System and method for monitoring and management of utility usage
First Claim
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1. A system for collecting waveform data for determining at least one energy consumption profile, the system comprising:
- (I) a system controller;
(II) a plurality of co-located multi-port monitoring devices, wherein each of said multi-port monitoring devices includes;
a) communication coupling means for communicating with the system controller;
b) electrical coupling means for electrically coupling to at least a dual-port electrical outlet upon being inserted into said at least dual port electrical outlet,wherein each of said multi-port monitoring devices is configured to;
a) independently meter waveform data from a single port of said at least dual port electrical outlet in the case where a single electrical appliance is coupled to said single port of said multi-port monitoring device;
b) independently meter waveform data from multiple ports of said at least dual port electrical outlet in the case where at least two electrical appliances are simultaneously coupled to at least two ports of said multi-port monitoring device; and
c) wirelessly transmit the metered waveform data to the system controller.
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Abstract
A system and method is provided to enable consumers to intelligently manage their consumption of energy. In one embodiment, waveform data is collected for a plurality of appliances which may be found in a residential or commercial setting using a plurality of multi-port outlet monitoring devices. The collected waveform data is processed and analyzed to obtain power consumption profiles that indicate power consumption on a per-appliance and/or per-outlet basis and/or per user basis.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for collecting waveform data for determining at least one energy consumption profile, the system comprising:
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(I) a system controller; (II) a plurality of co-located multi-port monitoring devices, wherein each of said multi-port monitoring devices includes; a) communication coupling means for communicating with the system controller; b) electrical coupling means for electrically coupling to at least a dual-port electrical outlet upon being inserted into said at least dual port electrical outlet, wherein each of said multi-port monitoring devices is configured to; a) independently meter waveform data from a single port of said at least dual port electrical outlet in the case where a single electrical appliance is coupled to said single port of said multi-port monitoring device; b) independently meter waveform data from multiple ports of said at least dual port electrical outlet in the case where at least two electrical appliances are simultaneously coupled to at least two ports of said multi-port monitoring device; and c) wirelessly transmit the metered waveform data to the system controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A multi-port monitoring device configured to be electrically coupled to a multi-port electrical outlet, the device comprising:
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a first waveform sampler circuit configured to sample at least one of a current, a voltage and a power waveform across a first load electrically coupled to a first port of the multi-port electrical outlet via the multi-port monitoring device; and at least a second waveform sampler circuit configured to sample at least one of a current, a voltage and a power waveform across a second load electrically coupled to a second port of the multi-port electrical outlet via the multi-port monitoring device; switching means coupled to the first and the at least second waveform sampler circuits, said switching means for multiplexing a first and a second waveform data stream from said first and said at least second waveform sampler circuits; and a control and communication circuit communicatively coupled to the switching means for receiving said multiplexed first and second waveform data streams and for communicating said first and second waveform data streams to a remote system controller. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for collecting waveform data for a plurality of loads to determine at least one energy consumption profile, the method comprising the steps of:
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A plurality of multi-port monitoring devices configured to independently meter waveform data generated by a corresponding plurality of loads in real-time, wherein each of said multi-port monitoring devices is configured to simultaneously meter waveform data generated by at least two loads; transmitting the waveform data to a system controller; and analyzing the waveform data at the system controller to determine the at least one energy consumption profile. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification