NON-INTRUSIVE UTILITY MONITORING

• US 20110025519A1
• Filed: 03/22/2010
• Published: 02/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intelligent Sustainable Energy Limited (Maple Tree Energy Management Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Sustainable Energy Limited (Maple Tree Energy Management Ltd.)
• Inventors: Donaldson, James, Martin, Chris Lemondine, Surrall, Sarah, McCulloch, Malcolm, Shelley, Chris, Trygubenko, Semen, Matthews, Alex
• Application Number:
  US12/728,436
• Publication Number:
  US 20110025519A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/664
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/0092 measuring current only all subgroups of G01R19/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3013 where the computing system is an embedded system, i.e. a combination of hardware and software dedicated to perform a certain function in mobile devices, printers, automotive or aircraft systems testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3062 where the monitored property is the power consumption power management in a computing system G06F1/3203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3096 wherein the means or processing minimize the use of computing system or of computing system component resources, e.g. non-intrusive monitoring which minimizes the probe effect: sniffing, intercepting, indirectly deriving the monitored data from other directly available data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A method of outputting to a user an indication of the usage of a utility, the method comprising: obtaining data indicating, for each of a plurality of appliances, a respective current level of usage of the utility by that appliance; for each of a plurality of appliance categories, using the obtained data to calculate a respective current total level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category; and outputting an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

Claims

1. A method of outputting to a user an indication of the usage of a utility, the method comprising:

obtaining data indicating, for each of a plurality of appliances, a respective current level of usage of the utility by that appliance;

for each of a plurality of appliance categories, using the obtained data to calculate a respective current total level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category; and

outputting an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

2. A method according to claim 1, comprising allowing a user to select an appliance category from the plurality of appliance categories, wherein said outputting comprises outputting an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the selected appliance category.

3. A method according to claim 1, comprising:

using the obtained data to calculate a current total level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances; and

outputting an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances.

4. A method according to claim 1, in which said outputting comprises displaying on a display an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

5. A method according to claim 4, comprising:

for each appliance category, displaying an associated icon to represent the appliance category;

wherein said outputting comprises setting a colour of an icon to indicate the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the appliance category associated with that icon.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said setting a colour of an icon comprises selecting a colour for the icon from a predetermined set of colours, wherein each colour in the predetermined set of colours represents an associated range of levels of usage of the utility.

7. A method according to claim 6 comprising, for at least one of the colours in the predetermined set of colours, adjusting the associated range of levels of usage of the utility based on an input from the user.

8. A method according to claim 4, in which said outputting comprises indicating, on a scale with colour-coding, the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

9. A method according to claim 8 comprising adjusting the colour-coding of the scale based on an input from the user.

10. A method according to claim 4, in which said outputting comprises displaying a numerical value indicating the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

11. A method according to claim 1, comprising:

using the obtained data to calculate a level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances over a period of time;

outputting an indication of the calculated level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances over the period of time.

12. A method according to claim 1, comprising, for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories:

using the obtained data to calculate a level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category over a period of time;

outputting an indication of the calculated level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category over the period of time.

13. A method according to claim 1, comprising allowing a user to specify which of the plurality of appliances belong to a particular appliance category.

14. A method according to claim 1, comprising dynamically determining the appliance categories.

15. A method according to claim 1, in which said outputting comprises annunciating an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

16. A method according to claim 1, in which said obtaining comprises:

measuring the current total use of the utility by the plurality of appliances to obtain utility usage values; and

analysing the utility usage values to identify which of the plurality of appliances is using the utility and to calculate the current level of usage of the utility by an identified appliance.

17. A system comprising:

a processor arranged to;

obtain data indicating, for each of a plurality of appliances, a respective current level of usage of the utility by that appliance; and

for each of a plurality of appliance categories, use the obtained data to calculate a respective current total level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category; and

an interface arranged to output an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

18. A system according to claim 17, comprising an input arranged to allow a user to select an appliance category from the plurality of appliance categories, wherein said interface is arranged to output an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the selected appliance category.

19. A system according to claim 17, wherein the processor is arranged to use the obtained data to calculate a current total level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances;

and wherein the interface is arranged to output an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances.

20. A system according to claim 17, wherein said interface comprises a display for displaying an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

21. A system according to claim 20, wherein said interface is arranged, for each appliance category, to display an associated icon to represent the appliance category, and to set a colour of an icon to indicate the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the appliance category associated with that icon.

22. A system according to claim 21, wherein said interface is arranged to set a colour of an icon by selecting a colour for the icon from a predetermined set of colours, wherein each colour in the predetermined set of colours represents an associated range of levels of usage of the utility.

23. A system according to claim 22 wherein said interface is arranged, for at least one of the colours in the predetermined set of colours, to adjust the associated range of levels of usage of the utility based on an input from the user.

