DETECTING USER-DRIVEN OPERATING STATES OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES FROM A SINGLE SENSING POINT

• US 20180224492A1
• Filed: 09/04/2015
• Published: 08/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Washington
• Original Assignee: University of Washington
• Inventors: Gupta, Sidhant, Chen, Ke-Yu, Patel, Shwetak N.
• Granted Patent: US 10,641,810 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/001 Measuring interference from external sources to, or emission from, the device under test, e.g. EMC, EMI, EMP or ESD testing measuring electromagnetic fields G01R29/08; circuits for generating HV pulses in dielectric strength testing G01R31/14
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/021 adopting a different treatment of each operating region or a different mode of the monitored system, e.g. transient modes; different operating configurations of monitored system

Abstract

An apparatus including a sensing device configured to be coupled to an electrical outlet is provided. The sensing device can include a data acquisition receiver configured to receive electrical noise via the electrical outlet when the sensing device is coupled to the electrical outlet. The electrical outlet can be electrically coupled to an electrical power infrastructure. One or more electrical devices can be coupled to the electrical power infrastructure and can generate at least a portion of the electrical noise on the electrical power infrastructure. The data acquisition receiver can be configured to convert the electrical noise into one or more first data signals. The apparatus also can include a processing module configured to run on a processor of a computational unit. The sensing device can be in communication with the computational unit. The processing module can be further configured to identify each of two or more operating states of each of the one or more electrical devices at least in part using the one or more first data signals. The two or more operating states of each electrical device of the one or more electrical devices can be each different user-driven operating states of the electrical device when the electrical device is in an on-power state. Other embodiments are provided.

Claims

1-32. -32. (canceled)

33. An apparatus comprising:

a sensing device configured to be coupled to an electrical outlet, the sensing device comprising;

a data acquisition receiver configured to receive electrical noise via the electrical outlet when the sensing device is coupled to the electrical outlet, the electrical outlet being electrically coupled to an electrical power infrastructure, one or more electrical devices being coupled to the electrical power infrastructure and generating at least a portion of the electrical noise on the electrical power infrastructure, and the data acquisition receiver being configured to convert the electrical noise into one or more first data signals; and

a processing module configured to run on a processor of a computational unit, the sensing device being in communication with the computational unit,

wherein;

the processing module is further configured to identify each of two or more operating states of each of the one or more electrical devices at least in part using the one or more first data signals;

the two or more operating states of each electrical device of the one or more electrical devices are each different user-driven operating states of the electrical device when the electrical device is in an on-power state.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the electrical noise comprises;

first identifiable electrical noise on the electrical power infrastructure during a first time period corresponding to a first operating state of the two or more operating states; and

second identifiable electrical noise on the electrical power infrastructure during a second time period corresponding to a second operating state of the two or more operating states; and

the processing module is further configured to distinguish the first identifiable electrical noise from the second identifiable electrical noise to identify the two or more operating states of each of the one or more electrical devices.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein:

the first identifiable electrical noise and the second identifiable electrical noise each comprise substantially continuous electrical noise on the electrical power infrastructure; and

the substantially continuous electrical noise comprises at least one of (a) first electrical noise that is identifiable on the electrical power infrastructure for a first length of time that is greater than one alternating current electrical cycle, or (b) second electrical noise that is identifiable on the electrical power infrastructure for a second length of time that is less than one alternating current electrical cycle but the second electrical noise is repeated in three or more alternating current electrical cycles.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein:

the first time period is at least 1 second; and

the second time period is at least 1 second.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the data acquisition receiver comprises a filter configured to pass the electrical noise that is above approximately 5.3 kilohertz.

38. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the processing module is further configured to extract features from each of extracted frames of the one or more first data signals; and

the features comprise;

at least one of a mean magnitude, a maximum magnitude, or a minimum magnitude of a peak electromagnetic interference of each of the extracted frames;

at least one of a mean frequency, a maximum frequency, or a minimum frequency of the peak electromagnetic interference of each of the extracted frames; and

at least one of a frequency gap between two dominant electromagnetic interference peaks of each of the extracted frames or an overall mean magnitude of each of the extracted frames.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the features comprise:

the mean magnitude, the maximum magnitude, and the minimum magnitude of the peak electromagnetic interference of each of the extracted frames;

the mean frequency, the maximum frequency, and the minimum frequency of the peak electromagnetic interference of each of the extracted frames;

the frequency gap between the two dominant electromagnetic interference peaks of each of the extracted frames; and

the overall mean magnitude of each of the extracted frames.

40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein:

the processing module is further configured to classify the electrical noise into the two or more operating states of each electrical device of the one or more electrical devices using an expectation maximization clustering algorithm based on the features extracted from each of the extracted frames.

41. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise one or more motor-based appliances each configured to be manually switched to two or more different rotational speeds; and

each of the two or more operating states of the one or more motor-based appliances correspond to a different one of the two or more different rotational speeds.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein:

the one or more motor-based appliances comprise at least one of a blender or a food mixer.

43. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise a motor-based vacuum;

a first operating state of the two or more operating states corresponds to idling the motor-based vacuum on a rug;

a second operating state of the two or more operating states corresponds to moving the motor-based vacuum on the rug; and

a third operating state of the two or more operating states corresponds to using the motor-based vacuum on a hard floor.

44. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise one or more SMPS-based appliances each comprising an oscillator and each configured to operate at two or more different switching frequencies; and

each of the two or more operating states correspond to a different one of the two or more different switching frequencies.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein:

the one or more SMPS-based appliances comprise a computer comprising a central processing unit; and

each of the two or more different switching frequencies correspond to a different load of the central processing unit.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein:

the one or more SMPS-based appliances comprise a television;

a first frequency of the two or more different switching frequencies corresponds to displaying a television channel on the television; and

a second frequency of the two or more different switching frequencies corresponds to a transient channel change operation of the television.

47. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise one or more appliances each comprising two or more different switched resistive loads;

each of the two or more operating states correspond to a different one of the two or more different switched resistive loads; and

the one or more appliances comprise at least one of a hair dryer or a fan heater.

48. A method comprising:

capturing, at a sensing device coupled to an electrical outlet, electrical noise via the electrical outlet, the electrical outlet being coupled to an electrical power infrastructure, and one or more electrical devices being coupled to the electrical power infrastructure and generating at least a portion of the electrical noise on the electrical power infrastructure;

converting, at the sensing device, the electrical noise into one or more first data signals;

transmitting the one or more first data signals from the sensing device to a computational unit; and

identifying, at a processing module of the computational unit, each of two or more operating states of each of the one or more electrical devices at least in part using the one or more first data signals;

wherein;

the two or more operating states of each electrical device of the one or more electrical devices are each different user-driven operating states of the electrical device when the electrical device is in an on-power state.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise one or more motor-based appliances each configured to be manually switched to two or more different rotational speeds; and

each of the two or more operating states of the one or more motor-based appliances correspond to a different one of the two or more different rotational speeds.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise a motor-based vacuum;

a first operating state of the two or more operating states corresponds to idling the motor-based vacuum on a rug;

a second operating state of the two or more operating states corresponds to moving the motor-based vacuum on the rug; and

a third operating state of the two or more operating states corresponds to using the motor-based vacuum on a hard floor.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise one or more SMPS-based appliances each comprising an oscillator and each configured to operate at two or more different switching frequencies; and

each of the two or more operating states correspond to a different one of the two or more different switching frequencies.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein:

the one or more electrical devices comprise one or more appliances each comprising two or more different switched resistive loads; and

each of the two or more operating states correspond to a different one of the two or more different switched resistive loads.