Networked devices for monitoring utility usage and methods of using the same

• US 8,396,963 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2010
• Issued: 03/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric USA, Inc. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric USA, Inc. (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Cowan, Peter, Anderson, David P., Thompson, Gregory A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Walsh, John B.
• Application Number:
  US12/893,134
• Publication Number:
  US 20120079096A1
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3093 Configuration details thereof, e.g. installation, enabling, spatial arrangement of the probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0668 by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices are presented herein for monitoring usage of at least one utility by a utility consuming system. One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a method of managing information in a utility monitoring system that includes a host computer and an array of monitoring devices operatively coupled together on a peer-to-peer network. The array of monitoring devices includes first and second monitoring devices each with a respective memory. The first and second monitoring devices are configured to receive and transmit data. The method includes: storing data received by the first monitoring device in the first memory; storing data received by the second monitoring device in the second memory; responsive to the first memory being below a threshold storage capacity, transferring data received by the second monitoring device to the first monitoring device; and storing the transferred data in the first memory.

Claims

1. A method of managing information in a utility monitoring system, the utility monitoring system including a host computer and an array of monitoring devices operatively coupled together on a peer-to-peer network, the array of monitoring devices including at least a first monitoring device with a first memory and a second monitoring device with a second memory, the first and second monitoring devices each being configured to receive data, convert measurements of a characteristic of a utility into corresponding data, and transmit data, the first monitoring device being part of a cluster of the monitoring devices, each of the monitoring devices in the cluster storing therein configuration and commissioning information of the first monitoring device, the method comprising:

storing data received by the first monitoring device in the first memory;

storing data received by the second monitoring device in the second memory;

responsive to the first memory being below a first threshold storage capacity, transferring at least some of the data received by the second monitoring device to the first monitoring device;

storing the transferred data in the first memory;

receiving an indication that the first monitoring device has been replaced with a first replacement monitoring device having a first replacement memory, the first replacement monitoring device being configured to receive data, convert measurements of the characteristic of the utility into data, and transmit data;

transferring the configuration and commissioning information stored in at least one of the monitoring devices in the cluster to the first replacement monitoring device; and

storing the configuration and commissioning information in the first replacement memory.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, via the second monitoring device, if the first memory is below the first threshold storage capacity, wherein the transferring is responsive to the second monitoring device determining the first memory is below the first threshold storage capacity.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forming the cluster of the networked monitoring devices, the forming including the first replacement monitoring device dynamically associating selected ones of the peer-to-peer networked monitoring devices with the cluster; and

transferring data between the first monitoring device and at least one other peer-to-peer networked monitoring device in the formed cluster.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the cluster comprises selected ones of the peer-to-peer networked monitoring devices, the selected ones of the monitoring devices being dynamically determined based at least in part on the interconnectivity of the array of peer-to-peer networked monitoring devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising preconfiguring respective types of information shared between each of the peer-to-peer networked monitoring devices in the cluster.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising preconfiguring respective amounts of information shared between each of the peer-to-peer networked monitoring devices in the cluster.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration and commissioning information stored in each of the networked monitoring devices in the cluster includes information representative of a Single Line Diagram of the utility monitoring system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferred data includes configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device, the method further comprising:

receiving an indication that the second monitoring device has been replaced with a second replacement monitoring device having a second replacement memory, the second replacement monitoring device being configured to receive data, convert measurements of the characteristic of the utility to data, and transmit data;

transferring the configuration and commissioning information stored in the first memory to the second replacement monitoring device; and

storing the configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device in the second replacement memory.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to the first memory not being below the first threshold storage capacity, storing data subsequently received by the first monitoring device in the second memory.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the second memory is at or above a second threshold storage capacity, and, if so, storing data subsequently received by the second monitoring device on the first memory.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the array of networked monitoring devices further includes a third monitoring device with a third memory, the method further comprising:

responsive to the first memory not being below the first threshold storage capacity, determining if the third memory is below a third threshold storage capacity;

if the third memory is below the third threshold storage capacity, transferring at least some of the data stored in the second memory to the third monitoring device; and

storing the transferred data in the third memory.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferred data includes monitoring information received by the second monitoring device from a sensing device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferred data is stored based on a first-in-first-out scheme.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if a triggering event occurred, the triggering event being a precursor to a large amount of data being received by the first monitoring device;

if the triggering event has occurred, transferring at least some of the large amount of data being received by the first monitoring device to the second monitoring device; and

storing the transferred at least some of the large amount of data in the second memory.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the array of networked monitoring devices are linked together in a RAID 3, a RAID 4, or a RAID 5 type-array configuration, or combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a hierarchy redundancy of data, the hierarchy redundancy of data including at least a set of critical data and a set of non-critical data, wherein, if the first memory is at or above the first threshold storage capacity, the set of critical data is stored on the first monitoring device before the set of non-critical data.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transferring at least a portion of the data stored in the first memory, the second memory, or both to a host website; and

storing the transferred portion of the data at the host website.

