
Allowed values: As shown in the drop-down list
Default value: GMT Greenwich Mean Time:
Dublin, Lisbon, London
Password Level 1 The password to access level 1 requests. This setting is mandatory.
Range: 1 to 15 chars.
Default value: none
IRIG-B Frequency The number of scan cycles (1 / X) at which an IRIG-B request will
be sent. For example, if this value is 4, an IRIG-B request will be
issued once every 4 scan cycles.
Set to 0 if you do not want IRIG-B requests to be sent, or to
retrieve the IRIG-B source status using a target value.
Range: 0 to 2,147,483,647
Default value: 0
Integrity Frequency The number of scan cycles (1 / X) at which an integrity scan will be
sent. For example, if this value is 4, an integrity scan will be issued
once every 4 scan cycles. Use 0 if you do not want any integrity
scan.
Range: 0 to 2,147,483,647
Default value: 0
Distance to Fault Amount of time, in milliseconds, before resetting the Distance to
Timeout Fault point. A value of 0 will not reset the Distance to Fault point.
Allowed values: 0 to 2,147,483,647 milliseconds
Default value: 300,000 milliseconds
Force Quit Forces the transmission of a QUIT request at the end of the scan
cycle.
This parameter only applies when using a TCP/IP connection.
Range: checkmark / no checkmark
Default value: no checkmark

Table 3-1 General settings

SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL ●5

3.2 Analog Input Settings
3.2.1 Fault Distance Analog Input Settings
Each instance of this master protocol component may contain several fault distance analog
inputs. Fault distance analog input settings tell the component how to process data retrieved
from the device.
This configuration view is divided in two. In the logical part, you find two points. The first one,
“Distance to Fault”, holds the distance to the last fault without regard to the fault type. The
second, “Fault Type”, refer to the “Fault type” column in the logical part of the fault distance.
The fault type part holds user-defined faults. You can add or remove any line in this section.
When a fault happens on the relay and its name matches the “Fault Name” from the fault type
section, the fault distance is copied in the “Distance to Fault” point from the logical section, and
the user-defined “Fault type” is copied in the “Fault type” point from the logical section.
Whenever any of the points in those section changes, a timer is set to the “Distance-to-Fault
Timeout” value from the general section. When the timer reaches “0”, the point’s value is reset to
zero.
The following table shows the Fault distance analog input settings of the Schweitzer SEL Events
master protocol.

Setting Description
Fault Name Column The event name, as seen under the “Event” column of a “HIS”
command answer received from the relay.
Allowed values: Any text except spaces.
Fault Type Column This number could be any value except zero. It is used only
internally. When a fault happens and its name matches the “Fault
Name” for the actual point, this value will be copied in the logical
point “Fault type”.
If an event happens and no string matches the event type, “0” will
be copied in the logical point.

Table 3-2 Fault distance analog input settings

3.2.2 SER Analog Input Settings

Each instance of this master protocol component may contain several SER analog inputs. SER
analog input settings tell the component how to process data retrieved from the device.
You cannot add or remove any lines from this list, as they are predefined in the template for
each type of relay. However, you can enable or disable points, and you can set their scale, offset,
deadband, units and description.
The following table shows the SER analog input settings of the Schweitzer SEL Events master
protocol.

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 Setting Description
Source Type Specifies the type of “SER” response parser to use. For a “SER”
source type, the standard parser is used. When using “Extended
SER”, the extended parser, which can extract more than one point
value, is used.
Allowed values:
 SER
 Extended SER

SER Column For the “SER” Source Type:

Represents a text column, as seen in the answer to an “SER”
command to the relay. This is a read-only setting.
Allowed values:
 Line Id
 Year
 Month
 Day
 Hour
 Minute
 Second
 Milli
 Element
 State

Line For the “SER” Source Type:

Indicates the line, in the answer, from which you want to retrieve
the value. This is a read-only setting.
Range: 1 to 255

For the “Extended SER” Source Type:

Indicates the line from a multiline SER entry, in the answer, from
which you want to retrieve the value. This is a read-only setting
Range: 1 to 2
Position In String For the “SER” Source Type:
For the “Element” and “State” SER Columns, the answer is a
string. This string is mapped into analog values (4 characters/32-bit
analog values), and the list of analog values forms the string.
Position In String indicates the position of the current analog
value in the list. This is a read-only setting.
Range: 0 to 255

