About Services
Smart Energy Smart Water & IoT Building Automation Security & Assets Connectivity Cybersecurity Data & AI
Why CPS Case Studies FAQ Contact Us
Control cabinet with an older controller wired alongside newer controllers and a gateway
Capability example

Bridging Modbus, DNP3 and IEC 60870-5-104 on one site

Most industrial sites weren’t built in one go: different decades, different vendors, different protocols. This is how RTUs and protocol gateways bring them all into a single SCADA feed without ripping anything out.

Type
Capability example: a real capability of the hardware we deploy
Typical setting
Treatment works, factory or mine with equipment from several eras
Core hardware
Multi-protocol RTUs, Modbus gateways, serial device servers, DLMS gateways
Protocols supported
Modbus RTU/TCP, DNP3, IEC 60870-5-101/103/104, IEC 61850, DLMS/COSEM, MQTT
Physical interfaces
RS-232, RS-485, Ethernet, GSM/LTE
Typical programme
A few weeks per site after the audit

The problem it solves

A typical plant has an older PLC on Modbus RTU, telemetry outstations on DNP3, newer equipment on Modbus TCP, utility meters on DLMS and a head-end SCADA that expects IEC 60870-5-104. Each was the right choice when it was bought.

The usual answer is a rip-and-replace quote: new PLCs, new meters, new wiring, new SCADA, and weeks of downtime. But the equipment still works. What’s missing is translation.

How it works

  1. Inventory every protocol

    We list each device, its protocol, its physical interface (RS-232, RS-485 or Ethernet) and the data points that matter. Many devices hold far more data than anyone reads today.

  2. Translate at the edge

    A multi-protocol RTU acts as the site’s protocol hub: it reads Modbus, DNP3 and IEC 61850 devices and passes everything upstream as one IEC 60870-5-104 or MQTT stream. Modbus gateways and serial device servers bring serial devices onto Ethernet; DLMS gateways convert utility meters to Modbus.

  3. Normalise the data

    Tags are named, scaled and time-stamped consistently, so a pump looks the same in SCADA whether it’s run by a twenty-year-old PLC or a new one.

  4. Keep control local

    Existing PLCs keep running their own logic. The gateway layer adds visibility and, where wanted, supervisory commands, without becoming a single point of failure for the process.

System architecture

How the layers connect, from the people using the system down to the equipment in the field.

Upstream
  • Your SCADA platform
  • or a new SCADA system
  • or a cloud platform via MQTT
Single feed
  • IEC 60870-5-104 or MQTT
  • One RTU per site
Edge translation
  • Multi-protocol RTU (protocol hub)
  • Modbus gateway
  • Serial device server
  • DLMS gateway
Existing devices
  • Legacy PLCs on Modbus RTU
  • Outstations on DNP3
  • Relays on IEC 61850
  • Meters on DLMS/COSEM

What the capability includes

  • Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP on the same RTU
  • DNP3 and IEC 60870-5-101, -103 and -104 support
  • IEC 61850 MMS client for protection relays
  • DLMS/COSEM electricity meter reading through gateways
  • MQTT publishing for cloud and analytics platforms
  • IEC 61131-3 programmable logic for local calculations and interlocks

What it delivers

No rip-out
Working equipment stays in service
One feed
Every device on one SCADA protocol
8 protocols
Supported across the hardware we deploy
MQTT
Cloud analytics alongside SCADA
Common Questions

Questions about
this kind of project.

Can you integrate with the SCADA system we already have?

Yes. The RTU publishes standard IEC 60870-5-104, DNP3, Modbus TCP or MQTT, which most SCADA and historian platforms accept. Your existing platform can stay.

Does adding a gateway slow the process down?

No. Gateways sit on the monitoring path while existing PLCs keep running their control loops locally. Where supervisory commands are added, they’re limited to the points you approve.

What if a device’s protocol isn’t on the list?

Most industrial devices offer Modbus or hard-wired I/O as a fallback, and the RTU can read contacts and 4–20 mA signals directly. We confirm every device during the audit before quoting.

Keep Reading

More case studies.

All case studies
Roadside utility cabinet at night with a door sensor and a green status light
Security · Remote Sites
Representative scenario

Securing unmanned infrastructure cabinets in the field

Cabinet access, temperature and tamper status reported over the same RTU network already carrying energy and water telemetry: one platform, not a separate system.

Read the case study
Network rack with an industrial firewall in a control room overlooking a production line
Cybersecurity · OT/IT Separation
Representative scenario

Getting plant data out without exposing a single PLC

Read-only data paths and Purdue Model segmentation, so operational data reaches SCADA and reporting tools while control-layer ports stay closed to the outside.

Read the case study
Get Started

Let’s build Africa’s
smart future together.

Rising energy costs, water scarcity, and tightening ESG mandates demand a partner who has solved these challenges before.

Send Us a Message
Chat with us