342results about "Centralised architecture usage" patented technology

A method, apparatus, and system for providing a power monitoring service to an electric power consumer at a power consumer site involves providing a monitoring unit at the power consumer site with connections to probes on individual power distribution circuits emanating from a power distribution and control panel of the consumer site. The monitoring unit measures a power consumption of each of the power distribution circuits using the probes, and communicates power consumption data related to the respective power distribution circuits to a power monitoring server that collects and analyzes the power consumption data. The power monitoring server has a circuit description table that identifies each of the power distribution circuits to permit detailed billing to the power consumer. The monitoring server also uses per-circuit information relating to many power consumers to compute at least one aggregate power consumption profile.

A battery monitoring system for simultaneously managing the batteries in 100 or more remote locations, each of said locations comprising a battery string with 100 or fewer cells, said system comprising:a. an individual battery monitor operatively engaged with at least one of said cells;b. a network access module in communication with said battery monitor, said network access module comprising a modem compatible with an M2M data communication protocol, said protocol comprising assigning a variable IP address to said network access module modem upon initiation of a connection to a battery manager; andc. said battery manager comprising a fixed IP address that can be connected to via said M2M data protocol upon said initiation of said connection,wherein said network access module is programmed to periodically transfer battery monitor data, including ohmic measurements, to said battery manager at a frequency of not less than once per week and with a total rate of data transfer of not more than 1 Mb per month.

A one way direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) communications wide-area network is the data collection channel (uplink) of an automatic meter reading (AMR) system, and a paging network, or other suitable communication channel is the optional forward (downlink) channel. The communications network may include one-way meter modules (transmitters) each communicatively coupled to a corresponding electric, gas or water utility meter, and may include two-way meter modules (transceivers) each coupled to such a corresponding utility meter. The meter modules monitor, store, encode and periodically transmit metering data via radio signals (air messages) in an appropriate RF channel. Metering data air messages are collected by a network of receiver Base Stations (BS) and forwarded to a Data Operations Center (DOC), which acts as a metering data gateway. The reception range of each base station is typically over 5 miles in urban areas, allowing sparse infrastructure deployment for a wide variety of metering data collection applications.

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for managing and monitoring a plurality of emergency power supply systems (EPSS's) at a facility via an emergency power management system (EPMS). The EPMS generally comprises EPSS equipment, a management computer system for managing, monitoring, and testing the operational characteristics of the EPSS equipment, and a plurality of interface modules for providing unified communication capabilities between the management computer system and the EPSS equipment. Additional aspects relate to methods for easily and efficiently creating and installing an EPMS at a facility. Further aspects are directed to providing predictive analyses related to the EPSS equipment. Also, aspects of the present disclosure relate to normalizing EPSS equipment information across varying vendors, makes, and models of equipment so as to provide a unified view of all equipment across a given facility.

A communication part of a battery charge state transmission device of a charging device acquires charge state information of each external charge vehicle. A station communication part transmits the charge state information to an information management station device. The charge state information is grouped for transmission so that the number of transmissions, the amount of communication traffic and the cost of communication with the management station device, and the operation load of the management station device are reduced.

A battery monitoring network is provided that includes a battery. The battery monitoring network also includes a battery monitoring system integrated within the battery. The battery monitoring system includes a diagnostic system configured to monitor or to store one or more battery parameters of the battery. Additionally, the battery monitoring system includes a transmitter configured to transmit data indicative of the one or more battery parameters of the battery. Furthermore, battery monitoring network includes a cloud-based computing network having a remote server configured to receive the data indicative of the one or more battery parameters of the battery. Moreover, the cloud-based computing network is configured to interface with a plurality of battery monitoring systems, and includes an internet connection.