For the “Extended SER” Source Type:

This field indicates the first character column in the chosen SER
entry line where the desired point value is written.
Range: 0 to 255

SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL ●7

 Setting Description
Length For the “Extended SER” Source Type:
This field indicates the length, in characters, to parse from the
beginning of an SER entry line to fetch the desired point value
Range: 0 to 255

Table 3-3 SER analog input settings

3.2.3 History Analog Inputs Settings

Each instance of this master protocol component may contain several history analog inputs.
History analog input settings tell the component how to process data retrieved from the device.
You cannot add or remove lines from this list, as they are predefined in the template for each
type of relay. However, you can enable or disable points, and you can set their scale, offset,
deadband, units and description.
The following table shows the history analog input settings of the SEL Events master protocol.

Setting Description
History Column Represents a text column, as seen in the answer to an “HIS”
command to the relay. This is a read-only setting.
Allowed values:
 Line Id
 Year
 Month
 Day
 Hour
 Minute
 Second
 Milli
 Event
 Locat
 Curr
 Freq
 Grp
 Shot
 Target

Line Indicates the line, in the answer, from which you want to retrieve
the value. This is a read-only setting.
Range: 1 to 255
Position In String For the “Event” and “Target” History Columns, the answer is a
string. This string is mapped into analog values (4 characters/32-bit
analog values), and the list of analog values forms the string.
Position In String indicates the position of the current analog
value in the list. This is a read-only setting.
Range: 0 to 255

Table 3-4 History analog input settings

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3.3 Binary Input Settings
Each instance of this master protocol component may contain several binary inputs. Binary input
settings tell the component how to process data retrieved from the device. The following table
shows the binary input settings that are specific to the Schweitzer SEL Events master protocol.

Setting Description
Source Type This setting specifies which command is to be used to update the
data point value.
Allowed values:
 SER
 Target
 Target (IRIG-B Status)
 Target (Startup) & SER
 IRIG-B
 Extended SER
Default value: SER
SER Type There are 2 special SER points: “Restart” and “Settings Changed”.
These special points are always set to 0, but their associated time
tag is updated.
The “Custom” value lets you indicate, via the Element Name
setting, the name of a point you want to monitor in the SER
request. Their points are set to either 0 (deasserted) or 1
(asserted).
Allowed values:
 Restart
 Settings Changed
 Basic
Default value: Basic
Element Name The name of the point to be monitored, such as “IN101”. You can
change this setting only if the SER Type setting is set to “Basic”.
When used with the “Extended SER” Source Type, this setting has
no effect.
Asserted Name For the “SER” and “Target (Startup) & SER” Source Types:
The asserted string received from the device when the point is
asserted. The default string in SEL relays is “asserted”, but aliases
are also used to change this value. You can change the setting only
if the SER Type setting is set to “Basic”.
Default value: ASSERTED

For the “Extended SER” Source Type:

The list of all characters that will assert this point. This list will likely
contain more than one character, each one being valid when
parsed.

SCHWEITZER SEL EVENTS MASTER PROTOCOL REFERENCE MANUAL ●9

 Setting Description
Deasserted Name For the “SER” and “Target (Startup) & SER” Source Types:
The deasserted string received from the device when the point is
deasserted. The default string in SEL relays is “deasserted”, but
aliases are also used to change this value. You can change the
setting only if the SER Type setting is set to “Basic”.
Default value: DEASSERTED

For the “Extended SER” Source Type:

The list of all characters that will deassert this point. This list will
likely contain more than one character, each one being valid when
parsed. If this list is empty, the point will be considered valid and
deasserted if any of the characters in the “Asserted Name” list is
not found.
Relay Word For the “Target” and “Target (Startup) & SER” Source
Types:
Refers to the target relay word submitted to the TAR command. For
example, a “TAR 5” command sent to the relay retrieves relay word
5. This is a read-only setting.
Range: 0 to 65,535
Default value: 0
Target Index For the “Target” and “Target (Startup) & SER” Source
Types:
The position of the target for which you are searching in the Relay
Word. For example, the answer to a “Tar 0” command might be
“0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0”. The Target index of the “1” is 6. This is a read-
only setting.
Range: 1 to 8
Default value: 1
Extended SER Line For the “Extended SER” Source Type:
Indicates the line from a multiline SER entry, in the answer, from
which you want to retrieve the value. This is a read-only setting
Extended SER Column For the “Extended SER” Source Type:
This field indicates the character column in the chosen SER entry
line to parse in order to obtain the desired point value.

