Utility System Alarm Aggregation via Correlation Hierarchy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Utility monitoring systems overwhelm users with numerous discrete alarms, making it difficult to pinpoint the source of issues and understand the overall impact on the system, as the sheer number of alarms obfuscates rather than clarifies the problem and fails to show how various alarms interrelate.
Innovation Solution
An automated method for data integration and hierarchical classification that groups monitoring devices and sensors based on correlation coefficients, allowing for the aggregation of alarms and providing a clearer view of the system's impact, including automatic alignment of device data and determination of device relationships within the utility system hierarchy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If discrete alarms are provided for each monitoring device, then detection precision is improved, but information overload occurs making it difficult to assess overall system impact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple discrete alarms into hierarchical groups representing different levels of the utility system (e.g., individual devices, equipment groups, entire processes). This merging allows users to see both detailed device-level alarms and aggregated system-level impacts simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between precise detection and overall assessment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a hierarchical dimension to the alarm presentation, organizing alarms by their position in the utility system hierarchy. This transforms the flat list of discrete alarms into a multi-level structure where users can navigate between detailed and summary views, enabling both precise detection and comprehensive impact assessment.
2Adaptability or versatility
If numerous discrete alarms are displayed, then monitoring coverage is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to overwhelming data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the overwhelming set of discrete alarms into hierarchical groups based on the utility system structure. Users can selectively expand or collapse different hierarchical levels to focus on relevant areas, making the system both comprehensive in coverage and easy to operate by reducing cognitive load.
Solution Approach 2:
The hierarchical alarm structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides detailed device-level monitoring, aggregated group-level overview, and system-level impact assessment. This multi-functionality maintains comprehensive monitoring coverage while improving ease of operation through unified interface.
3Measurement precision
If detailed device-level monitoring is provided, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary automatic hierarchy classification and data alignment before presenting alarms to users. By pre-organizing device data into hierarchical groups and establishing relationships between devices, the system maintains high measurement precision while reducing the apparent complexity for users through automated structuring.
Data Source
AI summary
A process monitoring method that aggregates monitoring devices and optionally sensors into one or more groups that are each related to a process of a utility system. The monitoring devices are organized into a monitoring system hierarchy manually or automatically. A process algorithm determines from the hierarchy which monitoring devices are connected to a load. Monitored data from load-connected monitoring device pairs are correlated to produce a correlation coefficient that is compared against a correlation threshold selected between 0 and 1. When the correlation coefficient exceeds the threshold, the device pair is grouped into a process group. Other device pairs exceeding the threshold are likewise grouped into the process group. Multiple processes may be determined with the process algorithm. Sensors may also be grouped manually with the process group containing monitoring devices, which may include virtual monitoring devices. Alarms associated with monitoring devices and sensors are aggregated into one process alarm.