Abstract: The characteristics of faults in distribution networks have undergone significant changes due to the high penetration of renewable energy sources, placing higher demands on the coordination of relay protection. This paper focuses on the impact of distributed generation integration on the hierarchical protection of power systems. The study first provides a detailed analysis of the operational characteristics of inverter-based distributed generation, with a particular focus on their control methods and low-voltage ride-through capabilities.Furthermore, the paper delves into the characteristics of faults when distributed generation is connected to the distribution network. It examines the impact of distributed generation on power system relay protection from the perspectives of upstream, downstream, and neighboring feeders, particularly solving the problem of coordination among transformer protection, distribution protection, and user protection. To address this challenge, the paper introduces the concepts of low-voltage ride-through matrices, user branch coefficient matrices, and distributed generation coefficient matrices, along with formulas defining their interrelationships.Lastly, the paper conducts case studies to validate the effectiveness and scientific validity of the proposed collaborative hierarchical protection optimization method for power systems.