AGA - American Gas Association; maintains standards in flows rates & volumes
AGC - Automatic Generation Control
BACNet - a Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks http://www.bacnet.org/
BSAP - protocol
CABA - industry association relating to home and building automation http://www.caba.org/ Promotes standards.
ControlNet -
DALI - the Digital Addressable Lighting Interface
DCS – Distributed Control System. Also Digital Control System.
DDE – Dynamic Data Exchange – Microsoft standard for exchanging data between applications
Devicenet – A standard for industrial automation networks promulgated by the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association It uses a common object model and the Control and Information Protocol (CIP).
DMS - Distribution Management System
DNP – Distributed Network Protocol Describes standards for SCADA protocol facilities such as data requests, polling, controls, and report by exception (RBE). Master-slave and Peer-to-Peer communication architectures are supported by DNP 3.0.
DPU – Data Processing Unit
EIA - Electronic Industries Association. Common standards for DCS include 232, 485
EMS - Energy Management Systems
EPRI - Electric Power
Research Institute
Fieldbus - a standard using an all digital, serial, two-way communications system that serves as a Local Area Network (LAN) for factory/plant instrumentation and control devices. See Fieldbus.org
FDD - Field Data Device - RTUs, PLCs & RTU-like devices
GOMSFE - Generic Object Model for Substation and Feeder Equipment
GMP – Good Manufacturing Processes
HART - Highway
Addressable Remote Transducer – a protocol that mixes analog and digital
communication on the same line. See http://www.hartcomm.org/hcf/history.html.
HERF – High Energy Radio Frequency
HMI – Human Machine Interface
IC – Instrumentation Control
IDA - Interface for Distributed Automation
IEC- International Electro technical Commission - leading global organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. 60870-5, -6
IED – Intelligent Electronic Devices
IEE - Institution of Electrical Engineers, based in UK
IEEE - Institute for Electrical & Electronic Engineers, based in USA
IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force
Ladder Logic -
LAN – Local Area Network
MES - Manufacturing Execution Systems
MMI – Man to Machine Interface
MMS - Manufacturing Message Specification - a standardized (ISO 9506) messaging system for exchanging real-time data and supervisory control information between networked devices and/or computer applications.
MODBUS – A registered ® Protocol messaging structure developed by Modicon in 1979, used to establish master-slave/client-server communication between intelligent devices. See http://www.modbus.org/ .
MTU – Master Terminal Unit
OPC – OLE (Online Linking and Embedding) for Process Control
PCS - Process Control Systems
PDU - programmable delay unit; power distribution unit
PID – proportional integral derivative control; a device which reads in parameters and then attempts to correct/stabilize a process which is out of alignment/control.
PLC – Programmable Logic Controller
Profibus -
RCV – Remote Control Valve
RF – Radio Frequency
RTAP -Real Time Application Platform - originally an
HP protocol based on UNIX - see http://www.rug.org/
RTU - Remote Telemetry (or Terminal) Unit
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
SCL - System Configuration Language; SCL(O) & SCL(R) - Oracle & HP extensions
SEL – Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories – a major producer of digital control systems communications processors
SFC - Sequential Function Chart - used to help program PLCs
SSPC 135 - security standard for BACNet
TASE - Telecontrol Application Service Element
TC - Technical Committee
Telemetry - wireless transmission & reception of measured quantities for the purpose of remotely monitoring conditions or parameters
UCA - Utility Communication Architecture
VPN – Virtual Private Network
WAN – Wide Area Network
WAP – Wireless Application Protocol
WEP – Wired Equivalent Privacy