Patent Application
20150350260
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to managing infrastructure systems. Specifically, the subject matter described below relates to management systems for analyzing infrastructure systems and responding to issues.
Companies use a variety of management systems to monitor infrastructure systems. For example, a utility company may use a distribution management system (DMS) or an outage management system (OMS) to monitor the company's utility infrastructure system. The management system may provide an operator or dispatcher various data about the state of the infrastructure system, such as the number of customers receiving service, the amount of energy produced and consumed per hour, the number of unresolved issues, maintenance schedules, the state of sections and sub-sections of the infrastructure system, and the like. The outage management system may provide an operator or dispatcher information about reported outages. It would be beneficial to improve the management of the infrastructure system.
Certain embodiments commensurate in scope with the originally claimed invention are summarized below. These embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but rather these embodiments are intended only to provide a brief summary of possible forms of the invention. Indeed, the invention may encompass a variety of forms that may be similar to or different from the embodiments set forth below.
In a first embodiment, a system includes a physical server that is configured to be operatively coupled to a communications system and to connect with a plurality of clients. The physical server is further configured to provide an application programming interface (API) that enables the plurality of clients to communicatively couple to each other via the communications system, an operator system to place a conference call to the plurality of clients and the plurality of clients to send and to receive status updates for a smart grid system via the communications system. The physical server is also configured to monitor a status of calls between connected clients of the plurality of clients and broadcast a global state update to the connected clients.
In a second embodiment, a system includes a physical server configured to operatively couple to a communications system included in an infrastructure system, to at least one client, and to a database repository. The physical server is further configured to provide a conferencing service to the at least one client via the communications system and to receive a first status update of the infrastructure system from the communications system and a second status update from the at least one client. The physical server is configured to then transmit the first status update and the second status update to the database repository. The database repository is configured to update a global state of the infrastructure system based on the first status update and the second status update and transmit the global state update to a second database repository and the physical server. The at least one client is configured to display a state of the infrastructure system and display a plurality of users and a user status for each of the plurality of users. The user status for each of the plurality of users comprises a log-in status for a respective user, a list of communication actions associated with the respective user, or a combination thereof. The at least one client is also configured to receive the global state update from the physical server, change the display of the state of the infrastructure system and the display of the plurality of users and the user status for each of the plurality of users based on the global state update, and communicatively couple to another client.
In a third embodiment, a method includes connecting with a plurality clients and providing an application programming interface (API) to enable the plurality of clients to communicatively couple to each other via a communications system. The provided API also enables the plurality of clients to place a conference call to the plurality of clients and to send and receive status updates for a smart grid infrastructure system via the communications system. The method further includes monitoring a status of calls between connected clients of the plurality of clients and broadcasting a global state update to the connected clients.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present invention, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. The term “component” refers to a computer-related entity, either a combination of hardware and software; software stored on a tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium; or software in execution on a processor.
Present embodiments relate to systems and methods for managing infrastructure systems. Specifically, the embodiments described below relate to a management response system that may combine the functionality of a distribution management system (DMS) with that of an outage management system (OMS), enabling a user to more easily perform several different tasks using the same system throughout. The management response system may be an add-on to a communication system, such as a telecommunications system, and may allow a user to initiate communications with another individual or entity, further increasing the number of tasks that can be performed using the management response system. The management response system may also log and analyze all communication actions by a user and the content associated with the communication actions. The analyzed data may be used for a variety of applications, such as smart troubleshooting for deriving future issues, providing data to training modules, creating automated audits, and the like.
With the foregoing in mind,
The power generated by the power generation stations 16 and 18 may be distributed through a power transmission grid 24. Likewise, the water and gas provided by the plants 20 and 22 may be delivered through a water distribution grid 26 and a gas distribution grid 28 respectively. The grids 24, 26, and 28 may cover a broad geographic region, such as one or more municipalities, states, or countries. In the depicted embodiment, an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system 30 may be used to measure, collect, and analyze electricity, water, and gas usage. The AMI system 30 may be communicatively coupled to one or more of the components of the smart grid system 10, including the grids 24, 26, and 28. Additionally, the AMI system 30 may enable two-way communication between commercial sites 32, residences 34, and the utility control center 14, providing a link between consumer behavior and utility consumption (e.g., electric, water, and/or gas consumption). For example, AMI meters 30 may track and account for pre-paid electricity, water, and/or gas in a similar fashion to pre-paid cell phone usage. Likewise, the utility's consumers 32 and 34 may benefit from lower utility charges by optimizing their utility use, for example, to take advantage of lower rates during low demand hours. Washers and dryers, electric car chargers, and other flexible power consumption appliances may be programmed to operate during low demand hours, resulting lower utility bills and a more balanced utilization of energy.