18. One or more non-transitory, machine-readable storage media including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations associated with a first monitoring device having a first memory, the first monitoring device being part of a cluster of monitoring devices with a second monitoring device, the operations comprising:

receiving data;

storing the received data in the first memory;

responsive to a second memory within the second monitoring device being below a threshold storage capacity, transferring at least some of the data received by the first monitoring device to the second monitoring device, the first and second monitoring devices being operatively coupled together on a peer-to-peer network, the second monitoring device storing the transferred data in the second memory;

receiving an indication that the second monitoring device has been replaced with a replacement monitoring device having a replacement device memory;

transferring configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device stored in the first memory of the first monitoring device to the replacement monitoring device, the replacement monitoring device storing the configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device in the replacement device memory.

19. A monitoring system for monitoring usage of at least one utility by a utility consuming system, the monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of monitoring devices each with a respective memory, each of the monitoring devices being configured to receive data, transmit the received data, and store the received data in the respective memory;

a host computer operatively coupled to the plurality of monitoring devices; and

a peer-to-peer network communicatively coupling the plurality of monitoring devices together,

wherein each of the monitoring devices is operable to selectively transfer at least some of the data received thereby to at least one of the other monitoring devices on the peer-to-peer network;

wherein each of the monitoring devices is operable to selectively store in the respective memory at least some data transferred thereto via one of the other monitoring devices on the peer-to-peer network; and

wherein a first one of the monitoring devices is configured to receive an indication that a second one of the monitoring devices has been replaced with a replacement monitoring device having a replacement device memory, and responsively transfer configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device stored in a first memory of the first monitoring device to the replacement monitoring device, the replacement monitoring device storing the configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device in the replacement device memory.

20. A monitoring device for monitoring one or more characteristics of a utility system, the monitoring device comprising:

a communications interface configured to communicatively couple to a cluster of monitoring devices via a peer-to-peer network such that the monitoring device can receive data from and transmit data to at least a second monitoring device in the cluster of monitoring devices;

a controller;

a memory device storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the monitoring device to;

store configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device in the memory device;

receive an indication that the second monitoring device has been replaced with a replacement monitoring device having a replacement device memory;

transfer the configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device stored in the memory device to the replacement monitoring device such that the replacement monitoring device stores the configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device in the replacement device memory.

21. A utility monitoring system for monitoring at least one utility, the utility monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of monitoring devices each with a respective memory, each of the monitoring devices being configured to receive data, transmit the received data, and store the received data in the respective memory; and

a peer-to-peer network communicatively coupling the plurality of monitoring devices together,

wherein at least a first one of the monitoring devices is configured to;

store configuration and commissioning information of a second one of the monitoring devices in a first memory of the first monitoring device;

receive an indication that the second monitoring device has been replaced with a replacement monitoring device having a replacement device memory; and

responsively transfer configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device stored in a first memory of the first monitoring device to the replacement monitoring device, the replacement monitoring device storing the configuration and commissioning information of the second monitoring device in the replacement device memory.

22. The utility monitoring system of claim 21, wherein the first monitoring device is further configured to:

receive data from the replacement monitoring device in response to the first memory being below a first threshold storage capacity; and

store the received data in the first memory.

23. The utility monitoring system of claim 21, wherein the first monitoring device is part of a cluster of the monitoring devices with the second monitoring device.

24. The utility monitoring system of claim 23, wherein the cluster comprises selected ones of the monitoring devices, the selected ones of the monitoring devices being dynamically determined based at least in part on the interconnectivity of the peer-to-peer networked monitoring devices.

25. The utility monitoring system of claim 23, wherein the monitoring devices in the cluster are preconfigured to share therebetween only respective types of information.

26. The utility monitoring system of claim 23, wherein the monitoring devices in the cluster are preconfigured to share therebetween only respective amounts of information.

27. The utility monitoring system of claim 23, wherein each of the monitoring devices in the cluster is configured to store therein configuration and commissioning information for at least one other monitoring device in the cluster.

28. The utility monitoring system of claim 23, wherein each of the monitoring devices in the cluster is configured to store therein information representative of a Single Line Diagram of the utility monitoring system.