DLMS/COSEM

Introduction
IEC 62056 is a set of standards for electricity metering data exchange by International Electrotechnical Commission.

The IEC 62056 standards are the international standard versions of the DLMS/COSEM specification.

DLMS or Device Language Message Specification (originally Distribution Line Message Specification),[1] is the
suite of standards developed and maintained by the DLMS User Association (DLMS UA) and has been adopted by the
IEC TC13 WG14 into the IEC 62056 series of standards. The DLMS User Association maintains a D Type liaison with IEC
TC13 WG14 responsible for international standards for meter data exchange and establishing the IEC 62056 series. In
this role, the DLMS UA provides maintenance, registration and compliance certification services for IEC 62056
DLMS/COSEM.

COSEM or Companion Specification for Energy Metering, includes a set of specifications that defines
the transport and application layers of the DLMS protocol. The DLMS User Association defines the protocols into a set of
four specification documents namely Green Book, Yellow Book, Blue Book and White Book. The Blue Book describes the
COSEM meter object model and the OBIS object identification system, the Green Book describes the architecture and
protocols, the Yellow Book treats all the questions concerning conformance testing, the White Book contains the
glossary of terms. If a product passes the conformance test specified in the Yellow Book, then a certification of
DLMS/COSEM compliance is issued by the DLMS UA.

The IEC TC13 WG14 groups the DLMS specifications under the common heading: "Electricity metering data exchange -
The DLMS/COSEM suite". DLMS/COSEM protocol is not specific to electricity metering, it is also used for gas, water and
heat metering.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_62056

DLMS Master
Overview
DLMS (Device Language Message Specification) is a suite of standards developed and maintained by the DLMS User
Association. COSEM (Companion Specification for Energy Metering) includes a set of specifications that define the
transport and application layers of the DLMS protocol.

In DLMS/COSEM all the data in electronic utility meters and devices are represented by means of mapping them to
appropriate classes and related attribute values.

Objects are identified with the help of OBIS (Object Identification System) codes (as per IEC 62056-61).

The DLMS driver allows only for readout and displaying only numeric values of DLMS object data fields. Connection via
TCP (HDLC or WRAPPER) or serial (RS232/RS485) port are supported.

The setup of the DLMS driver consists of communication and tag configuration. Protocol specific parameters (except
for DLMS/IEC handshake mode) apply for both serial and IP connections.

Configuration
Devices section
serialnumber, server_address and id define the meter addressing parameters. Either serialnumber (meter serial
number) or a combination of server_address (physical server address) and id (logical server address) is used. If a serial
number is provided, physical and logical server addresses are ignored.

Before configuring the Device section it is best to first check the connection parameters with a 3rd party DLMS
utility.

master_address defines the client address. This usually depends on the authentication used. Most meters support 16
for no authentication.
type defines the object referencing. SN should be used for short name referencing and LN for logical name referencing.

mode defines the communications mode. If IEC is used along with comms settings for serial readout, the connection is
initiated as per IEC 62056-21, at the default initial baud rate (300 7E1). DLMS-HDLC shall be used for HDLC
connections via IP. DLMS-WRAPPER is also supported for IP connections. The default setting is DLMS-HDLC.
timeout_ms defines the reply timeout for telegrams both via serial and TCP.

auth and password define the authentication mode and password. This can be set to None, or other authentication
variant (see table below), depending on the mode configured and supported by the particular meter.
ip and port define the IP address and TCP port for DLMS communication via IP.

Connection parameters are device specific and can differ between makes, models and utility companies. For
initial connection settings please refer to the configuration of the particular meter.

When ip and port are configured, any serial port settings are ignored and connection is initiated only via IP.

Device configuration parameters for DLMS meters acquisition:

Parameter Description Type Default value Example

serialnumber Meter serial number unsigned long 0 1122334455

Meter physical server

slave_address unsigned long 0 1600
address

Meter logical server

id unsigned long 0 1
address

master_address Client address integer 16 1

Meter object referencing:

type SN - short referencing, LN - string SN LN
logical referencing

Comms mode: IEC

handshake (for serial only),
mode string DLMS-HDLC IEC
DLMS-HDLC or DLMS-
WRAPPER (for IP)

timeout_ms Timeout in milliseconds integer 2500 1500

Authentication: None, Low,

High, HighMd5, HighSha1,
auth string None Low
HighSha256, HighGmac
HighEcdsa

Password for
password string n/a MyPass123
authentication

ip IP address string n/a 192.168.1.1

port TCP port integer n/a 4059

Signals section
The tag_job defines the tag job. A list of comma-separated OBIS codes (or a single OBIS) should be used. Attribute
indexes for objects of types register and extended register are selected automatically. Any other object types should
include the attribute index in the form of OBIS:index.
tag_job_todo defines the job sub-job. This field should contain an OBIS code from within the list of the tag_job.

DLMS configuration parameters creating signals:

Parameter Description Type Default value Example

Tag job as single or ”1.0.1.8.0.255,

tag_job multiple comma separated string n/a 1.0.15.8.1.255,
OBIS codes 1.0.31.7.0.255:2”

tag_job_todo tag sub job string n/a ”1.0.15.8.1.255”

 #5
Raimundas Slavinskas 29 September 2020 17:05:57
Algis 10 November 2020 23:37:05