The XCell RTU platform has been designed to facilitate the automation of T&D networks by collecting, processing and distributing data within the hostile electrical environment of MV and HV substations. The XCell RTU offers high performance with high availability supporting a range of redundancy options including multi-processors, redundant substation communications, dual power feed, and redundant communications to remote Control Centres. It offers a vast library of protocols including IEC101/104/103, DNP3 and IEC61850 to support most IEDs and Control Centre communications. Support for IEC61850 offers an integration platform for existing and future IEDs. The RTU offers extensive automation functions, including IEC61131 applications, ranging from simple to the most complex.

The XCell architecture is based on modular hardware and software. The basic cell processor supports up to four I/O modules that can be selected from a variety of plug and play modules with various point counts, interface functionality and termination options. The cells can be combined, either centrally or distributed, providing a very modular and flexible hardware platform. The number and combination of modules or cells can be selected to meet the specific site requirements. The hardware architecture is designed such that each cell processes a limited number of directly connected hardware channels. This modularity means that the number of processors increases with the size of the system resulting in higher processing capacity for larger systems. Up to 250 processors and associated I/O (256 channels each) can be combined on the LAN to provide a system capacity of 64,000 I/O points on one system. This ensures that ample processing capacity is available for any functionality demanded by the site requirements. This powerful architecture allows it to timestamp all status inputs to 1ms accuracy. Additional data may be included from IEDs or serially connected XCell systems, resulting in very large system capacity.

Cells may be added to the system in run time without interfering with the running system. The existing cells will automatically recognise the new cells and all cells will exchange data to synchronise the new cells. Similarly, cells may be removed from a system in run time without affecting other active cells. The remaining cells will automatically detect the loss of the cells and will assign bad data quality to any associated data points. This means that maintenance and cell replacement can be performed without a complete system shut down