The different advantageous embodiments provide an apparatus comprising a sensor system, a computer system, and a satellite transceiver. The sensor system is configured to generate data about a vessel and an environment around the vessel. The computer system is connected to the sensor system. The computer system is configured to receive the data from the sensor system, generate vessel information about the data, and send the vessel information to a remote location. The satellite transceiver is connected to the computer system. The satellite transceiver is configured to send the vessel information to and receive other information from the remote location.

A smart window includes a windowpane, at least one sensor and a wireless signal transceiver. The sensor is disposed on the windowpane and configured for detecting an environmental factor and accordingly outputting a sensing signal. The wireless signal transceiver is disposed on the windowpane and electrically connected to the sensor. The wireless signal transceiver is configured for further transmitting the sensing signal from the sensor. A smart window system includes the aforementioned smart window. The smart window and the smart window system adopt wireless communication manner to transmit the sensing signals, and thereby the smart window system has an overall modulation to an environmental factor.

What is disclosed is a mobile railway car monitoring system. The mobile railway car monitoring system includes a plurality of sensor nodes coupled to an undercarriage portion of a railway car, and a control node coupled to the railway car. Each of the plurality of sensor nodes is configured to monitor the undercarriage portion of the railway car when in motion and transmit information about the undercarriage portion to the control node. The control node is configured to receive the information about the undercarriage portion, process the information to determine a fault condition for the undercarriage portion, and wirelessly report the fault condition to a collection system.

A method of forming ad hoc RSI hierarchical communication networks among pluralities of wireless transceivers includes assigning to each of the transceivers one or more common designations. A network organization routine of the transceivers operates to establish hierarchical networks based on the transceivers' common designations, resulting in a logical network organization that provides efficiencies for acquiring information from particular transceivers that share a common designation. Each transceiver's common designation is used by a digital processor of the transceiver to selectively receive data packets that are intended for receipt by transceivers sharing the particular common designation. Such a “common designation” network reduces power consumption and signal interference thereby increasing battery life. Each transceiver may include a sensor interface a query handling routine in communication with a memory of the transceiver for serving as a dynamic distributed hierarchical database system of information such as, for example, sensor-derived information and time-sensitive information.

A system and method for interfacing with sensors using an open architecture and standards based approach is provided. A sensor controller located on each container and any variety of one or more sensors are equipped with complementary short range wireless communications devices. The sensor may adhere to a predefined interface specification such that it may be automatically commissioned into, and operation in conjunction with the sensor controller and the container security system.

A system to monitor the health of a structure, health monitoring sensor nodes, program product, and associated methods are provided. The system includes an array of health monitoring sensor nodes connected to or embedded within a structure to monitor the health of the structure. Each health monitoring sensor node includes sensor elements positioned to sense parameters of the structure and to provide data related to the parameters to a health monitoring sensor node interrogator. Each health monitoring sensor node has a tunable antenna arrangement individually tunable to minimize data collisions between each other of the health monitoring sensor nodes. Each health monitoring sensor node also includes a processor and memory in communication with the processor storing a parameter processing program product adapted to control tuning the antenna arrangement and providing data to the health monitoring sensor node interrogator.

A system is provided that allows the aggregation of a plurality of inputs from an electrical grid and the display of the plurality of inputs on a single integrated display for a network operator. The system accepts signals from electrical loads and generation devices and analyzes the inputs to determine potential issues or trends, including fault predictions and recommends contingency plans. The system presents these potential issues and possible corrective actions to the network operator. The network operator may initiate actions, such as dispatching loads or activating generation capacity for example, in response.

A sensor tag which in use will be affixed to a vehicle for obtaining vehicle telematics data includes a battery for powering the tag and a processor running executable code to process accelerometer data. An accelerometer measures the acceleration of the tag and thereby of the vehicle, and also controls the operation of the processor. A memory is used for storing a unique tag identifier of the tag and for storing trip data including information about trips and acceleration data. Finally, a communication module is used for short range wireless communication with a mobile communications device located in the vehicle via a short range wireless communications protocol, the communication module transmitting the tag's unique identifier and a sequence of time stamped acceleration data. The mobile communications device obtains GPS data, combines this with the acceleration date and transmits this to a server for analysis.

