Claims
- 1. A protection device for use with an electrical circuit, said protection device comprising:a communications port operative to couple said protection device with a data network; at least one output coupled with said electrical circuit and operative to control a flow of electrical power through said electrical circuit; a processor coupled with said communications port and said at least one output, said processor executing at least one programmable software module, each programmable software module of said at least one programmable software module including a plurality of programmable software sub-modules, said plurality of programmable software sub-modules being characterized by a capability of being linked together to perform an arbitrary function, said at least one programmable software module further operative to receive data from said communications port, process said data and generate a signal on said at least one output to at least one of interrupt and restore said flow of electrical power through said electrical circuit.
- 2. The protection device of claim 1, wherein said data network comprises an Ethernet network.
- 3. The protection device of claim 1, wherein said electrical circuit comprises at least one circuit breaker, said at least one output being coupled with said at least one circuit breaker to control operation of said at least one circuit breaker.
- 4. The protection device of claim 3, wherein said at least one output is coupled with said at least one circuit breaker via said data network.
- 5. The protection device of claim 1, wherein each programmable software module of said at least one programmable module comprises at least one object oriented software program module.
- 6. The protection device of claim 1, wherein said arbitrary function comprises a protection function.
- 7. The protection device of claim 1, wherein at least one programmable software sub-module of said plurality of programmable sub-modules is operative to receive data from at least one other device coupled with said data network.
- 8. The protection device of claim 1, wherein said processor is further operative to receive data from at least one other device coupled with said data network.
- 9. The protection device of claim 8, wherein said at least one other device comprises at least one sensor coupled with said electrical circuit and operative to sense at least one electrical parameter in said electrical circuit, generate an analog signal representative thereof, digitize said analog signal and transmit said digitized analog signal onto said data network.
- 10. The protection device of claim 8, wherein said at least one other device comprises at least one other protection device.
- 11. The protection device of claim 8, wherein said at least one programmable module comprises at least one programmable sub-module coupled with said at least one other device to receive said data.
- 12. A protection device for use with an electrical circuit, said protection device comprising:communications means for coupling said protection device with a data network; output means for coupling said protection device with said electric circuit to control a flow of electrical power through said electrical circuit; processor means, coupled with said communications means and said output means, said processor means for executing at least one programmable software module means, each programmable software module means of said at least one programmable software module means including a plurality of programmable software sub-module means, said plurality of programmable software sub-module means being characterized by a capability of being linked together to perform an arbitrary function, said at least one programmable software module means further operative to receive data from said communications means, process said data and generate a signal on said output means to at least one of interrupt and restore said it flow of electrical power through said electrical circuit.
- 13. The protection device of claim 12, wherein said data network comprises an Ethernet network.
- 14. The protection device of claim 12, wherein said electrical circuit comprises at least one circuit breaker, said output means being coupled with said at least one circuit breaker to control operation of said at least one circuit breaker.
- 15. The protection device of claim 14, wherein said output means is coupled with said at least one circuit breaker via said data network.
- 16. The protection device of claim 12, wherein each programmable software module means of said at least one programmable software module means comprises at least one object oriented program module.
- 17. The protection device of claim 12, wherein said arbitrary function comprises a protection function.
- 18. The protection device of claim 12, wherein at least one of said plurality of programmable software sub-module means is operative to receive data from at least one other device coupled with said data network.
- 19. The protection device of claim 12, wherein said processor means is further operative to receive data from at least one other device coupled with said data network.
- 20. The protection device of claim 19, wherein said at least one other device comprises at least one sensor means for sensing at least one electrical parameter in said electrical circuit, generating an analog signal representative thereof, digitizing said analog signal and transmitting said digitized analog signal onto said data network.
- 21. The protection device of claim 19, wherein said at least one other device comprises at least one other protection device.
- 22. The protection device of claim 19, wherein said at least one programmable module means comprises at least one programmable sub-module means coupled with said at least one other device to receive said data.
- 23. A power control and monitoring system, comprising:an electrical power distribution network; a plurality of protection devices, each protection device of said plurality of protection devices being associated with at least one portion of said electrical power distribution network and each protection device of said plurality of protection devices including a communications port for connection to a data network; wherein each protection device of said plurality of protection devices includes user-programmable logic, said user programmable logic including at least one logic input and at least one logic output and a plurality of sub-components, each sub-component of said plurality of sub-components being capable of being coupled with another of said sub-component of said plurality of sub-components and said at least one logic input and said at least one logic output in a user specified arrangement so as to perform an arbitrary function derived from said user specified arrangement, and wherein said at least one logic input and said at least one logic output are communicated between said plurality of protection devices over said data network.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation under 37 C.F.R. §1.53(b) of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/798,723, filed Feb. 12, 1997, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/369,849, filed Dec. 30, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,936, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. U.S. application Ser. No. 08/798,923 was filed on the same day as and incorporated by reference, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/798,724, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,911, entitled “DIGITAL SENSOR APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR PROTECTION, CONTROL, AND MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS”, filed on Feb. 12, 1997 herewith, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
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Non-Patent Literature Citations (7)
Entry |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
08/798723 |
Feb 1997 |
US |
Child |
10/068431 |
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US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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08/369849 |
Dec 1994 |
US |
Child |
08/798723 |
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US |