Segmented Power Metering System for Cost-Effective Upgrades
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power metering systems lack a cost-effective solution for providing advanced functionality to a large number of locations, as they require either expensive, fully featured devices to be installed universally or limited functionality devices that cannot be easily upgraded.
Innovation Solution
A multi-device power metering system comprising a basic, permanently installed device for initial power metering and a detachable, more advanced device that adds communication protocols and diagnostic capabilities, allowing organizations to install basic devices at lower costs and upgrade with advanced functionality as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fully featured devices with advanced functionality are installed at all locations, then advanced functionality (communication protocols, diagnostics) is provided, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two separate devices: a basic power metering device with limited functionality and a detachable advanced functionality device. The basic device provides essential power monitoring at low cost, while the advanced device adds communication protocols and diagnostic capabilities when attached, resolving the contradiction between providing advanced functionality and controlling costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The detachable advanced functionality device serves multiple purposes: it can be attached to any basic power metering device to provide communication protocols, diagnostic capabilities, and other advanced features. This universal attachment approach allows the same advanced device to enhance multiple basic devices, reducing the need to deploy expensive fully-featured devices at every location.
2Ease of manufacture
If basic devices with limited functionality are installed universally, then cost is reduced, but adaptability and upgradeability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static, fixed-functionality device to a dynamic, configurable system. The detachable advanced functionality device can be attached or removed based on needs, allowing the basic power metering device to adapt its capabilities dynamically. This resolves the contradiction by enabling upgradeability without permanently increasing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The detachable advanced functionality device nests with the basic power metering device, with the advanced device containing communication protocols and diagnostic capabilities that enhance the basic device's functionality. This nested structure allows the smaller advanced device to provide additional layers of capability within the existing basic device framework, enabling upgrades without replacing the entire system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a multi-device system with detachable components is used, then adaptability and cost-effectiveness improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into a basic device and a detachable advanced functionality device, the complexity is distributed rather than concentrated. Each device remains relatively simple in its own right, and the segmentation allows flexible configuration based on needs, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The advanced functionality components (communication protocols, diagnostics) are extracted into a separate detachable device rather than being integrated into the basic power metering device. This extraction reduces the complexity of each individual device while maintaining the ability to combine them when advanced functionality is needed, balancing adaptability with manageable complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, methods, systems, and computer-readable media for power metering are described herein. One or more embodiments include a power metering device, comprising a number of sensors configured to output pulses corresponding to a quantity of power consumed over a period of time, a first module configured to receive the pulses from the number of sensors, and meter power consumption using the output pulses. In addition the power metering device includes a second module configured to communicate with the number of sensors using a plurality of communication protocols.