Sharing Information Associated with Power Generation Devices Via a File System on a Network

• US 20140164570A1
• Filed: 12/07/2012
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Ree, Bradley, Hanley, James Patrick
• Granted Patent: US 9,128,889 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/002 Remote reading of utility meters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• 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

Certain embodiments herein are directed to transferring information between devices on a network using a filing system such as the WebDAV file system. In one embodiment, a sensor device may communicate with a computer server including a WebDAV file system to obtain information for various purposes, such as for software upgrades or resolution of software bugs. The computer server may receive data from a sensor associated with a home, business, or power generation equipment, or other asset. The computer server may further prepare the data for transmission to a filing system, which may include calling one or more WebDAV functions. The data may be used to determine additional data that may be used be the computer device that sent the data, in one embodiment. The data, as well as the additional data, may be stored in a WebDAV file system and/or transmitted to a remote computing device.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a sensor configured to receive data;

a network device configured to connect to a network;

at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions;

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive, from the sensor, data associated with an item;

prepare the data associated with the item for interaction with a filing system; and

send, via the network, the data associated with the item to the filing system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a power consumption meter, a smart meter, an International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) meter, an electricity meter, a gas meter, a water meter, a district heating meter, a remote monitoring sensor, or an actuator.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the item is coupled to the sensor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the item comprises at least one of a building, a residence, a business, a factory, a power plant, a turbine, a condenser, an automobile, or an asset of at least one of a residence, a business, a factory, an automobile, or a power plant.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the filing system comprises a computing device remote from the sensor.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the computing device comprises a Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) server.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the WebDAV server provides WebDAV functionality to the sensor via the network.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the preparation of the data associated with the item for interaction with a filing system comprises calling at least one Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) method with the data.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a sensor, data associated with an item;

preparing the data associated with the item for interaction with a filing system; and

sending, with a network device, the data associated with the item to the filing system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sensor comprises at least one of a power consumption meter, a smart meter, an International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) meter, an electricity meter, a gas meter, a water meter, or a remote monitoring sensor.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the item is coupled to the sensor.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the item comprises at least one of a building, a residence, a business, a factory, a power plant, a turbine, a condenser, an automobile, or an asset of at least one of a residence, a business, a factory, an automobile, or a power plant.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the filing system comprises a computing device remote from the sensor.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the computing device comprises a Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) server.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the WebDAV server provides WebDAV functionality to the sensor via the network.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein preparing the data associated with the item for interaction with a filing system comprises calling at least one Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) method with the data.

17. A system, comprising:

a sensor configured to receive data associated with at least one of a building, a residence, a business, a factory, a power plant, a turbine, a condenser, an automobile, or an asset of at least one of a residence, a business, a factory, an automobile, or a power plant;

a network device configured to connect to a network;

at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions;

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive, from the sensor, data associated with at least one device;

prepare the data for interaction with a filing system;

store the data in the filing system; and

provide, via the network, information associated with the filing system to a computing device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one memory is configured to store the filing system locally.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the filing system comprises a Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) system.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the preparation of the data for interaction with a filing system comprises calling at least one Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) method with the data.