ARIEC61850

IEC 61850 client, guarded IED control, reporting, GOOSE, Sampled Values, SCL, and PCAP engineering toolkit for .NET 8.

ARIEC61850 is an independently developed C# implementation maintained under a documented clean-room and provenance policy. It supports substation-automation laboratories, approved commissioning work, FAT/SAT preparation, protocol research, education, and repeatable engineering evidence.

Validation boundary: a guarded control path has been exercised with a laboratory IED. This is engineering evidence, not formal IEC 61850 conformance, broad interoperability evidence, functional-safety approval, or permission to operate primary equipment.

Website · Quick start · Control stack · Control tester · Current status · Roadmap

License: the current main branch and current community release packages are licensed only under GPL-3.0-or-later. A separate commercial license is available for proprietary integration, OEM/white-label distribution, and contractual support. See Licensing.

Terminology

• Native C#/.NET means a project-owned managed implementation rather than an application wrapper around an unrelated IEC 61850 stack.
• Smart Control means automated discovery of ctlModel, live MMS type information, required control sequence, and completion evidence. It does not mean AI-based decision-making or autonomous equipment operation.
• Guarded means the application adds explicit target selection, typed planning, confirmation, bounded execution, cleanup, and evidence. It does not prove that equipment, interlocking, or switching procedures are safe.

Engineering highlights

• Control-model-aware IEC 61850 control: select a control Data Object such as CSWI.Pos; the engine discovers ctlModel, exact live MMS types, and applies Direct Operate or Select-Before-Operate sequencing.
• Operator-oriented OPEN/CLOSE workflow: WPF control tester with live status, interlock check, synchrocheck, Test mode, originator, timeout, cancellation, and protocol evidence.
• MMS client and reporting: association, model discovery, FC-aware reads, DataSet/RCB inventory, report planning, GI, monitoring, and diagnostics.
• GOOSE and Sampled Values: frame codecs, SCL-backed profiles, PCAP inspection, bounded publishing, subscription, sequence supervision, and diagnostics.
• SCL and engineering evidence: expected-vs-observed analysis, readiness profiles, Markdown/JSON evidence, and deterministic simulation.
• Public-source controls: GPL licensing, warnings-as-errors, automated tests, provenance rules, source-hygiene scripts, CI, and release checks.

Guarded IED Control Tester

The IED Discovery desktop app keeps the normal operator workflow concise:

Select CSWI.Pos → open Control Tester → verify status and test conditions → stage OPEN or CLOSE → confirm

The engine applies the discovered sequence:

Discovered control model	Sequence	Completion boundary
Direct, normal security	Oper	Confirmed MMS result
SBO, normal security	SBO → Oper	Confirmed MMS result
Direct, enhanced security	Oper → CommandTermination	Positive or negative termination
SBO, enhanced security	SBOw → Oper → CommandTermination	Positive or negative termination

The control stack also manages:

• exact live ctlVal binding for DPC, SPC, INC/ISC, BSC, and APC variants;
• immutable ctlNum, timestamp T, origin, Test, and Check values across a sequence;
• interlock and synchrocheck request bits;
• SBO ownership, expiry, best-effort Cancel, and association-loss cleanup;
• LastApplError, ControlError, AddCause, and request/response evidence;
• process-feedback readback through the discovered status reference.

See Control Stack, Control Tester, and Live IED Control Validation.

Applications and libraries

Component	Path	Role
Core protocol library	src/AR.Iec61850	BER, MMS, reporting, control, SCL, GOOSE, SV, PCAP, diagnostics
Raw Ethernet transport	src/AR.Iec61850.Transports.Npcap	Windows laboratory process-bus transport
Simulation library	src/AR.Iec61850.Simulation	Deterministic IED profiles, points, DataSets, reports, and events
IED Discovery	apps/AR.Iec61850.IedDiscovery	Live model browser, reporting workspace, and control tester
Engineering Workbench	apps/AR.Iec61850.EngineeringWorkbench	SCL/PCAP diagnostics and evidence-pack workflow
IED Simulator	apps/AR.Iec61850.IedSimulator	Deterministic laboratory MMS server and simulation workspace
SV Publisher	apps/AR.Iec61850.SvPublisher	Sampled Values laboratory publishing and waveform workspace
CLI	apps/AR.Iec61850.Cli	Automation, discovery, diagnostics, simulation, and PCAP commands
Tests	tests/AR.Iec61850.Tests	Codec, state-machine, binding, diagnostics, and regression coverage

Quick start

Requirements

• .NET 8 SDK.
• Windows for WPF applications and the current raw-Ethernet transport.
• An isolated laboratory or approved commissioning network for active publishing or control.

Build and test

git clone https://github.com/masarray/ARIEC61850.git
cd ARIEC61850

dotnet restore .\ARIEC61850.sln
dotnet build .\ARIEC61850.sln -c Release
dotnet test .\ARIEC61850.sln -c Release --no-build
.\scripts\verify-source-clean.cmd

Run IED Discovery

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.IedDiscovery\AR.Iec61850.IedDiscovery.csproj -c Release

Live discovery is read-only. It builds the model from MMS domain and named-variable directories, preserves DataSet member order, inventories RCBs, queries GetVariableAccessAttributes from each logical-node root to recover the FC/DO/DA type hierarchy, and can list the MMS file directory. When a server returns a partial primary FC directory, exact DataSet-member and ReportControl evidence is merged into the model instead of discarding discovered LD/LN containers; the export report labels that recovery and its remaining coverage gap. File service unavailability is reported as evidence and does not discard an otherwise valid model snapshot.

