Technical Terms

Question 1

AMI Headend

Answer 1

A concentration server responsible for managing AMI communications to a defined number of meters.

Aggregates messages for a group of deployed smart meters.

Question 2

Asset

Answer 2

Any physical or logical object used within an industrial environment possessing either an actual or perceived value.

Question 3

CIP

Answer 3

Common Industrial Protocol. Maintained by OVDA.

Used for industrial messaging, command and control capabilities to supported devices. CIP can be transferred over TCP/IP using Ethenet/IP.

Question 4

Conduit

Answer 4

A logical grouping of communication assets that protect the security of the communication channel. This can apply not only to network channels, but also, for example the connection of USB devices (an asset) connected to a USB port (a conduit) on a computer.

Question 5

Control Center

Answer 5

Operations center. Typically consists of SCADA and HMI systems that provide human interaction with industrial/automated processes.

Question 6

Correlated Event

Answer 6

Events that seem to be correlated.

Question 7

Data Diode

Answer 7

One-way data communication device, often consisting of a physical layer unidirectional limitation.

Question 8

DAM

Answer 8

Database Activity Monitor or Database Monitor.

Question 9

Demand-Response System

Answer 9

A system wherein the consumer of electricity is able to interact with the grid to control how and when electricity is distributed.

Question 10

Distributed Generation

Answer 10

Distributed energy generation facilities that are used to feed power into the grid, to facilitate localized supply in remote areas or areas with high demand.

Question 11

ESP

Answer 11

Electronic Security Perimeter.

Refers to the demarcation point between a secured enclave, such as a control system, and a less trusted network. The ESP typically includes firewalls, IDS, IPS, industrial protocol filters, application monitors, and similar devices.

Question 12

What assets could be located at the ESP?

Answer 12

Firewalls, IDS, IPS, industrial protocol filters, application monitors, and similar devices.

Question 13

Enclave

Answer 13

Logical grouping of assets, systems, or services that defines and contains one (or more) functional groups.

Question 14

Ethernet/IP

Answer 14

Ethernet/IP is a real-time Ethernet protocol supporting CIP, for use in industrial control systems.

Question 15

Distribution System

Answer 15

The grid infrastructure responsible for delivering electricity to the end consumer, typically over lower voltages and shorter distances than the transmission system.

Question 16

Fault Management System

Answer 16

A computing system designed to monitor and manage electrical faults, to facilitate the prediction of faults before they occur, and the location and remediation of faults that have occurred.

Question 17

Examples of Field Devices

Answer 17

RTUs, PLCs, IEDs, recliners, PMUs, Volt/VAR units, smart meters.

Question 18

GOOSE

Answer 18

Generic object oriented substation events.

GOOSE messages are typically transported as an Ethernet multi-case between entities within a substation so that multiple devices can subscribe to published data, typically concerning device or relay status, measurements, etc.

Question 19

Identity Access Management

Answer 19

Refers to the process of managing user identities and user accounts; related user access and authentication activities within a network; and a category of products that automate these functions.

Question 20

IED

Answer 20

Intelligent Electronic Device

An electronic component – such as a regulator, circuit control – that has has a microprocessor and is able to communicate, typically digitally using a fielded, real-time Ethernet, or other industrial protocol.

Question 21

ICCP

Answer 21

Inter-control center communication protocol

A real-time industrial network protocol designed for wide area network communication between two or more control centers.

Question 22

Load

Answer 22

A quantification, over time, of the amount of electric power delivered (supply) or required (demand).

Question 23

Master Station

Answer 23

The controlling asset or host involved in an industrial protocol communication session. The master station, sometimes called the master terminal unit (MTU), is typically responsible for timing, synchronization, and command and control aspects of an industrial network protocol.

Question 24

Modbus

Answer 24

A serial protocol used for intercommunication between industrial control assets. Modbus is a flexible master/slave command and control protocol.

Question 25

Modbus RTU

Answer 25

A serial-based Modbus variant that uses binary data representations.

Question 26

Modbus ASCII

Answer 26

A serial-based Modbus variant that uses ASCII data respresentations.

Question 27

Modbus Plus

Answer 27

Faster. Proprietary to Schneider Electric.

Question 28

Phasor Data Concentrator

Answer 28

Aggregates synchronized phasor measurements from multiple distributed phasor measurement units to enable analysis over line quality and condition within transmission and distribution systems.

Question 29

PMU

Answer 29

Phasor Measurement Unit

Measures voltage and current of electricity throughout transmission and distribution systems. Synchronization of PMU measurements(i.e. “Synchrophasor Measurements”) is used to obtain an accurate image of line condition throughout the grid at any given time.

Question 30

Profibus

Answer 30

An industrial fields protocol based on a serial-bus physical layer IEC standard. Profibus supports two application layer protocols: distributed peripheral (DP) and process automation (PA).

Question 31

Profinet

Answer 31

An implementation of profibus over Ethernet/IP.

Question 32

PLC

Answer 32

Industrial devices that uses a logical representation of input coils and output relays in combination with programmable logic in order to build a automated control logic.

Question 33

Backchannel

Answer 33

A communication channel that is hidden or operates “in the background” to avoid detection.

Question 34

finger

Answer 34

finger commands provides detailed information about a user.