The lightweight, universal, control & instrument data protocol
Lucid is a free to use, open source protocol that bridges the gap between Operational Technology (OT) and IoT.
The Lucid Protocol (Lucid) provides a rich set of functions for the management of data gathering and control devices. This functionality was previously implemented using manufacturer-specific protocols in telemetry and remote SCADA systems.
Works in all common situations: from transferring thousands of packets per minute between server applications, down to tiny devices passing small amounts of data using slow or unreliable connections.
Connects devices to a single server application, or multiple applications, or connects multiple server applications together as a single {lucid} application provider network.
Maintains common outstation and data logging functionality. It also has the smallest cost to implement and allows existing WITS systems to share operating philosophy.
Simple to implement; built on standard protocols, techniques & libraries. Simple to test; assures functionality and compatibility. As well as simple, it’s also secure, with all the latest security features included.
Lucid can rapidly transfer data, alarms, events and configuration in a real-time event-driven architecture.
Lucid is used in place of older proprietary or limited telemetry protocols between remotely deployed Field Devices (FDs) and one or more central Supervisory Application (SA) servers in the user’s network.
Lucid is also used between SA servers and between different organisations, providing a secure, real-time event-driven conduit for telemetry information.
Lucid is built by telemetry experts to fulfill the needs of OT, IT and IoT operations. The built-in functionality originally rose out of requirements within the UK Water Industry and are now considered as common functions across the whole of industrial IoT. Lucid is expandable so new functions and types of data can be easily added while maintaining compatibility.
Point information
Definition of device capabilities
Point change reporting
Provision of security
Time-summarised Points
Logging of Point data for later retrieval
Calculated Points
Vendor customisable extensions for SA UI layout
Synchronisation of time
Monitoring & controlling device configuration
Control of Point values
Download & upgrade of device firmware
Lucid was pioneered and developed by a small team from within the Worldwide Industrial Telemetry Standards (WITS) technical group between around 2016 and 2023. Its design was driven from the experiences of using WITS-DNP3 and the increasing number of smaller monitoring devices that users wished to deploy, along with discussions within the WITS community on user’s needs.
The Lucid standard provides the following key features:
Lucid was created because IIoT devices were starting to become available, but there was no standard way to interoperate with them to perform the activities required in a modern utility company. MQTT provided a standardised method for sending the data, but on its own it is not enough to provide interoperability because it does not define the contents of the data; Lucid does this.
By basing Lucid on modern, simple, widely adopted standards, such as JSON and MQTT, its complexity is low and therefore a vendor should be able to implement it on their products at a reasonable cost.
Lucid provides a standard and powerful protocol which users can request of vendors to assist them in controlling the proliferation of interfaces from the many IoT and IIoT devices they may wish to use.
Lucid is published by WITS (the Worldwide Industrial Telemetry Standards group) and will be openly available from their website. There is no charge for the protocol and anyone is free to use it. The protocol has been made free in order to promote adoption and to provide users with a more capable option than similar protocols such as OPC-UA or Sparkplug-B.
The name Lucid was originally coined from the abbreviation of Lightweight Universal Control and Instrument Data protocol, although now we just refer to it as Lucid. Happily, Lucid also means "Clearly expressed, easily understood" which is a core aim of the protocol development in contrast to many traditional Telemetry protocols.
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Lucid is a free, open source protocol that bridges a gap between Operational Technology (OT) and IoT technology.
