Method and apparatus for load identification

• US 10,146,281 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2011
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Delta Electronics Thailand Public Company Limited (Delta Electronics Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Delta Electronics Thailand Public Company Limited (Delta Electronics Incorporated)
• Inventors: Jitaru, Ionel, Bucheru, Bogdan Tudor, Davila, Marco
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Kim
• Assistant Examiner(s): Neveln, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US13/199,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20120119714A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,652 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/24 Identification of individual loads, e.g. by analysing current/voltage waveforms
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/002 Remote reading of utility meters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/00 Circuit arrangements for dc mains or dc distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/70 Load identification
• 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

A load communication device and method is provided, that identifies and transmits to a PSU the load requirement to operate a load device that is powered by the PSU, by analyzing the characteristics of current applied to the load device by a given input voltage generated by the PSU. The load communication device is configured to transmit between the PSU and the load device solely over the 2 wire cable that extends between the PSU and the load device.

Claims

1. Apparatus for operating a load device powered by a power supply unit (PSU) comprising:

a load communication device that identifies and transmits to the PSU a load requirement to operate the load device that is powered by the PSU, said load requirement being identified by analyzing the characteristics of current applied to the load device by a given input voltage generated by the PSU, wherein the apparatus is adapted to identify the load requirement in the form of a suitable voltage level for the load device by applying successive standard voltage levels with a zero voltage reset in between, the standard voltage levels being applied for a period of time long enough to address a transient behaviour of load current and by identifying one or more patterns of the load current in order to identify the load requirement.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the load communication device is configured to transmit between the PSU and the load device solely over a 2 wire cable that extends between the PSU and the load device.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during low state voltage and is configured to transfer one, or a plurality of, load characteristics.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, where the load communication device is physically outside of the PSU and communicates with the PSU during a high voltage state of the PSU output by clamping the maximum output voltage of the PSU.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during a low state voltage of the PSU output and the communication during the low state voltage is protected by a switch against a back bias voltage of the battery of the load.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during the low state voltage and the communication during the low state voltage is done by means of high frequency filtered path while the power transfer between PSU and load is done by means of low frequency filtered path using the same 2-wire cable.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the load communication device comprises a current amplitude encoding circuit which comprises:

a first bipolar junction transistor (BJT), a second BJT, and a third BJT; and

wherein a base terminal of the first BJT is connected with a collector terminal of the second BJT, and a base terminal of the second BJT is connected with the collector terminal of the third BJT.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a normally-off MOSFET connected with an emitter terminal of the first BJT for protecting against a back bias voltage from the load device.

9. The apparatus of claim 2, where the load communication device has a stored library of voltage-current-time characteristics for different load devices that is used to identify the actual load device.

10. The apparatus of claim 2, where the load communication device is physically outside of the PSU and communicates with the PSU during a low voltage state of the PSU output.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, where the load communication device is physically outside of PSU and communicates with the PSU during the low voltage state of the PSU output.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during the low state voltage by coding the data in analogue and/or digital format.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during the low state voltage using any or all of voltage, current, time and frequency.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, where the load communication device is physically outside of the PSU and communicates with the PSU during the high voltage state of the PSU output by clamping the maximum output voltage of the PSU.

15. Method for identifying and transmitting to a power supply unit (PSU) a load requirement to operate a load device that is powered by the PSU, comprising

a) providing communication between a load communication device and the PSU, and, for identifying the load requirement, the load communication device analyzes the characteristics of current applied to the load device by a given input voltage generated by the PSU, and

b) the load communication device transmitting to the PSU the load requirement to operate the load device that is powered by the PSU,

wherein the load requirement in form of a suitable voltage level for the load device is identified by applying successively standard voltage levels with zero voltage reset in between, the standard voltage levels being applied for a period long enough to address a transient behaviour of a load current, and by identifying patterns of the load current.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the load communication device transmits between the PSU and the load device solely over a two-wire cable that extends between the PSU and the load device.

17. The method of claim 16, where the load communication device has a stored library of voltage-current-time characteristics for different load devices that is used to identify the actual load device.

18. The method of claim 16, where the load communication device is physically outside of PSU and communicates with the PSU during a low voltage state of a PSU output.

19. The method of claim 16, where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during low state voltage and transfers one, or a plurality of, load characteristics.

20. The method of claim 16, where the load communication device is physically outside of PSU and communicates with the PSU power supply unit during a high voltage state of a PSU output by clamping a maximum output voltage of the PSU.

21. The method of claim 16, where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during low state voltage and the communication during low state voltage is protected by a switch against a back bias voltage of a battery of the load device.

22. The method of claim 16, where the load communication device is in circuit communication with the PSU during low state voltage and the communication during low state voltage is done by means of a high frequency filtered path while a power transfer between PSU and load device is done by means of a low frequency filtered path using the same two-wire cable.