Detecting hot socket conditions in utility electricity meters

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021351614-A1
Application number	US-202016869509-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 7, 2020
Priority date	May 7, 2020
Publication date	Nov 11, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Various embodiments disclosed herein provide techniques for detecting hot socket conditions in an electrical system. A hot socket application executing on a utility electricity meter acquires, via a power line communications (PLC) modem, first signal readings associated with a utility electricity meter. The hot socket application acquires, via a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, second signal readings associated with the utility electricity meter. The hot socket application performs one or more operations on the first signal readings and the second signal readings to determine whether a hot socket condition is present. The hot socket application performs a remedial operation in response to determining that the one or operations indicate that the hot socket condition is present.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for detecting hot socket conditions in an electrical system, the method comprising:
acquiring, via a power line communications (PLC) modem, first signal readings associated with a utility electricity meter; acquiring, via a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, second signal readings associated with the utility electricity meter; performing one or more operations on the first signal readings and the second signal readings to determine whether a hot socket condition is present; and performing a remedial operation in response to determining that the one or operations indicate that the hot socket condition is present.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operations comprise determining that a correlation between the first signal readings and the second signal readings is indicative of a hot socket condition.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising determining that the correlation between the first signal readings and the second signal readings exceeds a threshold value over multiple power cycles over a duration of time.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first signal readings represent signals that are within a first frequency range and the second signal readings represent signals that are within a second frequency range that is higher than the first frequency range.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises disconnecting the utility electricity meter from an electrical utility via a service disconnect.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises transmitting at least one of the first signal readings or the second signal readings to a central office, an edge device, or another utility electricity meter.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises transmitting a first message to a central office, an edge device, or another utility electricity meter indicating that the hot socket condition has been detected.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises generating an alert to inform a user of the hot socket condition.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the first signal readings or the second signal readings comprise at least one of voltage readings or current readings.

10 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
acquiring, via a power line communications (PLC) modem, first signal readings associated with a utility electricity meter; acquiring, via a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, second signal readings associated with the utility electricity meter; performing one or more operations on the first signal readings and the second signal readings to determine whether a hot socket condition is present; and performing a remedial operation in response to determining that the one or operations indicate that the hot socket condition is present.

11 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the one or more operations comprise determining that a correlation between the first signal readings and the second signal readings is indicative of a hot socket condition.

12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , further comprising determining that the correlation between the first signal readings and the second signal readings exceeds a threshold value over multiple power cycles over a duration of time.

13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the first signal readings represent signals that are within a first frequency range and the second signal readings represent signals that are within a second frequency range that is higher than the first frequency range.

14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the remedial operation comprises disconnecting the utility electricity meter from an electrical utility via a service disconnect.

15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the remedial operation comprises transmitting at least one of the first signal readings or the second signal readings to a central office, an edge device, or another utility electricity meter.

16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the remedial operation comprises transmitting a first message to a central office, an edge device, or another utility electricity meter indicating that the hot socket condition has been detected.

17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the remedial operation comprises generating an alert to inform a user of the hot socket condition.

18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein one or both of the first signal readings or the second signal readings comprise at least one of voltage readings or current readings.

19 . A system, comprising:
a memory that includes instructions, and a processor that is coupled to the memory and, when executing the instructions, is configured to:
acquire, via a power line communications (PLC) modem, first signal readings associated with a utility electricity meter;
acquire, via a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, second signal readings associated with the utility electricity meter;
perform one or more operations on the first signal readings and the second signal readings to determine whether a hot socket condition is present; and
perform a remedial operation in response to determining that the one or operations indicate that the hot socket condition is present.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the one or more operations comprise determining that a correlation between the first signal readings and the second signal readings is indicative of a hot socket condition.

Assignees

• Itron Inc

Inventors

• Borisov Vladimir
• Pichot Matthieu

Classifications

• H02J13/12

  Monitoring network conditions, e.g. electrical magnitudes or operational status · CPC title

• H02J13/333 Primary

  the equipment forming part of substations · CPC title

• G01R31/69

  of terminals at the end of a cable or a wire harness; of plugs; of sockets, e.g. wall sockets or power sockets in appliances · CPC title

• G01R22/068

  Arrangements for indicating or signaling faults · CPC title

• G06Q50/06 Primary

  Energy or water supply · CPC title