REMOTE POWER OUTAGE & RESTORATION NOTIFICATION

• US 20120109545A1
• Filed: 10/29/2010
• Published: 05/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: MEYNARDI, Alessandro M., DUBOIS, Jean F., DOEHRING, Martin, CHENG, C. P.
• Granted Patent: US 10,381,869 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/58
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/085 in power transmission or distribution lines, e.g. overhead
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00002 characterised by monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00017 using optical fiber
• 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: H02J 2203/20 Simulating, e g planning, reliability check, modelling or computer assisted design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• 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 10/52 Outage or fault management, e.g. fault detection or location
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/124 using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 using wireless data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security

Abstract

Power outages and restorations at customer premises can be automatically detected and reported. A method may include receiving, from a network terminal, a first notification associated with a power outage; retrieving location information associated with the network terminal; sending a second notification indicating that the outage has occurred and that includes the location information associated with the network terminal; retrieving prior outage information that corresponds to a set of network terminals associated with a group of set top boxes; determining that an outage event is triggered, when a quantity of outages is greater than a threshold, where the quantity of outages is based on the outage and other outages obtained from the prior outage information; and sending a third notification based on the determination that the outage event is triggered, where the third notification includes information associated with the quantity of outages that enables a server to remedy the outage event in a manner that does involve users of the group of set top boxes.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server device and from a network terminal device installed at a customer premise, an alert that the network terminal device has lost primary power from a power grid;

analyzing, by the server device, a plurality of the alerts received from a plurality of respective network terminal devices;

determining, by the server device and based on the analysis, whether a power outage of the power grid has occurred; and

outputting, by the server device, an indication of the power outage when the power outage is determined to occur.

2. The method of claim 1, where outputting the indication includes notifying a power provider that is responsible for managing or operating the power grid.

3. The method of claim 1, where each of the alerts includes information describing the geographic location of the network termination device.

4. The method of claim 1, where the indication enables another server device, associated with a power provider that is responsible for managing or operating the power grid, to identify the cause of the power outage based on information associated with the plurality of respective network terminal devices obtained from the plurality of the alerts.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a quantity of other network terminal devices, that have lost primary power from the power grid, is increasing at a rate that is greater than a threshold,

where the rate is based on a first quantity of the other network terminal devices that have lost primary power at a present point in time and a second quantity of the other network terminal devices that have lost primary power at a prior point in time; and

outputting another indication that an outage event has been is triggered based on the determination that the rate is greater than the threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a quantity of other network terminal devices, that have lost primary power from the power grid, is increasing at a particular rate based on, where the particular rate is based on;

a first quantity of the other network terminal devices that have lost primary power at a present point in time, and

a second quantity of the other network terminal devices that have lost primary power at a prior point in time; and

projecting that the quantity of other network terminal devices that have lost primary power will be greater than a threshold within a future period of time based on the particular rate; and

outputting another indication that an outage event has been is triggered based on the projection that the quantity of other network terminal devices that have lost primary power will be greater than the threshold within the future period of time.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving, from another server device, information associated with weather conditions associated with a geographic area within which the plurality of respective network terminal devices are located;

retrieving, from a memory associated with the server device, information associated with a plurality of other alerts, received from network terminal devices within the geographic area, during a prior period of time that other weather conditions occurred that correspond to the weather conditions;

determining that an outage event is triggered when a quantity of the plurality of other alerts, received at the prior period of time, is greater than a threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the network terminal device, another alert that the network terminal device is receiving power from the power grid;

analyzing, a plurality of the other alerts received from the plurality of respective network terminal devices;

determining, based on the analysis, whether the outage of the power grid has been remedied; and

outputting, by the server device, another indication that the power outage has been remedied when the power outage is determined to have been remedied.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the network terminal device, another alert that the network terminal device is operating on battery power;

analyzing, a plurality of the other alerts received from the plurality of respective network terminal devices; and

outputting another indication that provides a status associated with the power outage based on the other alerts received from the plurality of respective network terminal devices.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at a later point in time, that the quantity of the plurality of alerts is less than an outage threshold; and

outputting another indication that the power outage has been remedied based on the determination that the quantity of the plurality of alerts is less than the power outage threshold.

11. A server device comprising:

a memory to store outage event information, from a prior period of time, that identifies a plurality of power outages associated with one or more network terminals, of a plurality of network terminals installed at a plurality of customer premises, that receive power from a power grid; and

a processor to;

receive, from a network terminal of the plurality of network terminals, a first notification that indicates that a power outage has been detected,

identify a quantity of power outages based the plurality of power outages associated with the one or more network terminals and the power outage associated with the network terminal,

identify an outage event, associated with the power grid, when the quantity of power outages is greater than an outage threshold, and

send, to another server device associated with the power grid, a second notification that the outage event has been identified, where the second notification includes information associated with the network terminal or information associated with the one or more network terminals.

