UTILITIES & POWER PLANTS: Embedded Systems (Revised 12/16/97)
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Power grid problems. Hawaiian Electric Company ran tests for Year 2000 compliance in a simulator and found that "it simply stopped working". Part of its generation and transmission system would stop, and part would deliver power "at higher frequencies".
cv.nrao.edu Aug '97
Power Plant Failure. Embedded controller test shuts down 500 MW power plant....
techstocks.com
Utilities & Y2K & Embedded Chips ... Oh Dear!
techstocks.com
Unexpected Gotcha's ... MORE Problems
techstocks.com
Control systems in power plants,T&D, and offices all depend on "embedded software" that might fail at the turn of the century. This "Year 2000 Problem" is quite different from the well-publicized Y2K problem in utility business software applications running on mainframe computers ... impact could potentially be severe and widespread.
epri.com
Letter & Questions for Engineers at Power Utilities Who are Dealing With Y2K & Embedded Systems
ourworld.compuserve.com
Knoxville Utilities Board offices will become a computerized time machine next Labor Day weekend as time leaps ahead more than 15 months ... That's when KUB will run computer system clocks forward to ensure that the utility is properly ''inoculated'' against a potentially fatal case of the ''millennium bug'' ..... 2 to 4 percent of computers with embedded microchips -- perhaps 2 million devices could fail, adversely affecting everything from telephone systems and fax machines to military messaging systems, automatic lawn sprinklers & medical pacemaker devices.
knoxnews.com
Year 2000 computer and embedded controls problem presents the most challenging USQ (unreviewed safety questions) in the history of nuclear energy.
accsyst.com
Gary North - COMPREHENSIVE, CONSTANTLY UPDATED ARTICLES:
garynorth.com
Links are at bottom of page, past his editorial.
BASIN ELECTRIC
Dave Anderson, year-2000 expert at Basin Electric, said precautions must be taken before the calendar rolls over to Jan. 1, 2000. At that moment, everything from alarm clocks and automated teller machines to traffic lights and power grid systems could immediately fail.
basinelectric.com
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Y2K ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE
EPRI proposes to work with electric utilities to resolve their Year 2000 embedded systems issues." 9/19/97: Removed Y2K Contractors page due to concerns about liability.
epri.com
ELECTRICAL UTILITIES & Y2K - Excellent Site
euy2k.com
Y2K & ELECTRICAL UTILITIES SITE
techstocks.com
NOTEWORTHY UTILITY Y2K WEB SITES
ourworld.compuserve.com
Includes The World's Best Utility Y2k Web Site with Great Emphasis on the Embedded Systems Threat
FEI Y2K SITE (U.K., Federation of the Electronics Industry):
fm6.facility.pipex.com
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UTILITIES: Some of the equipment & hardware that may have suspect Y2k-compliant embedded systems:
* access and security systems
* attendance recording systems
* auxiliary equipment, e.g. battery chargers
* budget meters , including keys and vending machines
* building facilities, e.g. lifts
* cameras and projection equipment
* credit meters
* date stamps
* disturbance analysers
* environment control systems, e.g. heating, air conditioning and lighting
* equipment in sub-stations
* fault recorders
* fire alarms
* garage equipment
* generators
* hand-held metering devices
* helicopter systems
* LAN and WAN services
* meter test station equipment
* mobile plant
* networks and support services
* NGC metering
* pole mounted reclosers
* relays and other protection devices
* SCADA and associated services
* telephony and PMR services
* televisions and video recorders
* test equipment
* trunk network services
* vehicle engine management systems
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PROBLEMS WITH GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM & UTILITIES MAY START AUGUST '99
As an integral part of any electrical operations system, timing is the technology on which many of its functions are based. Generation and power transfers are planned in advance. Utilities coordinate with each other by making adjustments on a GPS timed schedule. Outages for
maintenance are scheduled to ensure that they do not interrupt reliable power delivery. Disturbance records are aligned with recorded GPS time tags for analysis and comparison with related information. Price varies with demand, so even billing is based on time. Advanced applications like locating power line faults (short circuits) and real-time phase measurement require continuous timing with high precision. And bad timing can throw a monkey wrench into all these operations.
"GPS System Time will roll over at midnight 21-22 August 1999, 132 days before the Year 2000. On 22 August 1999, unless repaired, many GPS receivers will claim that it is 6 January 1980, 23 August will become 7 January, and so on. Accuracy of navigation may also be severely affected. Although it appears that GPS broadcasts do contain sufficient data to ensure that navigation need not be affected by rollover in 1999, it is not proven that the firmware in all receivers will handle the rollovers in stride; some receivers may claim wrong locations in addition to incorrect dates."
Some manufacturers have already solved the problem, but some have not.
The firmware in all affected (mostly older) receivers will have to be replaced. This will involve replacement of PROMs; some are socketed, some are soldered. As a technical matter, the solution is quite simple. It's the logistics that will take some effort.
Without a GPS Simulator, there is no way for users to test a GPS receiver for this problem. Users are encouraged to contact their receiver manufacturer to determine if their receiver will be affected. |
