Monitoring power-related parameters in a power distribution unit
First Claim
1. A power distribution unit comprising:
- a power distribution unit housing disposable in an electrical equipment rack of the type in which a plurality of electrical components are mountable;
a power input penetrating the housing configured to provide an alternating current (AC) power input to a plurality of power outputs;
the plurality of power outputs disposed in the housing, each in electrical communication with the power input and each connectable to an electrical load;
a voltage sensor for sensing a voltage at the power input or at one of the plurality of power outputs;
a plurality of current sensors each in electrical communication with one of the power outputs to sense current through each of the plurality of the power outputs, the plurality of current sensors disposed within the housing; and
a power monitoring section in electrical communication with the voltage sensor and the current sensors and responsive to signals provided by the current sensors and the voltage sensor to calculate energy with respect to at least one of the plurality of power outputs, wherein;
the energy that is calculated corresponds to an interval longer than one cycle of AC input power, andthe energy is calculated by accumulating instantaneous power values, obtained by multiplying a voltage value sensed by the voltage sensor with a current value sensed by at least one of the plurality of current sensors, over the interval.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power distribution unit (PDU) disposable in an electrical equipment rack. The PDU has a housing, a power input penetrating the housing, outlets in the housing, a processor disposed in the housing, voltage and current sensors, and a voltage calculation procedure communicable with the processor. The processor samples voltage and current waveforms and calculates RMS values and other power parameters. A method of managing electrical loads each drawing electrical power from a PDU includes repeatedly sampling voltage across and current flowing through each of the loads, calculating raw RMS values of voltage and current, and scaling the raw RMS values to obtain corrected RMS voltage and current values and other power parameters.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A power distribution unit comprising:
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a power distribution unit housing disposable in an electrical equipment rack of the type in which a plurality of electrical components are mountable; a power input penetrating the housing configured to provide an alternating current (AC) power input to a plurality of power outputs; the plurality of power outputs disposed in the housing, each in electrical communication with the power input and each connectable to an electrical load; a voltage sensor for sensing a voltage at the power input or at one of the plurality of power outputs; a plurality of current sensors each in electrical communication with one of the power outputs to sense current through each of the plurality of the power outputs, the plurality of current sensors disposed within the housing; and a power monitoring section in electrical communication with the voltage sensor and the current sensors and responsive to signals provided by the current sensors and the voltage sensor to calculate energy with respect to at least one of the plurality of power outputs, wherein; the energy that is calculated corresponds to an interval longer than one cycle of AC input power, and the energy is calculated by accumulating instantaneous power values, obtained by multiplying a voltage value sensed by the voltage sensor with a current value sensed by at least one of the plurality of current sensors, over the interval. - 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, 27)
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28. A method of managing a plurality of electrical loads each drawing electrical power from a power distribution unit, the method comprising:
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providing an alternating current (AC) power input to at least one of the plurality of loads; receiving, from one or more sensors disposed within the power distribution unit, one or more signals corresponding to voltage across and current flowing through at least one of the plurality of loads over an interval longer than one cycle of the AC input power; and calculating energy with respect to the at least one load, the energy calculated being based at least partially on the received one or more signals and the energy calculated by accumulating instantaneous power values, obtained by multiplying a voltage value determined from the voltage across at least one of the plurality of loads with a current value determined from the current flowing through at least one of the plurality of loads, over the interval. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification