DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DATA TRANSMISSION OVER A COMMUNICATION MEDIA USING MODULAR CONNECTORS

• US 20160349295A1
• Filed: 05/27/2016
• Published: 12/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EI Electronics LLC (Hubbell, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electro Industries/Gaugetech
• Inventors: Banhegyesi, Tibor
• Granted Patent: US 10,585,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/25 using digital measurement techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/133 by using digital technique
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/1333 adapted for special tariff measuring
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/801 using optical interconnects, e.g. light coupled isolators, circuit board interconnections

Abstract

Devices, systems and methods for coupling sensors to intelligent electronic devices (IED'"'"'s), e.g., an electrical power meter, via various communication media are provided. The present disclosure provides a mechanism for coupling an IED to another desired device, e.g., a current sensor, using modular connectors (e.g., a RJ-45 connector) and fiber-optic cables. The present disclosure also provides for coupling devices using modular connectors via wired or wireless connectivity.

Claims

1. An intelligent electronic device (IED) comprising:

a housing;

at least one first modular receptacle disposed on the housing, wherein the at least one first modular receptacle is configured to receive at least one first modular connector, the at least one first modular receptacle configured to receive at least one first signal indicative of at least one power parameter of at least one first transmission line via a first data channel; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one first modular receptacle, the at least one processor configured to receive the at least one first signal and calculate energy consumption in the at least one transmission line.

2. The IED of claim 1, wherein the at least one first modular connector is coupled to a first end of at least one first fiber-optic cable including a plurality of optical fibers, and the at least one first signal is at least one first light signal received by the at least one first modular connector via the at least one first fiber-optic cable.

3. The IED of claim 2, wherein the at least one first modular connector includes a light to voltage conversion (LVC) circuit that converts the at least one first light signal into at least one first voltage signal and provides the at least one first voltage signal to the at least one first modular receptacle via the first data channel.

4. The IED of claim 3, wherein the at least one first modular connector includes a voltage to light conversion (VLC) circuit that converts at least one second voltage signal received via a second data channel from the at least one processor to at least one second light signal and outputs the at least one second light signal to the at least one fiber-optic cable.

5. The IED of claim 3, wherein the at least one first modular connector is configured to receive at least one second light signal via the at least one first fiber-optic cable, the at least one second light signal indicative of at least one power parameter of at least one second transmission line.

6. The IED of claim 5, wherein the at least one first modular connector includes at least one second LVC circuit, the at least one second LVC circuit configured to receive the at least one second light signal and convert the at least one second light signal into at least one second voltage signal and provide the at least one second voltage signal to the at least one first modular receptacle via a second data channel.

7. The IED of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the at least one second voltage signal and calculate energy consumption in the at least one second transmission line.

8. The IED of claim 2, wherein the at least one first modular connector is coupled to a light signal module via a second fiber-optic cable, the light signal module providing a light signal via the first and second fiber-optic cables to at least one second modular connector that is coupled to a second end of the at least one first fiber-optic cable.

9. The IED of claim 1, wherein the at least one first modular receptacle is an RJ-45 jack and the at least one first modular connector is an RJ-45 plug.

10. The IED of claim 1, further comprising at least one analog to digital converter coupled to the at least one first modular receptacle and the at least one processor, wherein the at least one first signal is an analog signal and the at least one analog to digital converter receives the at least one first signal, converts the at least one first signal to at least one first digital signal and provides the at least one first digital signal to the at least one processor.

11. A current sensor comprising:

a housing configured to be coupled to a transmission line of a power distribution system;

a coil disposed within the housing, the coil wrapped around a magnetic core, wherein a voltage signal is induced on the coil when current passes through the transmission line at a location where the current sensor is coupled to the transmission line; and

a modular receptacle disposed on the housing and configured to receive a modular connector, the modular receptacle coupled to the coil to provide the voltage signal to the modular connector via a data channel.

12. The current sensor of claim 11, wherein the modular connector includes a voltage to light conversion (VLC) circuit that converts the voltage signal to a light signal.

