DinBox RTU M4: SCADA IEC 60870-5-104/Modbus device, now with TLS and basic VPN IPsec security!

The DinBox RTU M4 is a low-cost micro RTU with built-in wide range AC power supply. The power supply comes with a supercap back-up, in order to ensure the required energy to communicate with the SCADA system, even after a mains  power supply disconnect. Direct WAN communication is possible thanks to the built-in Sierra Wireless communication module. Everything is managed by a powerful Cortex M4 microcontroller. Finally, the RTU is built into a DIN rail mountable housing.

The DinBox RTU M4 uses IEC 60870-5-104 to communicate as a Slave with the SCADA IEC 60870-5-104 Master system. The DinBox has 8 active digital inputs, which enables monitoring events when a change has been detected. Furthermore, it has 2 digital outputs which can becontrolled via SCADA commands, and 2 analogue inputs to monitor.
Thanks to the modbus RTU-to-IEC104 mapping the DinBox RTU M4 can be used as a gateway to connect other modbus slave IEDs. Also the DinBox RTU M4 has the capacity to be connectecd by (up to) 6 Master SCADA IEC 60870-5-104.

Authentication, integrity and security are provided per application or service running on the RTU by protecting the transport layer of the protocol stack with TLS (Transport Layer Security). Integrating TLS in a non-TLS SCADA setup can be done by installing a TLS Proxy service. This service runs on the trusted network and serves as an endpoint towards the TLS RTU. Also the RTU has an ethernet port which allows LAN or WAN routing.

The DinBox RTU M4 can be remotely managed for mass firmwares (Q4 2020), remote parametrization and 'Plug & Play automatic commissioning (Q4 2020).

Specifications:

• Communication
  Sierra Wireless CF3 HL footprint
  HL7692 – FDE band LTE Cat-1 with dual band
  GSM/GPRS/EDGE fallback
  SIM card and/or eSIM
  eUICC possibilities
  50 ohm FME antenna connector
• Interfaces & Connectors
  RS-232 non-isolated (used for debugging)
  RS-485 / 2-wire galvanically isolated (used for
  modbus connection)
  Ethernet 10/100Mbit/s for WAN/LAN routing
  MMC/SD memory card holder
  8x DI active 24 Vdc
  2x DO optomos 'solid state', 600 Vpeak / 90 mAmax
  2x AI 0-5 Vdc, non-isolated, 12-bit single ended ADC
• Protocols
  IEC 60870-5-104 (up to 6 Masters can connect to the RTU slave function)
  NMKD-3085 ASCII
  FTP
  Modbus RTU
  MQTT (Q1 2021)
• Security
  Authentication and Data Encryption via TLS (Transport Layer Security)
  (Basic) VPN IPsec
• Configuration
  Local via HTML GUI
  Remote via HTML GUI & Telnet commands
• Power Supply
  85-264 AC or 9-25V DC
  Watchdog reset
  Supercap backup or NiMH rechargeable battery pack
• Housing
  Type: Phoenix Dinrail enclosure
  Housing material: Reinforced polyamide fiber
  Housing type: DINrail housing side element, two pieces necessary to close base element, 1,5mm thick.
  DINrail snapslot for easy DINrail mounting
  Color: green
  Dimensions housing: : 172 mm x 35 mm x 135 mm
  Ambient temperature (operation) -40°C +105°C
  Inflammability class acc. to UL 94: HB
  Power dissipation at 20°C in horizontal mounting position: 8.9W 18.3W
  IP51
• Mass Management tool (Q1 2021)
  RTU automatic commissioning: remote activation of RTU's
  Remote firmware update
  Remote configuration updates of devices in the field such as:
  o Modem parameters
  o Router settings
  o RTU parameters
  o Metrology/PQ parameters
  Remote RTU 'health monitoring': monitoring of 'real time events' and funcitonality of devices in the field such as:
  o Grouping of modems and RTU's...