Sensor-based predictive outage system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11568499-B2
Application number	US-201715591273-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2017
Priority date	May 10, 2017
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium to receive from customer devices, sensor messages indicating a power state of on or off, a location, and a timestamp; select an element of a utility system based on the sensor messages; determine a power state of on or off for the element based on the sensor messages and a location and time pertaining to the element; store a temporal and spatial model that includes an outage event; receive weather data pertaining to the element; generate an outage model based on the temporal and spatial model and the weather data; receive forecasted weather data; calculate a predicted outage pertaining to one or more elements of the utility system based on the outage model and the forecasted weather data; and transmit a message that includes the predicted outage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a network device and from customer devices, first sensor messages, wherein each first sensor message indicates a first power state of on or off, a first location, and a first timestamp pertaining to one of the customer devices;
correlating, by the network device based on the first sensor messages, a candidate circuit of a utility system with the customer devices;
selecting, by the network device, an element of the utility system based on the first power state, the first location, the first timestamp of each of the customer devices and the candidate circuit;
determining, by the network device and in response to the selecting, a second power state of on or off for the element of the utility system based on the first power state, the first location, and the first timestamp of one or more of the customer devices, and a second location and a time window pertaining to the element;
storing, by the network device and in response to the determining, a temporal and spatial model that includes the second power state, the second location, and the time period pertaining to the element;
receiving, by the network device, weather data pertaining to the second location and the time period;
generating, by the network device, an outage model based on the temporal and spatial model and the weather data;
storing, by the network device in response to the generating, the outage model;
receiving, by the network device, forecasted weather data;
calculating, by the network device, a predicted outage pertaining to one or more elements of the utility system based on the outage model and the forecasted weather data; and
transmitting, by the network device, a predicted outage message that includes the predicted outage.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, by the network device, topology data pertaining to elements of the utility system, wherein the topology data includes locations of the elements, types of the elements, identifiers of the elements, and connection and circuit data that indicates connections between two or more of the elements, a circuit formed by the two or more elements, and a direction of flow of electricity between the two or more elements, and wherein the element is one of the elements; and
using, by the network device, the topology data to determine the second power state of the element.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining, by the network device, a type of outage from among multiple types of outages for the one or more elements based on the outage model, the topology data, and the forecasted weather data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each first sensor message indicates that the first power state is off, and the method further comprising:
identifying, by the network device and in response to the receiving of the first sensor messages, a center of a power failure event pertaining to the customer devices;
calculating, by the network device and in response to the identifying, a distance from each customer device to the element of the utility system;
selecting, by the network device and based on the distances calculated, one or more of the first power states associated with one or more of the customer devices that are closest to the second location of the element; and
assigning, by the network device and in response to the selecting of the one or more first power states, the second power state to be the same as the one or more of the first power states.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
receiving, by the network device and from other customer devices, second sensor messages, wherein each second sensor message indicates a second power state of on or off, a second location, and a second timestamp pertaining to one of the other customer devices;
selecting, by the network device, another element of the utility system based on another second location and another time window pertaining to the other element and the second location and the time window pertaining to the element; and
determining, by the network device and in response to the receiving of the second sensor messages and the selecting of the other element, whether the other element of the utility system also has a power failure event.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicated outage message is transmitted to a utility service provider of the utility system, wherein the utility system delivers electricity to customers, and wherein the customer devices are located at customer premises of the customers.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer devices include one or more of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an optical network unit (ONU), a smart device, a router, a set top box, or an appliance, and wherein the element of the utility system is upstream from the customer devices.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outage model includes area topology data that indicates one or more of a type of vegetation, a type of water source, or a type of terrain proximate to each element of the utility system.

9. A network device comprising:
a communication interface;
a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions; and
a processor, wherein the processor executes the instructions to:
receive, via the communication interface and from customer devices, first sensor messages, wherein each first sensor message indicates a first power state of on or off, a first location, and a first timestamp pertaining to one of the customer devices;
correlate, based on the first sensor messages, a candidate circuit of a utility system with the customer devices;
select an element of the utility system based on the first power state, the first location, the first timestamp of each of the customer devices and the candidate circuit;
determine, in response to the selection, a second power state of on or off for the element of the utility system based on the first power state, the first location, and the first timestamp of one or more of the customer devices, and a second location and a time window pertaining to the element;
store, in response to the determination, a temporal and spatial model that includes the second power state, the second location, and the time period pertaining to the element;
receive, via the communication interface, weather data pertaining to the second location and the time period;
generate an outage model based on the temporal and spatial model and the weather data;
store the outage model;
receive, via the communication interface, forecasted weather data;
calculate a predicted outage pertaining to one or more elements of the utility system based on the outage model and the forecasted weather data; and
transmit, via the communication interface, a predicted outage message that includes the predicted outage.

10. The network device of claim 9 , wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:
store topology data pertaining to elements of the utility system, wherein the topology data includes locations of the elements, types of the elements, identifiers of the elements, and connection and circuit data that indicates connections between two or more of the elements, a circuit formed by the two or more elements, and a direction of flow of electricity between the two or more elements, and wherein the element is one of the elements; and
use the topology data to determine the second power state of the element.

11. The network device of claim 9 , wherein each first sensor message indicates that the first power state is off, and wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:
identify in response to the receipt of the first sensor messages, a center of a power failure event pert

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Dubois Jean F
• Moran Patrick J

Classifications

• G06Q10/067

  Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title

• G06Q50/06 Primary

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• G06N7/005

  Physics · mapped topic

• G16Y10/35

  Utilities, e.g. electricity, gas or water · CPC title

• G06N7/01

  Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks · CPC title