13. The current sensor of claim 12, wherein the modular connector is coupled to a first end of a fiber-optic cable including a plurality of optical fibers and the VLC circuit provides the light signal via the fiber-optic cable to a second modular connector coupled to a second end of the fiber-optic cable.

14. The current sensor of claim 13, wherein a portion of the voltage signal is used to power the VLC circuit in the modular connector.

15. The current sensor of claim 13, further comprising a photovoltaic cell coupled to the current sensor, the photovoltaic cell used to power the VLC circuit in the modular connector via at least one conductive line of the modular receptacle.

16. The current sensor of claim 15, wherein the photovoltaic cell is disposed on a surface of the housing.

17. The current sensor of claim 16, wherein the modular connector includes a light source module, the light source module configured to be disposed approximate to the photovoltaic cell when the modular receptacle receives the modular connector and to provide light to the photovoltaic cell.

18. The current sensor of claim 11, wherein the voltage signal is an analog signal and the current sensor includes an analog to digital converter that is coupled to the coil and to the modular receptacle, the analog to digital converter configured to receive the analog signal from the coil, convert the analog signal to a digital signal, and provide the digital signal to the data channel of the modular receptacle.

19. The current sensor of claim 18, further comprising at least one processor coupled to the analog to digital converter, the at least one processor configured to receive the digital signal from the analog to digital converter and calculate at least one power parameter of the transmission line.

20. The current sensor of claim 19, wherein a portion of the voltage signal is used to power the analog to digital converter and the at least one processor.

21. The current sensor of claim 20, wherein the portion of the voltage signal is used to provide power to the VLC circuit in the modular connector via the modular receptacle.

22. The current sensor of claim 19, further comprising a photovoltaic cell coupled to the current sensor, the photovoltaic cell used to provide power to the analog to digital converter and the at least one processor.

23. The current sensor of claim 22, wherein the photovoltaic cell provides power to the VLC circuit in the modular connector via the modular receptacle.

24. The current sensor of claim 13, wherein the modular connector includes a light to voltage power converter module coupled to the LVC and VLC circuits in the modular connector, the light to voltage power converter module configured to receive light signals from the fiber-optic cable and convert the received light signals to electrical power to power the LVC and VLC circuits.

25. The current sensor of claim 11, wherein the modular receptacle is an RJ-45 jack and the modular connector is an RJ-45 plug.

26. The current sensor of claim 11, wherein the modular connector includes a wireless transceiver that wirelessly transmits the voltage signal received from the modular connector.

27. A system comprising:

at least one first current sensor comprising;

a housing configured to be coupled to at least one first transmission line of a power distribution system;

a coil disposed within the housing, the coil wrapped around a magnetic core, wherein at least one first voltage signal is induced on the coil when current passes through the at least one first transmission line at a location where the at least one first current sensor is coupled to the at least one first transmission line; and

at least one first modular receptacle disposed on the housing and configured to receive at least one first modular connector, the at least one first modular receptacle coupled to the coil to provide the at least one first voltage signal to the at least one first modular connector;

at least one intelligent electronic device (IED) comprising;

a housing;

at least one second modular receptacle disposed on the housing, wherein the at least one second modular receptacle is configured to receive at least one second modular connector; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one second modular receptacle, the at least one processor is configured to receive the at least one first voltage signal and calculate energy consumption in the at least one transmission line; and

at least one first fiber-optic cable including a plurality of optical fibers, wherein the at least one first modular connector is coupled to a first end of the at least one first fiber-optic cable and the at least one second modular connector is coupled to a second end of the at least one first fiber-optic cable.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one first modular connector includes at least one first voltage to light conversion (VLC) circuit coupled to the first end of the at least one first fiber-optic cable, the at least one first VLC circuit configured to convert the at least one first voltage signal to at least one first light signal and provide the at least one first light signal to the at least one second modular connector via the at least one first fiber-optic cable.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one second modular connector includes at least one first light to voltage conversion (LVC) circuit coupled to the second end of the at least one first fiber-optic cable, the at least one first LVC circuit configured to convert the at least one first light signal to the at least one first voltage signal and provide the at least one first voltage signal to the at least one processor via the at least one second modular receptacle.