V rossiyskoy elektroenergetike sistemy releynoy zashchity i avtomatiki obespechivayut lokalizatsiyu i predotvrashchenie razvitiya avariy, ustoychivost' raboty energosistem i snizhenie ushcherba pri povrezhdenii oborudovaniya. V nikh tsifrovye sistemy peredachi informatsii chasto ispol'zuyutsya kak kanaly dlya differentsial'nykh zashchit liniy i ustroystv peredachi avariynykh signalov i komand. V predlagaemykh chitatelyu stat'yakh privedeny trebovaniya k tsifrovym kanalam dlya releynoy zashchity i avtomatiki. Rassmotreny raznye kontseptsii i resheniya po organizatsii tsifrovykh kanalov v setyakh SDH/PDH i MPLS kak dlya sushchestvuyushchikh, tak i perspektivnykh sistem releynoy zashchity i avtomatiki. Oboznacheny ikh dostoinstva i nedostatki. Udeleno vnimanie rezervirovaniyu tsifrovykh kanalov, kotoroe yavlyaetsya nemalovazhnym dlya povysheniya nadezhnosti raboty sistem releynoy zashchity i avtomatiki v tselom. Zatronuty voprosy obespecheniya informatsionnoy bezopasnosti, kotorye priobreli v poslednie gody osobuyu aktual'nost'. Privedennye v dannom izdanii materialy mogut byt' interesny i polezny spetsialistam, sfera deyatel'nosti kotorykh svyazana s kanalami dlya releynoy zashchity i avtomatiki.