POLICY-BASED ENERGY MANAGEMENT

• US 20100063643A1
• Filed: 09/11/2008
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Sand, Anne R., Doran, James R.
• Granted Patent: US 10,296,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

In general, the present invention discloses a policy-based decision system to manage energy consumption within a complex system, such as a municipality, business or home. These policies help to control energy usage, either for the purpose of conservation or to contend with a shortage situation. In general, policies may be set based on business requirements, including energy demand, energy supply, safety, Quality of Service (QoS) settings per object or groupings, convenience, risk analysis output or events. Among other things the approach described herein discloses the following: creation and management of policies; selection of optimal throttling plan to achieve energy conservation requirements; running of simulation scenarios based on different policies and/or reduction requirements; conducting of risk analysis for different scenarios; etc.

Claims

1. A method for policy-based energy management, comprising:

enrolling a hierarchy of entities and devices in an energy management system;

associating a set of energy management policies with a least a subset of the entities and devices of the hierarchy;

initiating an energy conservation request; and

traversing the hierarchy and selecting an optimal energy throttling plan based on the set of policies to satisfy the energy conservation request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising running a set of simulation scenarios based on the optimal energy throttling plan.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising conducting a risk analysis for the optimal energy throttling plan.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the set of energy management policies based on a desired quality of service.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the set of energy management policies based on a set of events.

6. The method of claim 1, the set of energy management policies dictating how energy should be apportioned among the entities and the devices within the hierarchy.

7. A system for policy-based energy management, comprising:

a module for enrolling a hierarchy of entities and devices in an energy management system;

a module for associating a set of energy management policies with a least a subset of the entities and devices of the hierarchy;

a module for initiating an energy conservation request; and

a module for traversing the hierarchy and selecting an optimal energy throttling plan based on the set of policies to satisfy the energy conservation request.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a module for running a set of simulation scenarios based on the optimal energy throttling plan.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a module for conducting a risk analysis for the optimal energy throttling plan.

10. The system of claim 7, further comprising a module for creating the set of energy management policies based on a desired quality of service.

11. The system of claim 7, further comprising a module for creating the set of energy management policies based on a set of events.

12. The system of claim 7, the set of energy management policies dictating how energy should be apportioned among the entities and the devices within the hierarchy.

13. A computer readable medium containing a program product for policy-based energy management, the computer readable medium comprising a set of program instructions for causing a computer system to:

enroll a hierarchy of entities and devices in an energy management system;

associate a set of energy management policies with a least a subset of the entities and devices of the hierarchy;

initiate an energy conservation request; and

traverse the hierarchy and select an optimal energy throttling plan based on the set of policies to satisfy the energy conservation request.

14. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 13, the computer readable medium further comprising a set of program instructions for causing the computer system to run a set of simulation scenarios based on the optimal energy throttling plan.

15. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 13, the computer readable medium further comprising a set of program instructions for causing the computer system to conduct a risk analysis for the optimal energy throttling plan.

16. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 13, the computer readable medium further comprising a set of program instructions for causing the computer system to create the set of energy management policies based on a desired quality of service.

17. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 13, the computer readable medium further comprising a set of program instructions for causing the computer system to create the set of energy management policies based on a set of events.

18. The computer readable medium containing the program product of claim 13, the set of energy management policies dictating how energy should be apportioned among the entities and the devices within the hierarchy.

19. A method for deploying a system for policy-based energy management, comprising:

deploying a computer infrastructure being operable to;

enrolling a hierarchy of entities and devices in an energy management system;

associating a set of energy management policies with a least a subset of the entities and devices of the hierarchy;

initiating an energy conservation request; and

traversing the hierarchy and selecting an optimal energy throttling plan based on the set of policies to satisfy the energy conservation request.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising running a set of simulation scenarios based on the optimal energy throttling plan.