Disclosed is a method for setting sequential ID to a multi-slave BMS in a battery pack, the battery pack including N (N: natural number of 2 or more) slave BMSs having sequential physical locations to control a battery module containing at least one battery and a main BMS to control the N slave BMSs.

A one-way direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) communications wide-area network is used as the data collection channel (uplink) of an automatic meter reading (AMR) application and a paging network, or other suitable downlink network, is used as an optional forward (downlink) channel in a cost-effective manner. The network is simple to deploy, highly scalable and modular. It offers a wide range of service options, from basic daily meter readings to advanced applications based on interval consumption data, to full two-way applications, while keeping the system's deployment and ongoing costs proportional to the service options and capacity requirements selected for various segments of the meter population. A high-output-power meter module is introduced, which provides significant benefits when operating on the network.

A system for providing power substation event data to one or more master stations including: a plurality of intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) monitoring electrical power systems in a power substation, wherein each IED collects event data regarding conditions of a monitored electrical power system and queues the event data for transmission; a data concentrator in data communication with the IEDs, the concentrator including a database for storing IED event data transmitted from the event data queued in the IEDs and event queues in the concentrator for buffering IED event data from the database, and at least one master station in data communication with the concentrator, wherein the master station reads IED event data from event queues in the concentrator, and further the concentrator clears the event queues after the data is read by the master station.

An environmental monitoring device that monitors the operation of a legacy electronic device is described. In particular, a sensor in the environmental monitoring device provides sensor data that represents an environmental condition in an external environment that includes the environmental monitoring device. This environmental condition is associated with the operation of the legacy electronic device in the external environment. The environmental monitoring device analyzes the sensor data and provides feedback about the operation of the legacy electronic device based on the analyzed sensor data. Moreover, the sensor provides the sensor data without or excluding communication and / or electrical coupling between the environmental monitoring device and the legacy electronic device. In this way, the environmental monitoring device facilitates monitoring, analysis and feedback of the sensor data without directly interacting with the legacy electronic device.

An electronic device that determines a risk metric for a physical object associated with an environment is described. This electronic device receives sensor data from a set of electronic devices (which may or may not include the electronic device) that are located in separate, neighboring or proximate environments. The sensor data represents environmental conditions in these environments. By analyzing and comparing the sensor data the electronic device assesses the environmental condition and determines the risk metric for at least one of the environments (such as a risk metric for a power failure). Furthermore, the risk metric may be used to calculate a financial value, such as a commercial value or an insurance premium of the physical object associated with at least the one environment. Note that the physical object may be included in at least the one environment or at least the one environment may include the physical object.

In a central system for receiving reports of utility usage from a number of remote meters, a provision is made for assuring that a received report has actually been transmitted from a meter that has been registered with the central system. During the registration process, the meter transmits its public cryptographic code to the central system. With each report of utility usage, the meter sends a version of a message encrypted with its private cryptographic key. The central system decrypts this message with the meter's public key. If it matches an unencrypted version of the message it is known that the meter sent the report. The unencrypted message may be generated by the central system and transmitted to the meter in a request for a report, or it may be generated by the meter and sent along with the encrypted version.

A method in a radio frequency (RF) addressable sensor for communicating sensor data to a wireless sensor reader for transmission over a communications network, wherein the RF addressable sensor includes one or more sensor elements. The method includes (a) receiving signals from the wireless sensor reader; (b) obtaining analog sensor data from at least one sensor element; (c) converting the analog sensor data to digital sensor data; (d) communicating the digital sensor data to the wireless sensor reader for transmission over the communications network; and (e) communicating additional information to the wireless sensor reader. Steps (a) and (d) include common designation network communications. The RF addressable sensor is capable of powering down to conserve energy and capable of powering up in response to an electronic signal. The RF addressable sensor includes (i) a transmitter and a first receiver, and (ii) a second receiver that is configured to screen a radio frequency transmission.

