INTELLIGENT SENSOR AND CONTROLLER FRAMEWORK FOR THE POWER GRID

• US 20130036311A1
• Filed: 08/05/2011
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
• Original Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
• Inventors: Akyol, Bora A., Carpenter, Brandon J., Haack, Jereme Nathan, Craig, Philip Allen Jr., Tews, Cody William, Kulkarni, Anand V., Maiden, Wendy M., Ciraci, Selim
• Granted Patent: US 9,094,385 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/189
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/2513 Arrangements for monitoring electric power systems, e.g. power lines or loads; Logging
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security

Abstract

Disclosed below are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for monitoring and using data in an electric power grid. For example, one disclosed embodiment comprises a sensor for measuring an electrical characteristic of a power line, electrical generator, or electrical device; a network interface; a processor; and one or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions. In this embodiment, the computer-executable instructions include instructions for implementing an authorization and authentication module for validating a software agent received at the network interface; instructions for implementing one or more agent execution environments for executing agent code that is included with the software agent and that causes data from the sensor to be collected; and instructions for implementing an agent packaging and instantiation module for storing the collected data in a data container of the software agent and for transmitting the software agent, along with the stored data, to a next destination.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving data representing a software agent, the data including data indicating a cryptographic signature for the software agent, data indicating resource requirements for executing the software agent, and executable code for performing an agent task;

determining that the executable code is authorized for execution; and

executing the executable code on a processor, thereby performing the agent task,

wherein the determining that the executable code is authorized for execution comprises verifying that the software agent is authorized using the data indicating the cryptographic signature, and verifying that sufficient computing resources are available for the software agent using the data indicating the resource requirements

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data representing the software agent further comprises data indicating an identity of an initiator of the software agent, and

wherein the determining that the executable code is authorized for execution further comprises verifying that the initiator is a recognized and authorized initiator using the data indicating the identity of the initiator of the software agent.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data representing the software agent further comprises data indicating a cryptographic signature for configuration data of the software agent, the configuration data indicating parameters for the executable code and destination nodes for the software agent, and

wherein the determining that the executable code is authorized for execution further comprises verifying that the configuration data of the software agent has not been altered using the cryptographic signature for the configuration data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data representing the software agent further comprises data indicating a cryptographic signature for mutable data of the software agent, and

wherein the determining that the executable code is authorized for execution further comprises verifying that the mutable data of the software agent has not been altered using the cryptographic signature for the mutable data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by computing hardware in communication with one of (a) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a power line of a power grid, (b) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a distributed generator coupled to the power grid, (c) an electrical meter for a household coupled to the power grid, (d) a control unit for one or more household electrical devices that receive power from the power grid, or (e) a control unit for controlling power distribution on the power grid.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the executing the executable code comprises:

instantiating an instance of an agent execution environment; and

executing the executable code in the agent execution environment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent task is to update agent code for an existing agent.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving data from a sensor as a result of executing the executable code on the processor;

storing the collected data in a mutable data container of the software agent; and

transmitting the software agent, along with the collected data, to a next destination in a manner in which the mutable data container is protected from tampering during transmission.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the sensor is configured to measure an electrical characteristic of a power line, a distributed generator, or an electrical device.

10. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer cause the computer perform the method of claim 1.

11. A circuit comprising computing hardware configured to perform the method of claim 1.

12. A system, comprising:

a sensor for measuring an electrical characteristic of a power line, electrical generator, or electrical device;

a network interface;

a processor; and

one or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions including,

instructions for implementing an authorization and authentication module for validating a software agent received at the network interface,

instructions for implementing one or more agent execution environments for executing agent code that is included with the software agent and that causes data from the sensor to be collected, and

instructions for implementing an agent packaging and instantiation module for storing the collected data in a data container of the software agent and for transmitting the software agent, along with the stored data, to a next destination.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the sensor comprises a phasor measurement sensor.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the system is part of an electrical meter for a household on a power grid, or a control unit for one or more household electrical devices that receive power from the power grid.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the system is part of a control unit in communication with a power grid.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more computer-readable media further store data indicative of cryptographically verifiable identities, the data indicative of cryptographically verifiable identities being used by the authorization and authentication module to validate the software agent.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more computer-readable media further store data indicative of a network identity for the next destination, the network identity being used by the agent packaging and instantiation module to transmit the software agent to the next destination.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more computer-readable media further store instructions for controlling an information exchange bus that facilitates communication to the one or more agent execution environments.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions for implementing the one or more agent execution environments include instructions for executing an agent written in a first language in a first execution environment and instructions for executing an agent written in a second language in a second execution environment different from the first execution environment.

20. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

loading data defining an uninitiated software agent, the data defining the uninitiated software agent comprising executable code for performing an agent task;

identifying one or more destination nodes to which the software agent is to be transmitted;

generating data defining an initiated software agent, the data defining the initiated software agent comprising immutable data that indicates identities of the one or more destination nodes and indicates configuration parameters for the agent task, data indicating an identity of an initiator of the initiated software agent, data indicating an cryptographic signature of the initiated software agent, and the executable code for performing the agent task; and

transmitting the data defining the initiated software agent to one of the one or more of the destination nodes.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the method is performed by computing hardware associated with a feeder in a power grid and wherein the one or more destination nodes are nodes corresponding to homes powered by the feeder.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the data defining the uninitiated software agent includes data indicating a cryptographic signature of the uninitiated software agent signed by a creator of the uninitiated software agent, and wherein the method further comprises determining that the uninitiated software agent is authorized based at least in part on the cryptographic signature of the uninitiated software agent signed by the creator.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the data defining the uninitiated software agent and the data defining the initiated software agent include data indicating resource requirements for executing the software agent.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein one or more of the destination nodes are communicatively coupled to (a) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a power line of a power grid, (b) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a distributed generator coupled to the power grid, (c) an electrical meter for a household coupled to the power grid, (d) a control unit for one or more household electrical devices that receive power from the power grid, or (e) a control unit for controlling power distribution on the power grid.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the method is performed by computing hardware associated with a first hierarchical level of a power grid, and wherein the data defining the uninitiated software agent is sent from computing hardware associated with a second hierarchical level of the power grid at a higher level than the first hierarchical level.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the data defining the uninitiated software agent includes data indicating a cryptographic signature for the uninitiated software agent generated by the computing hardware associated with the second hierarchical level of the power grid, and wherein the method further comprises determining that the uninitiated software agent is authorized based at least in part on the cryptographic signature for the uninitiated software agent generated by the computing hardware associated with the second hierarchical level of the power grid.

27. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the method of claim 20.

28. A circuit comprising computing hardware configured to perform the method of claim 20.

29. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

generating data defining an uninitiated software agent, the data including executable code for performing an agent task, data indicating an identity of a creator of the uninitiated software agent, and data indicating computing resources required to perform the agent task; and

storing the uninitiated software agent on one or more computer-readable storage media.

30. The method claim 29, wherein the data defining an uninitiated software agent further includes data indicating an cryptographic signature signed by the creator of the uninitiated software agent.

31. The method claim 29, wherein the agent task is performed at least in part by (a) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a power line of a power grid, (b) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a distributed generator coupled to the power grid, (c) an electrical meter for a household coupled to the power grid, (d) a control unit for one or more household electrical devices that receive power from the power grid, or (e) a power distribution control device coupled to the power grid.

32. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the method of claim 29.

33. A method, comprising:

transmitting an outgoing software agent to one or more nodes on a network, wherein at least one of the nodes is communicatively coupled to (a) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a power line of a power grid, (b) a sensor for measuring an electrical parameter of a distributed generator coupled to the power grid, (c) an electrical meter for a household coupled to the power grid, (d) a control unit for one or more household electrical devices that receive power from the power grid, or (e) a control unit for controlling power distribution on the power grid, and wherein the outgoing software agent includes resource information indicating resources used to execute the software agent and a cryptographic signature for the software agent; and

after the transmission of the outgoing software agent, receiving an incoming software agent that includes data collected from the one or more nodes on the network.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the outgoing software agent comprises executable code for collecting data indicative of an operational state of one or more distributed generators coupled to the power grid, and wherein the incoming software agent includes the data indicative of the operational state of the one or more distributed generators.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the outgoing software agent comprises executable code for collecting data indicative of an operational state of one or more power lines coupled to the power grid, and wherein the incoming software agent includes the data indicative of the operational state of the one or more power lines.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the outgoing software agent comprises executable code for collecting data indicating one or more of an identity, location, or electrical characteristics of electrical devices associated with each of the one or more nodes, and wherein the incoming software agent includes the data indicating one or more of the identity, location, or electrical characteristics of the electrical devices associated with each of the one or more nodes.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein the outgoing software agent comprises executable code for collecting data indicative of a fault location among the one or more nodes, and wherein the incoming software agent includes the data indicative of the fault location among the one or more nodes.

38. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform the method of claim 33.

39. A circuit comprising computing hardware configured to perform the method of claim 33.

40. A method, comprising:

receiving information indicative of an energy use goal for one or more distribution power lines in a power network for a time period;

receiving information from one or more remote households coupled to respective ones of the distribution power lines, the information from the one or more remote households comprising information indicating an energy demand priority level for each respective remote household;

determining an energy demand priority level for a local household; and

determining whether to activate one or more electrical devices at the local household during the time period based at least in part on the information indicative of the energy use goal, the information indicating the energy demand priority level for each respective remote household, and the energy demand priority level for the local household.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the determination of whether to activate the one or more electrical devices at the local household during the time period is made using a set of rules that is common among the local household and the one or more remote households.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the set of rules allows a household with a higher energy demand priority level to draw additional power before a household with a lower energy demand priority level.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein the determination of whether to activate the one or more electrical devices at the local household during the time period is made using a set of rules that is defined in executable code sent to the local household using a software agent.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein the information received from the one or more remote households is stored as data in a software agent that is sent by a respective one of the one or more household to the local household via a network.

45. The method of claim 40, further comprising selectively activating the one or more electrical devices at the local household based on the determination of whether to activate the one or more electrical devices at the local household during the time period.

46. The method of claim 40, further comprising transmitting information indicative of the energy demand priority level for the local household to the one or more remote households using a software agent.

47. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the method of claim 40.

48. A circuit comprising computing hardware configured to perform the method of claim 40.