Intelligent receptacle

• US 9,677,907 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Itron, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Itron, Inc.
• Inventors: Knuth, John Jay, DeVries, Richard Nolan, Johnson, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Everett, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US13/828,837
• Publication Number:
  US 20140277783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,552 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/12 Determination or prediction of behaviour, e.g. likely power consumption or unusual usage patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/45 Utility meters networked together within a single building
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/002 Remote reading of utility meters
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/60 for transmitting utility meters data, i.e. transmission of data from the reader of the utility meter
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• 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: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

An intelligent receptacle (or receptacle device) enables individually monitoring and/or controlling consumption of utility service by one or more loads through a supply outlet that is associated with the receptacle device. A client device may enable a user to remotely control a provision of the utility service from the supply outlet through the receptacle device. Furthermore, a utility metering device may include a virtual metering device instance that is configured to collect utility consumption data associated with the supply outlet from the receptacle device and help calibration or synchronization of utility consumption readings of the receptacle device.

Claims

1. A receptacle device comprising:

a processing unit; and

memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to perform acts comprising;

individually monitoring a consumption of a utility service of one or more loads through a supply outlet that is associated with the receptacle device for a period of time the utility service being received at the supply outlet via a utility metering device;

communicating utility consumption information of the one or more loads to the utility metering device;

receiving a synchronization signal or message including utility consumption data measured at the one or more loads that was measured by the utility metering device during the period of time, the synchronization signal or message having been generated by the utility metering device and the utility consumption data measured by the utility metering device having a different value than a value of the utility consumption information communicated by the receptacle device; and

calibrating the receptacle device based on the synchronization signal or message to reflect the utility consumption data measured by the utility metering device during the period of time.

2. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein the receptacle device is integrated with the supply outlet.

3. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein the receptacle device comprises an adapter to be placed between an output of the supply outlet and an input associated with the load.

4. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, the acts further comprising individually controlling the consumption of the utility service of the one or more loads through the supply outlet that is associated with the receptacle device.

5. The receptacle device as recited in claim 4, wherein individually controlling the consumption of the utility service of the one or more loads comprises individually starting, stopping and/or limiting a supply of the utility service to each of the one or more loads.

6. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein individually monitoring the consumption of the utility service of the one or more loads comprises individually recording an amount of the utility service consumed by each of the one or more loads within the period of time.

7. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein the receptacle device comprises an electric vehicle charger.

8. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, the acts further comprising:

receiving an instruction from a mobile device of a user, a home area network device or a utility metering device of a utility service provider through a network; and

performing an operation according to the instruction.

9. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein the utility service comprises an electricity service.

10. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more other devices comprise a data log that stores timestamp information associated with each delivery or measurement of consumption of a utility service.

11. The receptacle device as recited in claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise sending the utility consumption data monitored by the receptacle device to a mobile device of a user, or to a remote computing device.

12. A metering device comprising:

a metrology unit configured to measure an amount of a utility service provided to a receptacle device via the metering device;

a processor; and

memory, the memory storing;

a virtual receptacle device instance configured to;

communicate data with a receptacle device;

remotely control and monitor consumption of the utility service of a load through a supply outlet that is associated with the receptacle device;

compare an amount of utility service consumed by the load determined by the receptacle device for a period of time to an amount of utility service consumed by at least the load determined by the virtual receptacle device instance based at least in part on the amount of the utility service measured by the metrology unit for the period of time; and

generate calibrated utility consumption reading of the receptacle device when a difference between the amount of utility service determined by the receptacle device and the amount of utility service determined by the virtual receptacle device instance is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.

13. The metering device as recited in claim 12, the memory further storing:

one or more other virtual receptacle device instances for one or more other receptacle devices that are supplied with utility service via the metering device; and

a determination module configured to determine a total amount of utility consumption by loads that are associated with the one or more other receptacle devices and the receptacle device.

14. The metering device as recited in claim 12, wherein the virtual receptacle device instance is further configured to determine an amount of utility service delivered to a site associated with the receptacle device based on the metrology unit of the metering device.

15. The metering device as recited in claim 12, wherein the virtual receptacle device instance is further configured to send data including the calibrated utility consumption reading to the receptacle device to calibrate the receptacle device.

16. The metering device of claim 12, wherein the virtual receptacle device instance comprises an operating system.

17. The metering device of claim 12, wherein the virtual receptacle device instance comprises a communication interface to communicate data with the receptacle device using a secure encryption protocol or algorithm.

18. A method comprising:

measuring, by a metering device, a first utility consumption value of a utility service at one or more loads at a location for a period of time;

receiving, at the metering device and from a receptacle device, a second utility consumption value of the utility service measured by the receptacle device at the one or more loads at the location for the period of time, the utility service being provided to the receptacle device via the metering device;

comparing, at the metering device, the first utility consumption value and the second utility consumption value to calculate a difference between the first utility consumption value and the second utility consumption value; and

sending a synchronization signal or message to the receptacle device calibrating the receptacle device responsive to the difference being greater than or equal to a predefined threshold of error.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the receptacle device includes a plurality of receptacle devices, and wherein the method further comprises identifying which receptacle device is in error by obtaining respective degrees of correlation for the plurality of receptacle devices.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the second utility consumption value comprises one of a plurality of consumption values received at the metering device at different time periods from one of a plurality of receptacle devices, and the comparing comprises matching the period of time that the metering device measured the first utility consumption value with the period of time that the receptacle device measured the second utility consumption value.