Channel, system and method for monitoring voltages
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring a plurality of voltage signals, the system comprising:
- (a) a plurality of channels, at least one of the plurality of channels comprising;
(i) a pair of terminals comprising a reference terminal and a measurement terminal, the voltage signal measurable at the measurement terminal relative to the reference terminal;
(ii) voltage signal processing circuitry electrically coupled to the pair of terminals to receive and process the voltage signal, the voltage signal processing circuitry comprising a memory having encoded thereon channel identification information comprising at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel; and
(iii) an isolation block comprising an isolator having an input and an output that are electrically isolated from each other, the isolator input electrically coupled to the voltage signal processing circuitry to receive the voltage signal and the channel identification information and then to output the voltage signal and the channel identification information to the isolator output(b) a back end board for monitoring the plurality of voltage signals, the back end board comprising;
(i) a plurality of slots, each of the slots configured to be physically and electrically detachably coupled to one of the channels; and
(ii) voltage sampling circuitry electrically coupled to the plurality of slots and configured to communicate with the plurality of channels such that the plurality of channels simultaneously sample the plurality of voltage signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described herein are a channel, system and method for monitoring voltages. Typically, the system includes multiple channels, each for sampling one of the voltages. The channels are physically and electrically coupled to a back end board on which is mounted a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that instructs the channels to simultaneously sample the voltages. Optionally, the channel is powered using an power supply that is isolated from the back end board, and transmits information over an electrically isolated connection to the back end board. The channel also includes voltage signal processing circuitry for processing the voltage signal on board the channel, and has stored on it channel identification information composed of at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel, which can assist with voltage signal processing.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a plurality of voltage signals, the system comprising:
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(a) a plurality of channels, at least one of the plurality of channels comprising; (i) a pair of terminals comprising a reference terminal and a measurement terminal, the voltage signal measurable at the measurement terminal relative to the reference terminal; (ii) voltage signal processing circuitry electrically coupled to the pair of terminals to receive and process the voltage signal, the voltage signal processing circuitry comprising a memory having encoded thereon channel identification information comprising at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel; and (iii) an isolation block comprising an isolator having an input and an output that are electrically isolated from each other, the isolator input electrically coupled to the voltage signal processing circuitry to receive the voltage signal and the channel identification information and then to output the voltage signal and the channel identification information to the isolator output (b) a back end board for monitoring the plurality of voltage signals, the back end board comprising; (i) a plurality of slots, each of the slots configured to be physically and electrically detachably coupled to one of the channels; and (ii) voltage sampling circuitry electrically coupled to the plurality of slots and configured to communicate with the plurality of channels such that the plurality of channels simultaneously sample the plurality of voltage signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for monitoring a voltage signal, the method comprising:
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(a) sampling the voltage signal using a channel; (b) isolating and then outputting the voltage signal and channel identification information stored on the channel; (c) processing the voltage signal in accordance with the channel identification information, the channel identification information comprising at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel; (d) digitizing the voltage signal to create a digitized voltage signal; (e) linearly correcting for one or both of gain factor and offset errors in the digitized voltage signal and then outputting a corrected voltage signal; (f) simultaneously sampling the corrected voltage signal and additional corrected voltage signals from additional channels using a field programmable gate array (FPGA); (g) conditioning the corrected voltage signals such that they are suitable for network transmission; and (h) outputting the corrected voltage signals to a network bus.
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28. A method for monitoring a voltage signal, the method comprising:
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(a) sampling the voltage signal using a channel; (b) isolating and then outputting the voltage signal and channel identification information stored on the channel; (c) processing the voltage signal in accordance with the channel identification information, the channel identification information comprising at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel; (d) digitizing the voltage signal to create a digitized voltage signal; (e) linearly correcting for one or both of gain factor and offset errors in the digitized voltage signal and then outputting a corrected voltage signal; (f) associating, with the channel, calibration data associated with the serial number of the channel, wherein the calibration data comprises a plurality of data points relating a listing of different digitized voltage signals to a listing of different first reference voltages; (g) utilizing the calibration data to mitigate errors in the digitized voltage signal; (h) determining an interpolated reference voltage to be used when measuring the voltage signal by; (i) selecting two digitized voltage signals from the listing of different voltage signals that are closest to the digitized voltage signal; and (ii) determining the interpolated reference voltage from the different first reference voltages related to the two digitized voltage signals; and (i) determining the voltage signal using the interpolated reference voltage instead of the first reference voltage.
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29. A method for monitoring a voltage signal, the method comprising:
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(a) sampling the voltage signal using a channel; (b) isolating and then outputting the voltage signal and channel identification information stored on the channel; (c) processing the voltage signal in accordance with the channel identification information, the channel identification information comprising at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel; (d) generating a current state manifest comprising a position of the channel and the channel identification information of the channel; (e) determining whether the current state manifest differs from a stored, previous state manifest; (f) when the current state manifest differs from the previous state manifest, displaying a prompt to determine whether the current state manifest is acceptable; and (g) when the current state manifest is acceptable, overwriting the stored, previous state manifest with the current state manifest.
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30. A method for monitoring a voltage signal, the method comprising:
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(a) sampling the voltage signal using a channel; (b) isolating and then outputting the voltage signal and channel identification information stored on the channel; (c) processing the voltage signal in accordance with the channel identification information, the channel identification information comprising at least one of an operating mode of the channel and a serial number of the channel; (d) generating a current state manifest comprising a position of the channel and the channel identification information of the channel; (e) determining when the current state manifest comprises an invalid arrangement of channels; and (f) when the current state manifest comprises the invalid arrangement of channels, displaying a warning. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification