Management device, management system, management method, and program

• US 10,310,460 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2013
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Yabe, Masaaki, Minezawa, Satoshi, Ogawa, Yuki, Yano, Hirotoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Wathen, Brian W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shafayet, Mohammed
• Application Number:
  US14/432,360
• Publication Number:
  US 20150241859A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,055 Days
• Field of Search: 709230, 709223, 709238, 700295
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00002 characterised by monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00022 using wireless data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00034 the elements or equipment being or involving an electric power substation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2823 Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/103 with adaptive polling, i.e. dynamically adapting the polling rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/30 State monitoring, e.g. fault, temperature monitoring, insulator monitoring, corona discharge
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/00 Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them

Abstract

A communicator communicates with a plurality of management targets. An operation-mode determiner determines, based on information representing a status of each of the management targets each received by the communicator, whether a total system status of the plurality of management targets satisfies a predefined condition. A mode-of-network-communication switch, a communication-parameter changer, a condition-for-device-communication setter, a cycle-for-obtaining-status-value setter and a communication-parameter setter adjust, when the operation-mode determiner determines that the system status satisfies the predefined condition, a communication status of the communicator in accordance with the system status and a processing performance of the device.

Claims

1. A management device comprising:

a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute a program stored in the memory to

communicate, by a communicator, with a plurality of management targets;

determine, by a determiner, based on information representing a status of each of the management targets each received by the communicator, whether a system status of the plurality of management targets satisfies one of a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions are defined that transit the system status of the plurality of management targets between a normal status, a status of faster control response than the normal status, a status of more enhanced monitoring of the management targets with lower control responsiveness than the normal status, and a status of more increased network communication traffic than the normal status; and

in response to the determiner determining that the system status satisfies one of the plurality of transition conditions, adjust, by an adjuster, a communication status of the communicator which increases or decreases, in accordance with the system status and a processing performance of the management device, a communication frequency of a status-obtaining request from the communicator to at least one of the plurality of management targets.

2. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to control, by a system controller, based on the information representing the status of each of the management targets each received by the communicator, each of the management targets.

3. The management device according to claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of management targets include a power-consuming device, a power supply system that supplies power to the power-consuming device, and a power measuring device that measures power consumed by the power-consuming device;

the plurality of transition conditions include a condition relating to power; and

the processor is further configured to adjust, by the adjuster, in response to the determiner determining that the system status satisfies the condition relating to power, the communication status of the communicator in such a way that at least one of a communication frequency for a measured value by the power measuring device and a communication frequency for a control instruction to suspend the power-consuming device or to suppress a performance thereof, increases.

4. The management device according to claim 3, wherein the condition relating to power includes at least one of followings:

a rate of power consumption relative to a power limit value;

a status of supplied power from the power supply system; and

a fact whether a blackout is occurring.

5. The management device according to claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of management targets include a power-consuming device, a power supply system that supplies power to the power-consuming device, and a power measuring device that measures power consumed by the power-consuming device;

the plurality of transition conditions include a setting of a control mode that controls the power-consuming device based on power supplied from the power supply system; and

the processor is further configured to adjust, by the adjuster, in response to the determiner determining that the control mode is set, the communication status of the communicator so as to increase a transmission frequency for information on supplied power from the power supply system and to decrease a communication frequency for polling to the power-consuming device.

6. The management device according to claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of transition conditions include that a number of the management targets which are running is equal to or greater than a predefined number; and

the processor is further configured to adjust, by the adjuster, in response to the determiner determining that the number of the management targets which are running is equal to or greater than the predefined number, the communication status of the communicator so as to decrease a communication frequency with each of the management targets.

7. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to

narrow down, by the adjuster, in response to the determiner determining that the system status satisfies one of the plurality of transition conditions and when requesting the information representing the status of each of the management targets to each of the management targets, a kind of requesting information.

8. A management system comprising:

the management device according to claim 1, and

the plurality of management targets.

9. The management system according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of management targets include a power generation system, a power storage system, a power-consuming device, and a measure that measures a predetermined physical quantity.

12. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

store, by a system-status definer, for each of a plurality of system statuses;

the plurality of transition conditions which are predefined and which transit the system status of the plurality of management targets from one of the system statuses to a different one of the system statuses;

determine, by the determiner, whether the plurality of system statuses of the plurality of management targets satisfy the plurality of transition conditions which are predefined for the different one of the system statuses;

wherein the adjuster changes at least one of (i) a priority of communication with each of the management targets and (ii) a cycle of polling by the adjuster, responsive to determining that the plurality of system statuses satisfy the plurality of transition conditions predefined for the different one of the system statuses; and

transit the system status from one of the system statuses to the different one of the system statuses, in response to determining that the plurality of system statuses satisfy the plurality of transition conditions predefined for the different one of the system statuses.

10. A management method utilizing a management device including a communicator communicating with a plurality of management targets, the method comprising:

a determining process of causing the management device to determine, based on information representing a status of each of the management targets each received by the communicator, whether a system status of the plurality of management targets satisfies one of a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions are defined that transit the system status of the plurality of management targets between a normal status, a status of faster control response than the normal status, a status of more enhanced monitoring of the management targets with lower control responsiveness than the normal status, and a status of more increased network communication traffic than the normal status; and

in response to determining in the determining process that the system status satisfies one of the plurality of transition conditions, adjust, by an adjuster, a communication status of the communicator which increases or decreases, in accordance with the system status and a processing performance of the management device, a communication frequency of a status-obtaining request from the communicator to at least one of the plurality of management targets.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that stores executable instructions that cause a computer to:

communicate, by a communicator, with a plurality of management targets;

determine, by a determiner, based on information representing a status of each of the management targets each received by the communicator, whether a system status of the plurality of management targets satisfies one of a plurality of transition conditions, wherein the plurality of transition conditions are defined that transit the system status of the plurality of management targets between a normal status, a status of faster control response than the normal status, a status of more enhanced monitoring of the management targets with lower control responsiveness than the normal status, and a status of more increased network communication traffic than the normal status; and

in response to the determiner determining that the system status satisfies one of the plurality of transition conditions, adjust, by an adjuster, a communication status of the communicator which increases or decreases, in accordance with the system status and a processing performance of the computer, a communication frequency of a status-obtaining request from the communicator to at least one of the plurality of management targets.