Periodic Event Generation

Periodic Event Generation is only supported by SCADAPack x70 devices that:

• Are communicating using a protocol that supports, and is configured to enable, event generation
• Are functioning as a Slave.

So, for example, you can enable event generation on SCADAPack x70 devices with which Geo SCADA Expert communicates using the DNP3 protocol, and for which Geo SCADA Expert is the SCADA master.

With such devices, you can enable the feature so that the devices' analogs and/or counters support periodic generation of time-stamped point data (see Specify any Periodic Event Generation Requirements). When the feature is enabled, the SCADAPack x70 device generates events for point data at regular intervals and stores that data in its Event Buffer. This occurs in addition to the device generating and storing events for activities such as value and state changes whenever those activities occur.

If the SCADAPack x70 devices on your system are to generate and store events periodically, you should consider:

• How often the SCADA master (such as Geo SCADA Expert) retrieves event data from the device. The configuration settings vary per protocol.

  With SCADAPack x70 devices that communicate using the DNP3 protocol, you can:

  • Specify the frequency with which scheduled polling occurs for each DNP3 Event Class
  • Specify whether the SCADA master is to retrieve event data from the SCADAPack x70 device whenever that device's IIN flags indicate the presence of event data for a particular DNP3 Event Class.

• How many events the SCADAPack x70 device will create for the point between each data retrieval (see Specify any Periodic Event Generation Requirements)
• The event storage capacity of the SCADAPack x70 device. The configuration settings vary per protocol.

Be aware that if a SCADAPack x70 device is configured to enable unsolicited communications, the generation of time-stamped events will not trigger an unsolicited message until the configured number of Minimum Events for the relevant event Class is exceeded. The settings associated with unsolicited message generation vary per protocol.

If you find that the initial Periodic Event Generation settings result in the event buffer becoming full in the SCADAPack x70 device, either:

• Reduce the Rate at which periodic events are generated (see Specify any Periodic Event Generation Requirements)
• Increase the frequency at which the SCADA master polls the SCADAPack x70 device for event data.