Table 3-5 Binary input settings

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4. Implementation Details
4.1 Startup Sequence
The protocol component must go through the following steps on startup:
 Parses the configuration file.
 Initializes the various logs, traces and statistics.
 Creates all I/O points and marks them as invalid (communications failure).
 Initializes the communications link.
 Starts the scan cycle.

4.2 Scan Cycle

The protocol component manages the device polling cycle based on the following principles:
 The protocol is half duplex.
 The device should never send data without having first received a request for data.
 There is a response to every request.

The SEL Events response processing rules are:

 A response is valid only if it arrives within the configured time limit.
 The response format must be coherent and as expected.
 The response must match the request.
 The same request is re-issued if the reception status is not correct, up to the number of retry
counts configured.

Whatever the reason, the link is reset from scratch if too many consecutive bad responses are
received, “too many” being the number of retry counts configured.
A regular scanning cycle is used on a continuous basis. There is no special initialization sequence.
Note that the link is not considered active until a valid response is received from the device.

SER Time
If SER binary input points are configured as Target (startup) and SER, the time put into the
RTDX is that provided by the relay (with the exact millisecond event time). Furthermore, if an
IRIG-B point is configured, and this point is in a failure state, the time written to the RTDX is still
the exact time, but a status of Time Invalid is set. This status is shown on the web server, as a
star after the time.

The regular scanning cycle is as follows:

 Return to access level 0 using the QUIT request.
 Request access to level 1 using the ACC request. The device then may request the level 1
password, in which case the configured password is sent to the device.
 If an IRIG-B point is configured, issue the IRI command to retrieve the status of the IRIG-B
signal. If the device reports an IRIG-B error, the data point does not change immediately.
There must be 3 errors in a row for the IRIG-B signal to be flagged as invalid. The next IRI
request is not sent immediately but rather, is issued on the next normal IRI cycle.

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  If any analog SER points are configured, or if SER file retrieval is enabled, request the list of
the most recent SER event summaries, using the SER n request. “n” is the number of SER
lines configured in the analog input settings, or 1 if none is configured. The response is
analyzed to determine whether SER reports are to be retrieved.
 If any SER binary inputs are configured and a new SER was detected in the previous
response, the SER 50 command is issued to detect all possible transitions on the binary
points.
 If the last valid SER in the SMP Gateway persistence file was not found in the SER 50, a
complete SER is issued. If the last event is still not found in that request, an integrity scan of
the targets is requested.
 If any binary TAR (target) points are configured, issue the TAR n command several times to
retrieve the points. “n” defines the relay word, so one request is sent for every relay word
configured. If the current cycle is not an integrity scan, the targets defined as TAR only in
the configuration are scanned; if the current cycle is an integrity scan, all configured targets
are scanned. If a target is defined as Target (IRIG-B Status) in the configuration, the
value of this specific target is used to verify the IRIG-B Source status, rather than relying on
the transmission of an IRI command.
 If any analog history points are configured, or if event retrieval is enabled, request the list of
the most recent event summaries, using the HIS n request. “n” is the number of history
lines configured in the analog input settings, or 1 if none is configured. The response is
analyzed to determine whether event reports are to be retrieved. If new events are detected,
issue the HIS 50 command to get a complete list of the new events. If any new events are
found and a fault distance is included, update the fault distance points.
 If device clock synchronization is enabled, set the date using the DAT request, then set the
time using the TIM request. The date format to be used is specified in the configuration. The
date and time is adjusted to the configured device time zone.
 If any new SER event was detected in the cycle and SER file retrieval is activated, the TAR
and OTHER commands defined in the AIT file are issued, and their value is temporarily stored
in memory until SER files are created. All the files are created immediately after the scan
cycle, if the folder is available.
 Terminate the scan cycle by returning to access level 0, using the QUIT request.