The same desktop app can open vendor SCL/CID/ICD/IID files and use Save SCL to write a generic IID. Offline conversion selects the local IED from an explicit name, Header@id, or an unambiguous filename; removes vendor Private content and later-edition compatibility metadata; prunes peer IED communication and unreachable type templates; and preserves standard DOI/DAI values, FCDA order, DataSets, RCBs, GOOSE/SV controls, and exact source CDC/type definitions.

After live discovery, Save SCL offers the same compatibility choices needed by mixed-edition engineering workflows: Edition 2 Schema V3.1 writes an .iid; Edition 1 Schema V1.6, V1.5, or V1.4 writes an .icd. The selected profile controls root version attributes, schema metadata, report/service fields, and the default extension—it is not only a filename change. Every export also writes JSON/Markdown evidence and preserves warnings for inferred or unavailable information. Live discovery export remains model-driven because MMS cannot recover engineering-only metadata such as the original vendor type IDs, descriptions, private extensions, enum labels, or substation topology.

Before a live command:

1. connect only to an approved test IED;
2. verify the selected control object and current process status;
3. verify switching authority, isolation, blocking, and independent indications;
4. configure Test, interlock, synchrocheck, and origin as required;
5. stage the command and review the confirmation;
6. review MMS acceptance, termination, application errors, and feedback separately.

Discover a live MMS endpoint

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- mms-discover 192.0.2.10 --port 102 --timeout-ms 30000

Export SCL from live MMS discovery

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- `
  mms-scl-export 192.0.2.10 `
  --ied-name IED1 `
  --scl-schema edition2-v3.1 `
  --output .\.artifacts\out\IED1-discovered.iid

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- `
  mms-scl-export 192.0.2.10 `
  --ied-name IED1 `
  --scl-schema edition1-v1.6 `
  --output .\.artifacts\out\IED1-discovered.icd

Inspect SCL and PCAP

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- `
  inspect-scl .\samples\scl\minimal-station.scd

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- `
  scl-save-as .\vendor-relay.cid `
  --ied-name RELAY1 `
  --output .\.artifacts\out\RELAY1.interoperable.iid

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- `
  generate-pcap .\samples\scl\minimal-station.scd .\.artifacts\out\processbus-demo.pcap

dotnet run --project .\apps\AR.Iec61850.Cli -- `
  inspect-pcap .\.artifacts\out\processbus-demo.pcap `
  --scl .\samples\scl\minimal-station.scd

Capability status

Area	Current public scope
MMS client	Association, discovery, FC-aware reads, typed write services, and type inspection
Discovery-to-SCL	Edition 2 V3.1 IID and Edition 1 V1.6/V1.5/V1.4 ICD reconstruction with companion evidence and explicit coverage warnings
IEC 61850 control	Direct/SBO normal/enhanced sequencing, typed values, termination and application-error handling
Reporting	DataSet/RCB discovery, planning, guarded enable/GI, persistent monitoring, and evidence
GOOSE	Encode/decode, SCL profiles, publish/subscribe, sequence and supervision diagnostics
Sampled Values	Encode/decode, waveform and payload generation, publishing, diagnostics, and PCAP workflows
SCL	Station/model parsing, loss-aware vendor normalization, live-discovery reconstruction, communication profiles, and engineering analysis
PCAP	Read/write/inspect, stream analysis, and expected-vs-observed binding
Simulator	Deterministic laboratory MMS server for discovery and read workflows; broader interoperability remains under validation
Security profiles	IEC 62351 profiles are not currently claimed
Certification	No formal third-party conformance claim

Detailed evidence is maintained in the Engine Maturity Matrix.

Platform support

The reusable core targets .NET 8 and is designed to remain cross-platform where the underlying transport permits it. Current desktop applications use WPF and require Windows. Raw process-bus Ethernet uses a Windows-specific transport in the current public implementation.

Safety, security, and claim boundary

Active MMS writes, report-control changes, control operations, GOOSE publishing, Sampled Values publishing, and raw packet replay can change equipment state or network behavior.

Do not connect active functions to an operational substation network without switching authority, an approved procedure, isolation and blocking boundaries, independent verification, and asset-owner authorization. See Security and Operational-Risk Policy.

Contributing

Synthetic or contributor-owned protocol fixtures and SCL samples are welcome when provenance, redistribution rights, and sanitization are documented. Do not submit customer, employer, station, credential, or proprietary material.

Read CONTRIBUTING.md, AGENTS.md, and the Clean-Room and Interoperability Policy before submitting implementation work.

License

The current main branch and current public community release packages are licensed only under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later). See LICENSE.

A separate negotiated commercial license is available from the copyright holder for proprietary integration, OEM or white-label distribution, closed-source redistribution, warranty, maintenance, and priority engineering support. See COMMERCIAL-LICENSE.md.

Official branding is governed separately. See TRADEMARK.md.

Historical revisions through d61a83f5b04e7bd2b847174eeac7f4f6e81ee8e1 remain available under their original terms on branch archive/apache-2.0-final. The historical license text is intentionally not included in the current source tree or current release packages. See Licensing.