The characteristics of messages in distributed substation automation network communication system are analyzed, and the messages can be divided into periodic, stochastic and un-planned data. The real-time performance and reliability of message transmission are applied as the criteria of veracity evaluation and the RTPS (Real-Time Publish/Subscribe) protocol is proposed for substation automation network communication system. Nodes send data through 'Publish' and receive demanded data through 'Subscribe'. Real-time performance and reliability are considered synthetically. A 16-node substation automation network communication model is established based on RTPS using OPNET Modeler simulation software. Simulation results for periodic, random and unplanned data communication are satisfying.