Operationalizing a power usage monitoring system

• US 8,942,955 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2010
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: People Power Co.
• Original Assignee: People Power Co.
• Inventors: Wang, Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): TSAI, CAROL S W
• Application Number:
  US12/941,905
• Publication Number:
  US 20110055116A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• US Class Current: 702/188
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/063 related to remote communication
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/10 using digital techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00002 characterised by monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00026 involving a local wireless network, e.g. Wi-Fi, ZigBee or Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00028 involving the use of Internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/0005 the elements or equipment being or involving power plugs or sockets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2834 Switching of information between an external network and a home network access arrangements H04L12/2856
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2843 Mains power line
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• 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 20/20 End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/242 Home appliances
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/126 using wireless data transmission

Abstract

A monitoring system capable of being operationalized. Power consumption in electrical devices is monitored by the use of new and innovative consumption power monitoring device in accordance with the present invention. Power consumption information is collected by an intelligent power hub that is communicatively coupled to a remote server that presents overall power usage displays. A method of operationalizing a power usage monitoring system comprises powering up an energy pump device when the energy pump device is plugged into a first power socket, setting the energy pump device automatically to a SET mode to acquire new monitoring devices, and discovering the presence of a power consumption monitoring device.

Claims

1. A monitoring system, comprising:

a hub;

monitoring devices that measure energy consumption of electrical devices, each monitoring device having an identification number and being communicatively coupled with the hub, and each monitoring device communicating energy consumption information for the electrical devices to the hub;

a remote server communicatively coupled with the hub for receiving the energy consumption information for the plurality of the monitoring devices from the hub;

wherein the hub is powered by plugging into the electrical powerline;

wherein the hub is an intelligent power hub comprising;

a processing circuitry;

a display circuitry that displays a list of monitoring device identification numbers;

a communication circuitry; and

navigation and selection buttons comprising at least the buttons from the group of buttons;

Up, Down, Left, Right and Enter.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the hub discovers the monitoring device when the monitoring device is plugged into the electrical powerline.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the monitoring devices are communicatively coupled to the hub over the powerline.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the monitoring devices are communicatively coupled to the hub over wireless network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrical device is an electrical appliance.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the monitoring device comprises electrical sockets that support monitoring of the electrical appliances plugged into the electrical sockets.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the monitoring device is an energy efficient power usage monitoring power strip.

8. A monitoring system, comprising:

a hub;

monitoring devices that measure energy consumption of electrical devices, each monitoring device having an identification number and being communicatively coupled with the hub, and each monitoring device communicating energy consumption information for the electrical devices to the hub;

a remote server communicatively coupled with the hub for receiving the energy consumption information for the plurality of the monitoring devices from the hub;

wherein the remote server comprises;

a user registration manager,

a tariff computation manager,

a consumption baseline manager,

a display manager,

a database, and

an encoder.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the registration manager provides web pages for registering a user with the remote server.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the remote server computes tariff plan for the user, using the tariff computation manager.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the remote server computes current daily energy consumption baseline for the user, using the consumption baseline manager.

12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a remote server, an email address, a password and an identification number;

registering a user on the remote server with the email address, the password, and the identification number;

receiving, by the remote server, from a hub coupled with monitoring devices, information about energy consumption of electrical devices monitored by the monitoring devices;

associating, by the remote server, the user with the hub and the monitoring devices;

computing, by the remote server, a tariff plan and a current daily energy consumption baseline for the user; and

presenting, by the remote server, an energy saved data, a money saved data and an energy efficiency model to the user, at least partially based on the user'"'"'s tariff plan and the user'"'"'s current daily energy consumption baseline.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the identification number is a green identification number.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

broadcasting, by each new monitoring device, the green identification number, reporting that the new monitoring device is starting to monitor; and

handshaking, by each of the monitoring devices, with the hub.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the hub, an initial list of monitoring devices not associated with the user;

receiving, by the hub, a reported list of monitoring devices that includes all the new monitoring devices associated with the user; and

eliminating, by the hub, the initial list of monitoring devices from the reported list of monitoring devices thereby creating a list of monitoring devices associated with the user.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

storing, in the hub, the green identification number of each of the monitoring devices in the list of monitoring devices associated with the user; and

storing in the hub, the energy consumption information for each monitoring device in the list of monitoring devices associated with the user.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising;

displaying, by the hub a list of the monitoring devices and the associated energy consumption information for each monitoring device.