Appendix: Virtual RTU

The Itron Virtual RTU (remote terminal unit) service is a generic standalone service that integrates with the Distributed Intelligence Message Processor (DIMP) and sends data using the DNP3 format.

The Virtual RTU service provides the ability to define a template of point names, with an index offset. The application defines its own template, registers the template into the Virtual RTU service, and then sends the ID of the template along with the node ID (i.e. transformer id), the access point name, and the value. This template can be disabled, queried, and updated.

The Virtual RTU tracks whether it has previously received data for that node ID and template. If not, it establishes a unique DNP3 index for each combination of node ID and access point name.

A unique set of DNP3 indexes are established for each combination of DI app, node id, and access point name.

How it works

• The agents calculate the transformer kW, kVAR, kVA and voltage using peer-to-peer communications every minute.

• The total transformer kW, kVAR, kVA and voltage data is sent back to the access point via mesh communications in less than five minutes.

• The access point sends the data to the headend.

• The headend sends the data to DI platform

  • The Data Product Subscription Service (DPSs) provides a real-time view of the data.

• The DI platform sends the data to the Virtual RTU service

• The transformer load/voltage summary data is sent via DNP3 to the ADMS.

  • For in-depth information about DNP3, see dnp.org.

Release notes

There are no release notes at this time.

Configuration

The following DIMP settings control publishing data to VRTU:

• AtmVrtuPublishingEnabled. Valid values: true, false. Disabled by default. Set to true to enable publishing to VRTU.

• DailyDataCollectionAutoSubscriptionEnabled. Valid values: true, false. Disabled by default. Set to true to enable data compression.