The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system using a grouped data structure. The central processing unit of the electronic electric power meter collects the data having similar function and groups the same. Each group is classified into main items, and each main item is classified into sub-items and is stored in the memory apparatus, and when a data transmission request signal of the wired and wireless meter reading terminal and the remote meter reading server is inputted in accordance with a data address system corresponding to a grouped data stored in the memory apparatus, a collecting data corresponding to the data address system that the data transmission request signal represents is selected, and is transmitted to the wired and wireless meter reading terminal and the remote meter reading server, respectively. Therefore, when the meter reader collects a data of the electronic electric power meter at the current place, it is possible to decrease the meter reading time by collecting only the data needed. The work time is decreased. Since only the data needed for the work is stored, it is possible to save the space of the memory apparatus. Only the data needed is received, and the work is performed, an expensive equipment is not needed.

A computer-implemented method for identifying a property usage type based upon sensor data includes, with customer permission or affirmative consent, receiving data generated by various sensors; generating a report that includes a listing of events recorded by each sensor; analyzing data from the report to determine a property usage type score; receiving data regarding types and levels of insurance coverage associated with the property usage type score; receiving data derived from a homeowner's insurance policy; comparing the types and levels of insurance coverage associated with the property usage type score with the types and levels of insurance coverage from the homeowner's current insurance policy; and transmitting a message to the homeowner to update their insurance policy if there are differences between (i) the insurance coverage that the homeowner has, and (ii) the insurance coverage the homeowner should have based upon the property usage type score.

A computer-implemented method for identifying a property usage type based upon sensor data includes, with customer permission or affirmative consent, receiving data generated by various sensors; generating a report that includes a listing of events recorded by each sensor; analyzing data from the report to determine a property usage type score; receiving data regarding types and levels of insurance coverage associated with the property usage type score; receiving data derived from a homeowner's insurance policy; comparing the types and levels of insurance coverage associated with the property usage type score with the types and levels of insurance coverage from the homeowner's current insurance policy; and transmitting a message to the homeowner to update their insurance policy if there are differences between (i) the insurance coverage that the homeowner has, and (ii) the insurance coverage the homeowner should have based upon the property usage type score.

An environmental monitoring device that monitors the operation of a legacy electronic device is described. In particular, a sensor in the environmental monitoring device provides sensor data that represents an environmental condition in an external environment that includes the environmental monitoring device. This environmental condition is associated with the operation of the legacy electronic device in the external environment. The environmental monitoring device analyzes the sensor data and provides feedback about the operation of the legacy electronic device based on the analyzed sensor data. Moreover, the sensor provides the sensor data without or excluding communication and / or electrical coupling between the environmental monitoring device and the legacy electronic device. In this way, the environmental monitoring device facilitates monitoring, analysis and feedback of the sensor data without directly interacting with the legacy electronic device.

A system and method for monitoring photovoltaic power generation systems or arrays, both on a local (site) level and from a central location. The system includes panel and string combiner sentries or intelligent devices, in bidirectional communication with a master device on the site to facilitate installation and troubleshooting of faults in the array, including performance monitoring and diagnostic data collection.

The present invention comprises methods and systems of a network of sensor devices to monitor environmental conditions. Each sensor device is capable of acquiring environmental data and transmitting the data to a central controller of a networking system by wireless communication. By processing the environmental data obtained from the geographically deployed sensor devices, the central controller is capable of detecting a trend of the hazardous condition. The central controller generates early warning signals based on the hazardous levels of the physical or environmental conditions, as well as the trend of such conditions. When receiving a high level of hazardous conditions from one of the networked sensor devices, the central controller can compare the results with neighboring sensor devices to determine whether the signal received is due to a hazard leakage or a sensor device malfunction, so to reduce false alarms and provide feedbacks to communication devices networked in the system.