Method and apparatus to determine electric power network anomalies using a coordinated information exchange among smart meters

摘要

A system and method to produce an electric network from estimated line impedance and physical line length among smart meter devices is provided using communication between the smart meters. The smart meters: (1) synchronize time using GPS pps signals, which provide an accurate time stamp; (2) send/receive an identifiable signal through the same phase of electric networks; (3) identify other smart meters on the same phase lines by listening to the information signal on the same phase lines; and (4) calculate time-of-arrival of an identifiable signal from other smart meters. The time of arrival information is used to calculate the line length, which is then used to calculate impedance of a line and topology of the electric network. The system then constructs an electric network by combining geo-spatial information and tree-like usual connection information.

主权项

1. A system for obtaining and assessing an electric power network of low voltage distribution grids, the system comprising:
a plurality of smart meters, each smart meter coupleable to the electric power network and configured to exchange information among smart meters of the electric power network by:
measuring by the smart meters the time-of-travel through the power lines using global positioning satellite (GPS) pulse per second (pps) signals to synchronize time to achieve nano second level synchronization accuracy, andmeasuring signal distortion.