System and method for enabling effective work force management of a smart grid

• US 9,672,576 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2011
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Terry, Matthew A., Trevathan, Matthew B., Ramanathan, Sri, Mak, Don T., Monagle, Kevin M., Bhageria, Gopal K., Reboul, Jean-Gael F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gami, Tejal
• Application Number:
  US13/231,787
• Publication Number:
  US 20130066481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,093 Days
• Field of Search: 700297, 709204, 340635
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00002 characterised by monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00017 using optical fiber
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00028 involving the use of Internet protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00034 the elements or equipment being or involving an electric power substation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• 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 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• 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 20/221 General power management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/124 using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security

Abstract

A system and a method are provided for enabling effective work force management of a smart grid. The method includes receiving a first Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message comprising a state of an electrical component on an electrical grid; and notifying a third party of the state of the electrical component by sending a second SIP message.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer processor in a presence cluster, a first Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a monitoring device of an electrical component on an electrical grid that is registered with a SIP registrar corresponding to the presence cluster, the first SIP message comprising a status of the electrical component, a type of the electrical component and specifications of the electrical component, wherein the electrical component is one of a fuse, transformer, circuit breaker, capacitor, voltage regulator, compensator, relay, feeder, switch, and protection device located at an electrical substation or power station and monitored by a utility provider;

determining, by the computer processor, that a utility manager of the utility provider is a subscriber of the presence cluster for notifications of status information sent to the presence cluster by the electrical component;

notifying the utility manager of the state of the electrical component by sending a second SIP message;

sending by the utility manager documents pertaining to the electrical component to a field crew of the utility provider; and

deploying the field crew to a location of the electrical component.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a control command comprising at least one action to take in response to the state of the electrical component; and

sending the control command to the electrical component, in a third SIP message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the electrical component configures itself based on the control command by performing the at least one action to take in response to the state of the electrical component.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a fourth SIP message from the utility manager requesting to subscribe to updates of the state of the electrical component.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of building and updating a presence document comprising the state of the electrical component and information regarding the utility manager; and

storing the presence document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the state of the electrical component comprises an indication that the electrical component is overheating.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first SIP message is received when an electrical event is recorded at the electrical component.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a fifth SIP message to the field crew, the fifth SIP message comprising at least one of:

an action to perform on the electrical component in response to the state of the electrical component;

a safety alert associated with the electrical component;

a location of the electrical component; and

a schematic of the electrical component.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the field crew is located in a network domain of the utility provider.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure operable to perform the steps of claim 1.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of claim 1 are provided by the service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the state of the electrical component comprises presence information; and

the method further comprises;

subscribing a subscriber device of the field crew to the presence cluster in response to receiving a SIP subscribe message from the subscriber device;

subscribing a watcher device of the utility manager to the presence cluster in response to receiving a SIP subscribe message from the watcher device;

sending a SIP acknowledgement message to the electrical component, the SIP acknowledgement message indicating that the presence information has been received and processed by the presence cluster;

building a presence document including the presence information;

determining that the subscriber device is subscribed to the presence server;

sending a SIP publish message to the subscriber device including the presence information; and

forwarding, via the presence cluster, a control message from the subscriber device to the electrical device, the control message including a control command from the field crew for the electrical device.

12. A system implemented in hardware, comprising:

a domain server operable to;

register at least one electrical component on an electrical grid in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)/Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) network in response to receiving a SIP register message from the at least one electrical component, wherein the electrical component is one of a fuse, transformer, circuit breaker, capacitor, voltage regulator, compensator, relay, feeder, switch, and protection device located at an electrical substation or power station and monitored by a utility provider;

subscribe a plurality of client devices to a presence cluster in response to receiving a SIP subscribe message from the plurality of client devices, wherein;

the subscribing subscribes the plurality of client devices to notifications of critical events or status information at the at least one electrical component,

the plurality of client devices include a client device of a manager of the utility provider, and

the plurality of client devices include a client device of a field crew deployed to the at least one electrical component by the utility provider;

receive, via the presence cluster, a SIP notify message from the at least one electrical component, the SIP notify message comprising a monitored state of the at least one electrical component on the electrical grid;

determine that the plurality of client devices are subscribed to the presence cluster;

send SIP publish messages to the client device of the manager and the client device of the field crew, the SIP publish messages including presence information comprising the monitored state of the at least one electrical component;

send a switching plan document pertaining to the electrical component to the field crew, wherein the switching plan document includes specifications, a location, and a schematic of the electrical component;

determine a control command comprising at least one action to take in response to the monitored state of the at least one electrical component;

send the control command to the at least one electrical component,

wherein;

the at least one electrical component configures itself based on the control command by performing the at least one action to take in response to the monitored state, and

the SIP register message, the SIP subscribe message, the SIP notify message, and the SIP publish message are SIP signaling protocol messages; and

send rules set by the field crew regarding control of the electrical component and indicating one of;

(1) the field crew has allowed the utility provider to control the electrical component;

(2) the field crew has programmed to control the electrical component for only a specific period of time; and