To monitor the operations of certain components (e.g., the power generation systems 16; the alternative power generation systems 18; the plants 20 and 22; and the grids 24, 26, and 28), the smart grid system 10 may include a management response system 36. The management response system 36 may incorporate an outage management system 38 and a distribution management system 40, as shown in
The distribution management system 40 may re-route power, water, and/or gas from the power generation systems 16, the alternative power generation systems 18, and the plants 20 and 22 experiencing lesser demand to the power generation systems 16, the alternative power generation systems 18, and the plants 20 and 22 experiencing greater demand. In certain embodiments, the outage management system 38 and the distribution system 40 may interact with one another. For example, during outage events, the distribution management system 40 may work in conjunction with the outage management system 38 to re-route power, water, and gas to the affected customers if possible.
By combining the functionalities of outage and distribution management systems within the management response system 36, the management response system 36 may reduce the complexity of managing the smart grid system 10 and responding to issues. The management response system 36 may also incorporate other types of management systems in order to reduce complexity. It should be noted, however, that in certain embodiments, the management response system 36 may include either the outage management system 38 or the distribution management system 40, or the functionality provided by both systems 38, 40.
In certain embodiments, the management response system may include a geographic information system (GIS) 42 used to provide the physical location of the power generation systems 16, the alternative power generations 18, the plants 20 and 22, grid 24 components (e.g., electrical cabling, transformers, distribution towers, etc.), grid 26 components (e.g., water pipes, valves, pressure reducers, etc.), grid 28 components (e.g., storage tanks, gas pipes, valves, etc.) the AMI 30, the commercial sites 32, and the residential sites 34. The GIS 42 may also provide the physical location for personnel (e.g., for crew members carrying company-issued cell-phones with global positioning system (GPS) capabilities). The physical location information may be used, for example, by the outage management system 38 and the distribution management system 40 to predict and resolve outage issues. Additionally, the GIS 42 may be used to visualize the various locations on a map or other suitable visual medium (e.g., globe, chart, etc.). The management response system 36 may also include a customer information system 44 to provide customer information (e.g., sites 32 and 34), including billing information, electric usage information, water usage information, gas usage information, billing rates, and the like. Further, the management response system 36 may include an interactive voice response system 46 to provide automated voice recognition and menu navigation suitable for processing customer requests over telephonic lines.
As depicted in
In one embodiment, the management response system 36 may be arranged as a group of interconnected sites 50, as shown in
Both the physical server 52 and the database system 54 include a memory and a communicative link to other components, systems, and devices. The memory of may be a mass storage device (e.g., disk-based memory), a FLASH memory device, removable memory, or any other non-transitory computer-readable medium suitable for storing instructions to run the physical server 52 or the database system 54 or for storing data. The server 52 and the database system 54 may also include one or more processors suitable for executing computer instructions stored in memories of the server 52 and database system 54. The communicative link may be any wired (e.g., a wired telecommunication infrastructure or local area network employing Ethernet) or wireless (e.g., a cellular network or an 802.11x Wi-Fi network) connection that allows the physical server 52 to communication with other components, systems, and devices.
As mentioned earlier, the physical server 52 also includes a processor. The processor may be, for example, a general-purpose single- or multi-chip processor suitable for performing computing and processing tasks. Additionally, the processor may be any conventional special-purpose processor, such as an application-specific processor or circuitry. The processor and other data processing circuitry may be operably coupled to the memory to execute instructions for running the physical server 52. These instructions may be encoded in programs that are stored in the memory and accessed and executed by the processor. In some embodiments, the database system 54 may also include its own processor to execute tasks related to the storage and retrieval of data (e.g., retrieving the number of unique user IDs stored on the database or outputting a log of data). In other embodiments, the database 54 may not include its own processor, and may be an extension of the memory of the physical server 52.
