Distributed Control System

Distributed Control System (DCS) Systems are used in industrial and civil engineering applications to control distributed systems without human intervention. DCS is a very broad umbrella that describes solutions across a large variety of industries, including:

• Electrical power distribution grids and generation plants
• Environmental control systems
• Traffic signals
• Water management systems

The broad architecture of a DCS solution is involves either a direct connection to physical equipment such as switches or pumps or connection via a secondary system such as a SCADA system. A DCS solution does not require operator intervention for its normal operation, but with the line between SCADA and DCS merging systems claiming to offer DCS may actually permit operator interaction via a SCADA system.

See also:

• SCADA