GE D20 EME Ethernet/Memory Board D20EME

Product Details:

The GE D20 EME is a critical legacy interface and memory expansion board designed for the GE D20 Modular Protection and Control System. This versatile module served two primary functions essential for system configuration, integration, and data management in electrical power applications.

Its core feature is the integration of an industrial-grade 10BASE5 Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) interface, commonly known as "Thicknet." This allowed D20 systems to be connected to early-generation local area networks (LANs) for centralized supervision within a substation or control room. This network connectivity enabled real-time data exchange, remote configuration, and integration with Energy Management Systems (EMS) or SCADA platforms, facilitating advanced monitoring and control of power distribution equipment.

Secondly, the board provided significant Memory Expansion for the D20 controller. The additional memory capacity was crucial for handling more complex protection and control logic, storing larger sets of historical event and fault data, and supporting extensive system configurations. This made the D20 EME an essential component for demanding applications requiring detailed sequence-of-event recording (SER) and sophisticated automation schemes.

As a ruggedized component designed for harsh substation environments, the D20 EME board was built to operate reliably within wide temperature ranges and withstand significant electrical noise. While 10BASE5 technology is now obsolete, this module played a vital role in the evolution of digital substation automation, bridging the gap between standalone protective relays and networked intelligent electronic devices (IEDs).