The client 56 may include a device or system (e.g., workstation, computer system, cell phone, tablet, mobile device, etc.) that a user (e.g., an operator or utility dispatcher) utilizes to interact with the management response system 36. The client 56 includes at least a processor, memory, a display, a user input device, and a communicative link. The processor, the memory, and the communicative link may be similar to the ones described above with respect to the physical server 52 and the database 54. The display and the user input device (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, gesture input device, etc.) allow a user to interact with the management response system 36. Each client 56 within the management response system 36 may be assigned to a specific site 50. The site assignment for a client 56 may be static or dynamic in nature. For example, the site assignments for clients 56 may be permanently assigned based on pre-defined service regions or may change based on the proximity of the client 56 to a particular physical server 52.
In certain embodiments, the client 56 allows the user to access portions or all of the management response system 36 via a web browser. For example, an operator or utility dispatcher may be provided with a uniform resource locator (URL) to a secure website operatively coupled to the client 56. In other embodiments, the client 56 allows the user to access portions or all of the management response system 36 via an application that can be installed on a device and run outside of a web browser (e.g., a mobile “app” that operates as a client 56). In still other embodiments, the client 56 may allow the user to access portions or all of the management response system 36 via a web browser and a program that may be installed on a device and run outside of a web browser. As a result, the manner in which the management response system 36 is accessed may depend on the needs and desires of the end user as well as the type of device being used to access the management response system 36.
The operator system 57 is a specialized version of the clients 56 that have been adapted for operators and utility dispatchers. That is, the operator system 57 may be modified to show operators and utility dispatchers certain information, such as a customer's billing information that is not necessarily available to other users, such as a crew member. It should be noted that, unless specified otherwise, all of the features described in relation to the client 56 apply to the operator system 57 as well.
For each site 50, the physical server 52 may be architected as the “center” or primary server for the site. That is, the PBX telephone system 48, the database 54, the clients 56, and the operator system 57 may all communicate with the physical server 52 via an application programming interface (API) 59 that may leverage certain functionality provided by the physical server 52. Further, as will be described in further detail below, all major changes and updates to the management response system 36 may emanate from the physical server 52.
As mentioned above, each site 50 is operatively and communicatively coupled to the PBX telephone system 48. In particular, the physical server 52 of each site 50 may be coupled to a PBX telephone system 48, as shown in
In addition to receiving status updates 58, the physical server 52 may also receive requests 60 from one or more clients 56 to perform a specific action. For example, the physical server 52 may receive a request 60 to post a message to a bulletin board or to initiate a telephone or video conference call between two or more users. Depending on the type of request 60, the physical server 52 may either fulfill the request itself or may route the request to an appropriate client 56 (e.g., initiating a chat conversation, telephone conference call, video conference call, etc.). Further, some requests 60 may bypass the physical server 52 and be sent directly to the intended recipient (e.g., an email or a VOIP call hosted by the PBX telephone system 48). In such situations, the requests 60 may still be sent to the intended recipient using the API 59. For example, the operator system 57 may use the API 59 to operate the PBX telephone system 48 to initiate a conference call to multiple clients 56
The physical server 52 may send any updates, requests, and data to the database 54 to either update the database 54 or save data for later analysis. For example, the physical server 52 may forward the status updates 58 to the database 54. Certain types of requests 60 may also be forwarded to the database 54 by the physical server 52, while for other types of requests 60, the associated information is included in the status updates 58.
The physical server 52 may also analyze all of the communication actions and the content associated with the communication actions, as shown in
The database 54 receives and stores the status updates 58 and requests 60 and updates a global state of the management response system 36 based on the information in the status updates 58 and requests 60. The global state of the management response system 36 may reflect any information that may be important to the management response system 36 as a whole. For example, the global state may include a list of all physical servers 52, and which databases 54 they communicate with; a list of all users and the associated log-in status; the availability status for each user; and all communications open to the public (e.g., bulletin board messages).
If there is a global state change, the database 54 notifies the physical server 52 within the site 50 via a global state update 62, as depicted in
As mentioned above, the client 56 may be used by the user to interact with the management response system 36. In particular, the client 56 may present several different screens via which the user may perform a variety of tasks, as shown in
Each action listed in the menu screen 68 may prompt the client 56 to present another type of screen. For example, selecting the action “initiate communications” may prompt a screen similar to a contacts screen 70, which lists the contacts for the user as well as the user's log-in (e.g., logged in or logged out) status, availability status (e.g., unavailable, busy, active, etc.) for any communication techniques associated with the contact. As depicted in
In another example, selecting the action “view outages” may prompt a screen similar to a GIS screen 76, which may display a geographical view of any reported or suspected outages within the smart grid system 10 and associated information. As will be appreciated, the GIS screen 76 may be generated by the outage management system 38 and the GIS system 42. In certain embodiments, the GIS screen 76 may also include geographical views of human and physical resources and their availability.