24. A system according to claim 20 wherein said interface is arranged to indicate, on a scale with colour-coding, the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

25. A system according to claim 24 wherein said interface is arranged to adjust the colour-coding of the scale based on an input from the user.

26. A system according to claim 20 wherein said interface is arranged to display a numerical value indicating the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

27. A system according to claim 17, wherein the processor is arranged to use the obtained data to calculate a level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances over a period of time, and wherein the interface is arranged to output an indication of the calculated level of usage of the utility by the plurality of appliances over the period of time.

28. A system according to claim 17, wherein, for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories, the processor is arranged to use the obtained data to calculate a level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category over a period of time, and wherein the interface is arranged to output an indication of the calculated level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category over the period of time.

29. A system according to claim 17, wherein the system is arranged to allow a user to specify which of the plurality of appliances belong to a particular appliance category.

30. A system according to claim 17, wherein the processor is arranged to dynamically determine the appliance categories.

31. A system according to claim 17, in which said interface is arranged to annunciate an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for the at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

32. A system according to claim 17, in which said system is arranged to:

measure the current total use of the utility by the plurality of appliances to obtain utility usage values; and

analyse the utility usage values to identify which of the plurality of appliances is using the utility and to calculate the current level of usage of the utility by an identified appliance.

33. A system according to claim 17, in which said interface is arranged to output said indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories to a user terminal.

34. A user interface arranged to output to a user an indication of a current total level of usage of a utility by a subset of appliances from a plurality of appliances.

35. A computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, carries out the steps of:

obtaining data indicating, for each of a plurality of appliances, a respective current level of usage of the utility by that appliance;

for each of a plurality of appliance categories, using the obtained data to calculate a respective current total level of usage of the utility by appliances belonging to that appliance category; and

outputting an indication of the calculated current total level of usage of the utility for at least one of the plurality of appliance categories.

36. A method of non-intrusive utility monitoring for monitoring the use of at least one utility supplied to a plurality of appliances, the method comprising:

receiving utility values representative of the total use of the at least one utility by the plurality of appliances;

analysing the received utility values using a plurality of analysis modules, wherein each analysis module corresponds to a respective predetermined type of utility usage, and wherein each analysis module is arranged to calculate, based on the received utility values, a respective confidence value indicative of a confidence that the respective predetermined type of utility usage has occurred; and

performing a fuzzy logic analysis of the calculated confidence values so as to identify the operation of an appliance.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the predetermined type of utility usage for one of the plurality of analysis modules is usage representative of a resistive device with a relatively constant steady-state load.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein the predetermined type of utility usage for one of the plurality of analysis modules is usage representative of a predominantly resistive device employing intra-cycle switching to variably control the power supplied to a load.

39. The method of claim 36 wherein the predetermined type of utility usage for one of the plurality of analysis modules is usage representative of an induction motor wherein a path traced by real power values against corresponding reactive power values over a time period of interest comprises one or more substantially circular arcs.

40. The method of claim 36 wherein the at least one utility comprises electricity, and the utility values comprise values representative of the electrical current and/or the electrical voltage supplied to the plurality of appliances.

41. The method of claim 36 wherein the at least one utility comprises one or more of water, gas and oil.

42. The method of claim 36 further comprising detecting at least one utility event based on the received utility values.

43. The method of claim 36 wherein each confidence value is a degree of membership of a respective membership function corresponding to the respective predetermined type of utility usage.

44. A computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, carries out a method of non-intrusive utility monitoring for monitoring the use of at least one utility supplied to a plurality of appliances by carrying out the steps of:

receiving utility values representative of the total use of the at least one utility by the plurality of appliances;

analysing the received utility values using a plurality of analysis modules, wherein each analysis module corresponds to a respective predetermined type of utility usage, and wherein each analysis module is arranged to calculate, based on the received utility values, a respective confidence value indicative of a confidence that the respective predetermined type of utility usage has occurred; and

performing a fuzzy logic analysis of the calculated confidence values so as to identify the operation of an appliance.

45. A non-intrusive utility monitoring apparatus for monitoring the use of at least one utility supplied to a plurality of appliances, the apparatus comprising:

an input section arranged to receive utility values representative of the total use of the at least one utility by the plurality of appliances;

a plurality of analysis modules, wherein each analysis module corresponds to a respective type of utility usage, and wherein each analysis module is arranged to analyse the received utility values so as to calculate, based on the received utility values, a respective confidence value indicative of a confidence that the respective type of utility usage has occurred; and

a fuzzy logic module arranged to perform a fuzzy logic analysis of the calculated confidence values so as to identify the operation of an appliance.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 further comprising a processor which comprises the plurality of analysis modules and the fuzzy logic module.