(3) the field crew has programmed the electrical component to be in their complete control.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Management Server (XDMS) operable to:

at least one of build and update a presence document comprising the monitored state of the at least one electrical component and information regarding the at least one client device of the field crew; and

store the presence document.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the monitored state of the at least one electrical component comprises at least one of:

an indication whether the at least one electrical component is on or off;

an indication that the at least one electrical component is malfunctioning or is inoperable;

an indication that the at least one electrical component requires maintenance; and

an indication that the at least one electrical component is performing within specified operational limits.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the SIP notify message is received when an electrical event is recorded at the at least one electrical component.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one client device of the field crew is operable to send the control command comprising the at least one action to take in response to the monitored state, to the at least one electrical component.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the domain server is operable to send a SIP message to the at least one client device of the field crew, the SIP message comprising at least one of:

an action to perform on the at least one electrical component in response to the state of the at least one electrical component;

a safety alert associated with the at least one electrical component;

a location of the at least one electrical component; and

a schematic of the at least one electrical component.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the domain server is located in a network domain of at least one of the utility provider and a network service provider.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one client device of the field crew is located in a network domain of at least one of a utility provider, a network service provider, and a third-party location.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer readable hardware storage device and program instructions stored on the computer readable hardware storage device, the program instructions comprising:

program instructions to receive a first Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message from a monitoring device of an electrical component on an electrical grid that is registered with a SIP registrar corresponding to a presence cluster, the message comprising a status of the electrical component, a type of the electrical component and specifications of the electrical component;

program instructions to determine that a utility manager is a subscriber of the presence cluster for status information sent to the presence cluster by the one electrical component;

program instructions to notify the utility manager of the state of the electrical component by sending a second SIP message

program instructions to send a switching plan document pertaining to the electrical component to a field crew, wherein the switching plan document includes specifications, a location, and a schematic of the electrical component; and

program instructions to deploy the field crew to the location of the electrical component.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

program instructions to determine a control command comprising at least one action to take in response to the state of the electrical component; and

program instructions to send the control command to the electrical component,

wherein the electrical component configures itself based on the control command by performing the at least one action to take in response to the state of the electrical component.

22. A method for work force management of an electrical grid, comprising:

sending, by a computer processor, a register message to a Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF)/Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) registrar to register in a IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)/SIP network;

recording, by the computer processor, an electrical event at a location on the electrical grid specified by a field crew in possession of a subscriber device deployed to the location by a utility manager of a utility provider;

sending, by the computer processor, a SIP notify message to a presence server corresponding to the S-CSCF/SIP registrar, the SIP notify message comprising presence information of the electrical event at the location specified by the field crew;

receiving, by the computer processor, a control command from the utility manager, which is subscribed to the presence server for notifications of events published to the presence cluster by an electrical component, the control command comprising at least one action to take in response to the electrical event;

receiving, by the computer processor, rules from the subscriber device possessed by the field crew, wherein the rules are set by the field crew regarding control of the electrical component and indicate one of;

(1) the field crew has allowed the utility provider to control the electrical component;

(2) the field crew has programmed to control the electrical component for only a specific period of time; and

(3) the field crew has programmed the electrical component to be in their complete control; and

performing, by the computer processor, the at least one action to take in response to the electrical event.

23. A computer system for work force management on an electrical grid, the system comprising:

one or more computer processors;

a computer readable hardware storage device;

program instructions stored on the computer readable hardware storage device for execution by the one or more computer processors, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to receive a SIP register message requesting to register at least one electrical component with a Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF)/Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) registrar of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)/SIP network, wherein the electrical component is one of a fuse, transformer, circuit breaker, capacitor, voltage regulator, compensator, relay, feeder, switch, and protection device located at an electrical substation or power station and monitored by a utility provider;

program instructions to register the at least one electrical component with the S-CSCF/SIP registrar;

program instructions to receive SIP subscribe messages from a plurality of client devices, wherein;

the SIP subscribe messages request to subscribe to updates of the monitored state of the at least one electrical component for management of the at least one electrical component,

the plurality of client devices include a client device of a manager of the utility provider, and

the plurality of client devices include a client device of a field crew in possession of a subscriber device deployed to the at least one electrical component by the utility;

program instructions to subscribe the plurality of client devices to a presence cluster corresponding to the S-CSCF/SIP registrar;

program instructions to receive a SIP notify message from the at least one electrical component, the SIP notify message comprising a monitored state of at least one electrical component on the electrical grid;

program instructions to determine that the at least one client device is subscribed to the presence cluster;

program instructions to send a SIP publish message to the client device of the manager and the client device of a field crew for management of the at least one electrical component, the SIP publish message comprising the monitored state of the at least one electrical component;

program instructions to determine a control command comprising at least one action to take in response to the monitored state of the at least one electrical component;

program instructions to send the control command to the at least one electrical component;

program instructions to send a switching plan document pertaining to the electrical component to the field crew, the switching plan document includes specifications, a location, and a schematic of the electrical component; and

program instructions to control, by the utility manager and the subscriber device, the electrical component of the utility provider, wherein the field crew possessing the subscriber device sets rules regarding control of the electrical component indicating one of;

(1) the field crew has allowed the utility provider to control the electrical component;

(2) the field crew has programmed to control the electrical component for only a specific period of time; and

(3) the field crew has programmed the electrical component to be in their complete control;

wherein the monitored state of the at least one electrical component comprises;

an indication whether the at least one electrical component is on or off;

an indication that the at least one electrical component is malfunctioning or is inoperable;

an indication that the at least one electrical component requires maintenance; and

an indication that the at least one electrical component is performing within specified operational limits, and

wherein the SIP register message, the SIP subscribe message, the SIP notify message, and the SIP publish message are SIP signaling protocol messages.