POWER DISTRIBUTION LOAD SHEDDING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE

• US 20070168088A1
• Filed: 11/02/2006
• Published: 07/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Server Technology Incorporated (Legrand SA)
• Original Assignee: Server Technology Incorporated (Legrand SA)
• Inventors: Ewing, Carrel, Williams, Jay, Ewing, Brandon, Auclair, Brian
• Application Number:
  US11/556,151
• Publication Number:
  US 20070168088A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/295
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/60 Limiting power consumption in the network or in one section of the network, e.g. load shedding or peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/66 one of the loads acting as master and the other or others acting as slaves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 9/061 for DC powered loads
• 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: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/248 UPS systems or standby or emergency generators

Abstract

A method of power administration includes monitoring at least one of a plurality of operating conditions relating to a plurality of outlets within a power distribution unit, determining whether a pre-determined operating condition threshold has been met, and, if the pre-determined threshold has been mete powering off less than all of the power outlets within the power distribution unit.

Claims

1. A method of power administration, comprising:

using a power supply, providing power through a power input to a power distribution system, wherein the power distribution system comprises a plurality of power outlets, wherein each of the plurality of power outlets is connectable to an electrical device;

monitoring at least one of the following;

the power supply, power provided to or by the power distribution system, information regarding the power to the power supply, and information regarding the power supply or its status;

based on the monitoring, determining whether at least one predetermined condition is met;

if the at least one predetermined condition is met, turning off the operating power of less than all of plurality of power outlets in the power distribution system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the turning off step further comprises powering down at differing times each among a plurality of subsets of predetermined outlets among the plurality of power outlets.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if another of the predetermined conditions is met, ceasing the turning off of operating power of at least one of the plurality of power outlets.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the at least one of the plurality of predetermined conditions returns to an initial state, turning on the operating power of at least one of the plurality of power outlets that had been turned off.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of predetermined conditions is met when the power provided through the power input experiences a power interruption.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising if the power interruption ceases? turning on the operating power of the at least one of the plurality of power outlets.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a communications network, connecting the power distribution system to a remote system.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising exchanging power monitoring information between the power distribution system and the remote system.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising exchanging power controlling information between the power distribution system and the remote system.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

using the communications network, connecting the power supply to the remote system.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a remote shutdown agent on an attached electrical device, causing an orderly shutdown of the attached electrical device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether at least one of the plurality of power outlets to be turned off supplies power to a server and, based on the determining, invoking a remote shutdown agent to shut down the server.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a flag for at least one of the plurality of power outlets to be turned off.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring and setting to a power-on state at least one of the plurality of power outlets within the power distribution system.

15. The method of claim 4, further comprising preventing at least another of the plurality of power outlets that had been turned off from being turned on if the at least another of the plurality of outlets did not have power when the less than all of the plurality of power outlets had been turned off.

16. A method of load shedding, comprising:

in a power administration system, polling at least one of a plurality of power supply devices to determine whether at least one of a plurality of power outlets needs to be load shed; and

polling at least one of a plurality of power supply devices to determine whether at least one of the plurality of power outlets needs to have power restored.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising checking at least one temperature probe to determine whether at least one limit has been reached and, based on the checking at least one temperature probe, determining whether at least one of the plurality of power outlets needs to be load shed and determining whether at least one of the plurality of power outlets needs to have power restored.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising checking at least one infeed to determine whether at least one power limit has been reached and, based on the checking at least one infeed, determining whether at least one of the plurality of power outlets needs to be load shed and determining whether at least one of the plurality of power outlets needs to have power restored.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising invoking a remote shutdown agent, wherein the invoking comprises:

retrieving a shutdown message;

determining whether the shutdown message is to be processed,

based on the determining whether the shutdown message is to be processed, determining whether there is an IP address and determining whether there is a remote agent; and

based on the determining whether the shutdown message is to be processed and the determining whether there is an IP address and whether there is a remote agent, initiating a TCP/IP session and transmitting a power off command to the remote agent using the IP address.

20. A power administration system, comprising

a power supply in power supply communication with a power distribution system, wherein the power distribution system comprises a power input and a plurality of power outputs, wherein each of the plurality of power outputs is connectable to one of a plurality of electrical devices;

and

a power supply monitoring system in power supply monitoring communication with the power supply, the power supply monitoring system in load shedding communication with the plurality of power outputs.

21. The power administration system of claim 20, wherein the power supply comprises an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

22. The power administration system of claim 20, wherein the power distribution system comprises a power distribution unit (PDU).

23. The power administration system of claim 20, further comprising a housing in which the plurality of power outputs are mounted.

24. The power administration system of claim 23, wherein the housing has a vertical form factor.

25. The power administration system of claim 23? w herein the housing has a horizontal form factor.

26. The power administration system of claim 20, further comprising a remote shutdown agent operable to provide an orderly shutdown of at least one of the plurality of electrical devices.