12. The server device of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

retrieve, from the memory, information associated with the network terminal that that includes location information associated with the network terminal, and

send, to the other server device, an indication that the power outage, associated with the network terminal, has been detected, where the notification includes the location information associated with the network terminal that enables the other server device to remedy the power outage.

13. The server device of claim 12, where the information associated with the network terminal includes a device identifier or a network address, and where the location information associated with the network terminal includes at least one of a physical address or coordinates associated with a geographic area within which the network terminal is located.

14. The server device of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

receive, from the network terminal and at a later point in time, a third notification that indicates that power has been restored,

determine, in response to the third notification, that the quantity of power outages is less than the outage threshold, and

send, to the other server device, a fourth notification that the outage event has been remedied, where the fourth notification includes the information associated with the network terminal for which the power has been restored.

15. The server device of claim 14, where, after receiving the third notification, the processor is to:

send, to the other server device, an indication that the power outage, associated with the network terminal, has been remedied, where the indication includes at least one of a point in time that the outage was detected, an elapsed time of the power outage, or a later point in time that the power was restored to the network terminal.

16. The server device of claim 11, where, when sending the second notification that the outage event has been identified, the processor is further to:

send mapping information associated with a geographical area that enables the other server device to display, via a user interface that includes a map of the geographical area, location information for the one or more network terminals that are located within the geographical area and location information associated with the network terminal.

17. The server device of claim 11, where the user interface includes information associated with the power grid that is associated with the geographical area.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

instructions to receive, from a network terminal of a plurality of network terminals, an alert that indicates that a power outage, associated with a power grid that transmits electrical power, has been detected, where the network terminal is associated with a set top box;

instructions to retrieve, from a memory and in response to the alert, outage event information, from a prior period of time, that includes information corresponding to outages associated with one or more network terminals of the plurality of network terminals;

instructions to determine whether an outage event, associated with the power grid, has been triggered based on a quantity of outages and an outages threshold, where the quantity of outages is based on the power outage and the outages associated with the one or more network terminals;

instructions to send, to a server device associated with the power grid, a notification that the outage event has not been triggered when the quantity of outages is less than the outages threshold; and

instructions to send, to the server device, another notification that the outage event has been triggered when the quantity of outages is greater than the outages threshold, where the other notification;

includes information associated with the power outage and information corresponding to outages, and

enables the server device to identify a cause of the power outage or the outages based on the information associated with the power outage and the information corresponding to the outages.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, where the other notification includes location information associated with the network terminal or location information associated with the one or more network terminals that enables the server device to isolate a location, associated with a fault within the power grid, that caused the outage event or the power outage.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, where receiving the alert that indicates that a power outage has been detected further includes:

retrieving, from a memory associated with the non-transitory computer readable medium, location information associated with the network terminal based on an identifier associated with the network terminal obtained from the alert;

sending, to the server device, another alert that the power outage has occurred and includes the location information associated with the network terminal that enables the server device to identify a location associated with the power outage in order to remedy the power outage.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further includes:

determining that the quantity of outages corresponds to one or more simultaneous power outages when the outages were detected, by the one or more network terminals, within a period of time that is less than a threshold.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further includes:

determining that the quantity of outages corresponds to one or more co-located power outages, when each of the one or more network terminals are located within a distance from at least one other network terminal of the one or more network terminals, where the distance is less than a threshold.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

retrieving, from the server device, information associated with a condition on the power grid from which the plurality of network terminals receive power;

retrieving, from the memory, other outage information, associated with the plurality of network terminals, from another prior period of time, where the other outage information is associated with another condition on the power grid that corresponds to the condition;

identifying a quantity of outages, associated with the other prior period of time, based on the other outage information; and

determining that another outage event is triggered when the quantity of outages associated with the other prior period of time is greater than the outage threshold.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, from another server device associated with at least one of a local authority, a state authority, or a federal authority, an indication that an incident associated with national security, inclement weather, or a natural disaster has occurred; and

sending, to the other server, another indication that the incident has occurred.

25. A system comprising:

a plurality of network terminal devices to;

detect that power, received from an electrical power grid, has been lost, and

send a plurality of respective alerts identifying that a loss of the power has been detected;

a first server device to;

receive, from the plurality of network terminal devices, the plurality of respective alerts identifying that the loss of the power has been detected,

analyze the plurality of respective alerts to determine whether a power outage, associated with the power grid, has occurred, and

send an indication that the power outage has occurred based on an analysis of the plurality of respective notifications; and

a second server device to;

receive the indication, from the first server device, that the power outage has occurred, and

identify the cause of the power outage in order to remedy the power outage based on information associated with the plurality of network terminals obtained from the indication.