The EVE (or CEV) file acquisition scanning cycle is as follows:

Note: This cycle only happens when a new event is detected based on the file rules.
 Return to access level 0, using the QUIT request.
 Request access to level 1, using the ACC request. The device then may request the level 1
password, in which case the configured password is sent to the device.
 If specified in the AIT file, request the configured Word row, using the TAR n request.
 Issue the HIS 50 command to retrieve the 50 most recent events.
 Request the new report using either the default EVE n (or CEV n) request or the request
specified in the AIT file.
 If specified in the [other] section of the AIT file, perform any additional requests.
 If device clock synchronization is enabled, set the date using the DAT request, then set the
time using the TIM request. The date format to be used is specified in the configuration. The
date and time is adjusted to the configured device time zone.
 Terminate the scan cycle by returning to access level 0, using the QUIT request.

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 The COMTRADE File (OSC) acquisition scanning cycle is as follows:
Note: This cycle is only executed when a new COMTRADE file is detected based on the specified
file rule for this type of file. The command FILE DIR EVENTS is used to detect new files
to download (files whose name begins with HR_).
 Return to access level 0, using the QUIT request.
 Request access to level 1, using the ACC request. The device may request the level 1
password, in which case the configured password is sent to the device.
 Issue the FILE DIR EVENTS command to make sure the COMTRADE files are still available.
 Send the FILE READ EVENTS command followed by the name of the file to transfer in
order to start the YModem transfer. Repeat this command for each file (CFG, HDR, and DAT
files).
 If other COMTRADE files need to be downloaded, download them immediately.
 Terminate the scan cycle by returning to access level 0, using the QUIT request.

4.3 Relay Unexpected Responses

Experience shows that devices might not always give the expected answer. Certain types of
behavior require some attention:
 New events are detected using the HIS command. A new event could occur between the HIS
command and the EVE command. This would mean that the event shown on line 2 of the
HIS response would become event 3. To prevent downloading the “wrong” event (that is,
event 2), we verify the reception time inside the event. If this time does not match the time
shown in the HIS command, we cancel the file download and start a new scan sequence.
 If the device is very busy (events are triggered while we receive data), some lines might be
missing from the SER or HIS responses. When this happens, we consider this as a “bad”
answer and try sending the request again. If the retry count reaches the maximum retry
count configured, a link reset takes place.
 When asking an EVE request, the relay may answer “Saving an event report” instead of
sending the event data. This is considered as a bad answer. The file download is cancelled
and reconsidered on the next cycle. If the same answer is returned repeatedly until the
configured retry count is reached, the file is saved anyway and the normal cycle resumes.

4.4 Link Down / Link Up Behavior

When a communications loss is detected, all analog and binary points set their state to Comm.
Failure. On retrieval of the communication, the points recover their normal state when a request
can read their actual value.
The exceptions to this normal behavior are the binary SER points. When a SER command is
issued, the last acquired SER is searched in the received list. Only the events that occurred after
this event are considered for setting a value to the point. If no new values are found and the
data point can be retrieved with the TAR command, the answer to the TAR request is used to set
the value of the data point. Otherwise, the value of the point remains unknown.
The following restrictions and implementation details apply:
 The scan cycle is indivisible. Any passthrough connection request will be pending until the
end of the scan cycle.
 The configured scan interval is ignored as long as event reports must be retrieved.