The GIS screen 76 depicted in
As mentioned above, the client 56 may perform “smart” troubleshooting during a response to an issue or event. For example, during an outage, the client 56 may determine the best individual (and list of individuals) to contact to resolve the outage and the best available communication technique (and a list of communication techniques). When troubleshooting an issue, the client 56 may base its determination on the issue type, the issue location, crew expertise, crew assignments, equipment and tool availability, and the like. In particular, the client 56 may work in conjunction with the physical server 52 to review analyzed data that shares characteristics (e.g., issue type, crew expertise, equipment and tool availability, etc.) with the issue at hand. Then, the physical server 52 may recommend the best individual(s) to contact based on the shared characteristics and the identified response patterns described above. The physical server 52 also recommends the best communication technique(s) or available communication techniques based on the status of the contact, for example, recommending a chat or email if the contact is currently in a phone call. Further, in some embodiments, the physical server 52 may recommend the best individual(s) to contact based on the contact's log-in status (i.e., is he or she logged in or out of the system) as well as the contact's schedule (e.g., is he or she scheduled to be on-duty long enough to resolve the issue).
The client 56 may also allow the user to view analyzed and tagged data, as depicted in the menu screen 68 in
While the client 56 allows the user to conduct communications within the management response system 36, at times it may be necessary to interrupt ongoing communications with urgent news. For instance, a senior level manager may want to communicate to operators, utility dispatchers, and crew members that they should more carefully respond to outages in a particular region due to a natural disaster warnings. To send urgent communications that take priority over ongoing communications, the client 56 may associate a communication action with a priority level and the user's authority level. That is, when setting up the management response system 36, each user may be assigned an authority level based on his or her position (e.g., operator) and responsibilities within the company. Users who meet or exceed a particular authority level may then send mass alerts designated as high priority to other users. The client 56 may then perform the selected communication action and, if necessary, interrupt any ongoing communications (e.g., a phone call) between other individuals. Following the earlier example, the senior level manager may designate a text message detailing the urgent matter as a high priority communication action. The high priority text message may be automatically displayed in full on the client 56 associated with each recipient. In this manner, a more efficient response to infrastructure issues may be affected.
Beginning at block 82, an operator may locate the outages within the smart grid system 10, which may be reported by customers or by equipment such as AMI meters 30, as described above. In particular, the operator system 57 may display a GIS screen 76 that includes a physical location of each outage, as described above with respect to
At block 86, the operator system 57 and the physical server 52 may perform some troubleshooting by determining the human and physical resources that may resolve or be used to resolve the outage using analyzed metadata (e.g., issue location, resource location, crew expertise, crew assignments, equipment availability, etc.). In certain embodiments, a portion or all of the human and physical resources may be displayed within the GIS screen 76, as described above. Next, at block 88, the operator system 57 displays the best individual to contact to resolve the outage and the best available communication method as described above.
Finally, at block 90, the operator can use the operator system 57 to initiate communication (e.g., phone call, chat, email, SMS/text, etc.) with a crew lead or member. For example, if the operator chooses to initiate a phone call, the operator system 57 may then use the PBX system 48 to initiate a voice-over IP conference call. The physical server 52 then logs and analyzes the communication action and content and updates to reflect the change in state, as described above.
Technical effects of the present embodiments include systems and methods for managing infrastructure systems. Certain embodiments enable users to perform a variety of tasks using one system and set of devices. For example, the present management response system may combine the functionality of a distribution management system (DMS) with that of an outage management system (OMS). The management response system may also be an add-on to a communication system, such as a telecommunications system, and may allow a user to initiate communications with another individual or entity, further increasing the number of tasks that can be performed using the management response system. Further, the management response system may also log and analyze all communication actions by a user and the content associated with the communication actions. The analyzed data may be used for a variety of applications, such as smart troubleshooting for deriving future issues, providing data to training modules, creating automated audits, and the like. The technical effects and technical problems in the specification are exemplary and not limiting. It should be noted that the embodiments described in the specification may have other technical effects and can solve other technical problems.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
