WebRTC-based plug-&-play signal transport for peer-to-peer connectivity between DRTSs, IEDs and operators

Abstract:
This paper introduces a novel approach for signal transport between Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs), Digital Realtime Simulators (DRTS) and/or their operators leveraging Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC), a suite of protocols used in the realm of video conferencing applications. An integration of this protocol-family into the open-source VILLASnode gateway software is presented. It allows researchers to effortlessly integrate field devices into their experiments and alleviate the need for ICT expertise and/or coordination with IT departments. While not aiming to replace existing automation protocols, the study explores the feasibility of using WebRTC in a research and academia context, which values rapid deployment over security and robustness. The paper outlines potential applications in monitoring, geographically distributed real-time simulation (GD-RTS), and decentralized control. Implementation details are provided, including signaling and relay server setups. Performance evaluation through loopback tests demonstrates the effectiveness of WebRTC in real-time signal exchange by comparing it to other established communication protocols like IEC 61850-9-2 Sampled Values, Message Queueing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), WebSockets (WS) or plain User Datagram Protocol (UDP).