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4.5 SER
For some relays, the SER request can be used with different parameters. Most relays support the
first two forms found in the list above, but some support only the first and the third forms.
 The SER request (without parameters) can be used to retrieve all the sequential events
recorded by the relay. For some relays, this request only returns the last 20 recorded events.
 The SER n request can be used to retrieve the last “n” sequential events (lines) recorded by
the relay. Some relays do not support this version of the request. Moreover, some relays
have a limited number of “lines” that can be asked (ex. 512).
 The SER d1 d2 request can be used to retrieve all the sequential events recorded by the
relay between date “d1” and date “d2”. If “d2” is not specified, the same date as “d1” is
used. The two dates used as parameters follows the format used by the relay, which is either
MDY or YMD. But some relays do not always conform to this rule.
For optimal support of the SER request, the SEL Events master protocol automatically detects the
SER request variations supported by the relay. It is assumed that every relays support the
parameterless form. Then, if the relay supports the SER n form, the standard scan cycle
previously described is performed. If the relay supports only the SER d1 d2 form, the SEL
Events master needs to detect the date format to use, by sending a dummy SER d1 d2 request
using an unambiguous date (i.e. January 31st, 1980). Then, before starting the acquisition, the
SEL Events master requests all the sequential events recorded by the device (SER). Finally, the
SEL Events starts data acquisition. The date interval used for the acquisition is defined using the
last sequential event retrieved. If no events have been already recorded, the SEL Events master
uses today’s date.

4.6 Extended SER

For some relays, the response to an SER command contains event entries that give the complete
status of the relay, instead of just reporting the event that was triggered at this instant.
Moreover, an entry may spread over two lines for each event.
The parsing of this type of SER response is supported in order to fetch analog and binary inputs
with timestamps. Each event entry has its own timestamp information. Every configured point
that is parsed in an event entry is time-tagged with the entry’s timestamp.
Here is how each SER input point type is handled and updated.
4.6.1 SER Analog Inputs
Each analog input point is addressed using a line number, a column start and a length. These
coordinates point to a string, in each SER entry, which will be parsed in order to obtain the
point’s value. The string may contain whitespaces and numerical characters.
If the string cannot be parsed to a number, the associated point will be tagged with the quality
“Bad Hardware”.
Every times an analog value changes and is considered valid, its timestamp is updated using the
time information data found in the SER response.
4.6.2 SER Binary Inputs
Each binary input point is addressed using a line number and a column. These coordinates point
to a single character that is compared to those stored in the “Asserted Name” string
If a match is found, the point is updated with an asserted state.
If it’s not the case, it is compared to the characters stored in the “Deasserted Name” string. If a
match is found or the “Deasserted Name” string is empty, the point is updated with the
deasserted state.

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 If no match is found at all and the “Deasserted Name” string is not empty, the point’s quality is
tagged as “Bad Hardware”.
Every times a binary value changes and is considered valid, its timestamp is updated using the
value found in the SER response.
Saving event files based on this kind of SER response is currently not supported.

4.7 YModem Transfer

YModem is used to transfer COMTRADE files. When this option is activated, it is not possible to
use the same link to send Fast Meter commands; it is also not possible to perform passthrough
through the same connection without interrupting the event file and data acquisition.
The following restrictions and implementation details apply:
 The COMTRADE file scan cycle cannot be interrupted for passthough purposes: passthrough
connection requests are put on hold until the end of a given scan cycle; at this moment, they
are accepted and the scan cycle will be suspended until the end of the passthrough session.

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5. Troubleshooting
The following table enumerates solutions to common problems experienced with the Schweitzer
SEL Events master protocol component.

Problem Solution
The SMP Gateway isn’t This problem can be due to one of the following:
communicating with  One of the reasons discussed in the Protocol Common
my device. Concepts Reference Manual.

The link to my device This problem can be due to one of the following:
keeps resetting.  One of the reasons discussed in the Protocol Common
Concepts Reference Manual.
 Reception timeout problem: The reception timeout configured
in the general settings is too small.
 The supplied password does not match the password
configured in the device.

Event reports are This problem can be due to one of the following:
available on my device,  One of the reasons discussed in the Protocol Common
but never downloaded. Concepts Reference Manual.

In the traces, the This problem can be due to one of the following:
requests are not  The “Rx Silence Timeout” general setting is too small, so the
synchronized with the answer to the request is received after the next request is
responses. sent.

The timetag status of This problem can be due to one of the following:
the binary points is  There is no IRIG-B binary point configured, so the IRIG-B
incorrect, even if the signal is never verified.
relay is synchronized.
 The “Target (IRIG-B Status)” binary point is not configured
properly, so the IRIG-B Source status is not properly verified.

Table 5-1 Troubleshooting

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