SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME SYSTEM MONITORING AND PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

A system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system under management is disclosed. The system includes a data acquisition component, a virtual system modeling engine, and an analytics engine. The data acquisition component is communicatively connected to a sensor configured to provide real-time measurements of data output from an element of the system. The virtual system modeling engine is configured to generate a predicted data output for the element. The analytics engine is communicatively connected to the data acquisition system and the virtual system modeling engine and is configured to monitor and analyze a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted data output.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the principles disclosed herein, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a system for utilizing real-time data for predictive analysis of the performance of a monitored system, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed view of a analytics server included in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how the system of FIG. 1 operates to synchronize a the operating parameters between a physical facility and a virtual system model of the facility.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the scalability of a system for utilizing real-time data for predictive analysis of the performance of a monitored system, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that shows the configuration details of the system illustrated in FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a flowchart describing a method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of a monitored system, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a flowchart describing a method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of a monitored system, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a flowchart describing a method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of a monitored system, in accordance with one embodiment.

Claims

1. A system for providing real-time analysis of an electrical system under management, comprising: a data acquisition component communicatively connected to a sensor configured to provide real-time data output from an element of the electrical system;a virtual system modeling engine configured to generate predicted data output for the element of the electrical system; andan analytics engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition system and the virtual system modeling engine, the analytics engine configured to monitor and analyze a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted data output.

2. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 1, wherein the virtual modeling engine is configured to use a virtual system model to generate the predicted data.

3. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 2, and wherein the analytics engine is configured to cause the virtual system model to be calibrated based on the real-time data.

4. The system of for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 2, further including a virtual system modeling database communicatively coupled with the virtual system modeling engine, the virtual system modeling database configured to store the virtual system model of the electrical system.

5. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 3, a calibration engine communicatively connected to the virtual system modeling engine, the virtual system modeling database, and the analytics engine, the calibration engine configured to receive a calibration request from the analytics engine and update operational parameters of the virtual system modeling engine and the virtual system model upon receipt of the calibration request.

6. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 2, wherein, if the difference exceeds an alarm condition value, the analytics engine is configured to generate a warning message.

7. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 6, wherein the analytics engine is further configured to send the warning message to a thin-client terminal in real-time.

8. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 3, wherein, if the difference is less than the alarm condition value but greater than a set value, the analytics engine is configured to generate a virtual system model calibration request and send the request to a calibration engine.

9. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 8, wherein, the set value is a Defined Difference Tolerance (DTT) value for the system.

10. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 3, wherein, if the difference is less than the set value, the analytics engine is configured to continue monitoring the real-time data output and the predictive data output.

11. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 1, wherein, the analytics engine is further configured to generate a predictive analysis report for the electrical system.

12. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 11, wherein, the predictive analysis report is indicative of reliability and availability of the electrical system.

13. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 1, wherein the real-time output data includes operational voltage information.

14. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 1, wherein the real-time output data includes operational current information.

15. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 1, wherein the analytics engine comprises a comparison engine configured to compare the real-time data with the predicted data and detect deviations between the two.

16. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 15, wherein the analytics engine further comprises a decision engine configured to receive the deviations and determine whether the deviations are significant.

17. A method for real-time system monitoring including a plurality of components, comprising: receiving real-time operational data for at least one component within the system;using a virtual system model to produce predicted operational data for the system;comparing the real-time system data to the predicted data in order to detect differences between the two; anddetermining whether the differences indicate a potential failure.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising generating an alarm when the detected differences indicate a potential failure.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising generating real-time data reporting the operational status of the component.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein determining whether the detected differences indicate a potential failure comprises comparing the differences to a threshold.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining that the virtual system model should be calibrated based in the detected differences.

22. A data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, comprising: a calibration and synchronization engine configured to process real-time data indicative of the electrical system status and update a virtual model of the electrical system in response to the real-time data; andan analytics server configured to compare the processed real-time data indicative of the electrical system status with the updated virtual model and produce a real-time report of the electrical system status in response to the comparison.

23. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 22, wherein the real-time report relates to reliability and availability of the electrical system under management.

24. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 23, wherein the real-time report is displayed on a thin-client computing device communicatively connected to the analysis server.

25. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 22, wherein, the real-time report relates to capacity and voltage stability of electrical distribution lines of the electrical system.

26. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 22, wherein, the real-time report relates to power flow and loading of electrical distribution lines of the electrical system.

27. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 22, wherein, the real-time report relates to dynamic behavior response and strength of the electrical system as a function of system exposure to external conditions.

28. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 22, wherein, the real-time report relates to arc flash energy and arc heat exposure.

29. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 22, wherein the analysis server receives data from a plurality of system sensors providing real-time data relating to components of the electrical system.

30. The data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 29, wherein the analysis server receives data from a virtual model database that provides values that relate to the virtual model and that correspond to the real-time data received from the system sensors.

31. A system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, comprising: a data acquisition component communicatively connected to a sensor configured to provide real-time measurements of data output from an element of the electrical system;a virtual system modeling engine configured to generate predicted data output for the element of the electrical system;a virtual system modeling database configured to store a virtual system model of the electrical system;an analytics engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition system and the virtual system modeling engine, the analytics engine configured to monitor and determine a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted data output, wherein, if the difference exceeds an alarm condition value, the analytics engine generates a warning message,if the difference is less than the alarm condition value but greater than a set value, the analytics engine generates a virtual system model calibration request, andif the difference is less than the set value, the analytics engine continues monitoring the real-time data output and the predictive data output; anda calibration engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component, the virtual system modeling engine, the virtual system modeling database, and the analytics engine, the calibration engine configured to receive the calibration request from the analytics engine and update operational parameters of the virtual system modeling engine and the virtual system model upon receipt of the calibration request.

32. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 31, wherein, the analytics engine is further configured to generate a predictive analysis report for the electrical system.

33. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 32, wherein, the predictive analysis report relates to reliability and availability of the electrical system.

34. A system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, comprising: a data acquisition component communicatively connected to sensors configured to provide real-time data of ambient environmental conditions impacting the electrical system;a virtual system modeling database configured to store a virtual system model of the electrical system, wherein the virtual system model includes preset values for the environmental conditions impacting the electrical system;an analytics engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component and the virtual system modeling engine, the analytics engine configured to monitor and determine a difference between the real-time ambient environmental data and the preset environmental values, wherein, if the difference exceeds an alarm condition value, the analytics engine generates a warning message,if the difference is less than the alarm condition value but greater than a set value, the analytics engine generates a virtual system model calibration request, andif the difference is less than the set value, the analytics engine continues monitoring the real-time ambient environmental data and the preset environmental values; anda calibration engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component, the virtual system modeling database, and the analytics engine, the calibration engine configured to receive the calibration request from the analytics engine and update the preset environmental values upon receipt of the calibration request.

35. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 34, wherein, the analytics engine is further configured to generate a predictive analysis report for the electrical system.

36. The system for providing real-time modeling of an electrical system, as recited in claim 35, wherein, the predictive analysis report relates to reliability and availability of the electrical system.

37. A method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, comprising: processing real-time data indicative of the electrical system status to enable a virtual model of the electrical system under management to be calibrated and synchronized with the real-time data;updating the virtual model of the electrical system under management in response to the real-time data; andcomparing the processed real-time data indicative of the electrical system status with corresponding output values of the updated virtual model to generate a real-time report of the electrical system status in response to the comparison.

38. The method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 37, wherein, the real-time report relates to reliability and availability of the electrical system.

39. The method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 37, the real-time report relates to capacity and voltage stability of electrical distribution lines of the electrical system.

40. The method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 37, wherein the real-time report is displayed on a thin-client computing device.

41. The method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 37, the real-time report relates to power flow and loading of electrical distribution lines of the electrical system.

42. The method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 37, wherein the real-time report relates to dynamic behavior response and strength of the electrical system as a function of system exposure to external conditions.

43. The method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of an electrical system under management, as recited in claim 37, wherein, the real-time report relates to arc flash energy and arc heat exposure.

44. A method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of an electrical system, comprising: receiving real-time data output from a sensor interfaced with the electrical system;processing the real-time data output into a defined format;generating predicted system data for the electrical system using a virtual system model of the electrical system;determining whether a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted system data falls between a set value and an alarm condition value, wherein, if the difference falls between the set value and the alarm condition value, a virtual system model calibration request is generated.

45. The method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 44, further including, generating an alarm message when the difference exceeds the alarm condition value.

46. The method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 45, further including, sending the alarm message to a thin-client network computing device.

47. The method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 45, further including, sending the alarm message to a wireless device.

48. The method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 44, wherein, the set value is a Defined Difference Tolerance (DTT) value for the electrical system.

49. The method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 44, wherein, the alarm condition value is indicative of the functionality of a component on the electrical system that the sensor is interfaced with.

50. A method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of an electrical system, comprising: receiving a virtual system model calibration request;updating a predicted system output value for the virtual system model with a real-time system output value from the electrical system;determining a difference between a real-time sensor value measurement from a sensor integrated with the electrical system and a predicted sensor value for the sensor; andadjusting operating parameters of the virtual system model to minimize the difference.

51. The method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 50, wherein the predicted system output value and the real-time system output value is a voltage output.

52. The method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 50, wherein the predicted system output value and the real-time system output value is a current output.

53. The method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 50, further including, requesting authorization from a system administrator prior to adjusting the operating parameters of the virtual system model.

54. The method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of an electrical system, as recited in claim 50, further including, generating a report summarizing adjustments made to the operating parameters.

55. A system for providing real-time modeling of a monitored system, comprising: a data acquisition component communicatively connected to a sensor configured to provide real-time measurements of data output from an element of the monitored system;a virtual system modeling engine configured to generate predicted data output for the element of the monitored system; andan analytics engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition system and the virtual system modeling engine, the analytics engine configured to monitor and analyze a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted data output.

56. The system for providing real-time modeling of a monitored system, as recited in claim 55, further including: a virtual system modeling database configured to store a virtual system model of the monitored system; anda calibration engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component, the virtual system modeling engine, the virtual system modeling database, and the analytics engine, the calibration engine configured to receive the calibration request from the analytics engine and update operational parameters of the virtual system modeling engine and the virtual system model upon receipt of the calibration request.

57. A data processing system for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of a monitored system, comprising: a calibration and synchronization engine configured to process real-time data indicative of the monitored system status and update a virtual model of the monitored system in response to the real-time data; andan analysis server configured to compare the processed real-time data indicative of the monitored system status with the updated virtual model and produce a real-time report of the monitored system status in response to the comparison.

58. A system for providing real-time modeling of a monitored system, comprising: a data acquisition component communicatively connected to a sensor configured to provide real-time measurements of data output from an element of the monitored system;a virtual system modeling engine configured to generate predicted data output for the element of the monitored system;a virtual system modeling database configured to store a virtual system model of the monitored system;an analytics engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition system and the virtual system modeling engine, the analytics engine configured to monitor and determine a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted data output, wherein, if the difference exceeds an alarm condition value, the analytics engine generates a warning message,if the difference is less than the alarm condition value but greater than a set value, the analytics engine generates a virtual system model calibration request, andif the difference is less than the set value, the analytics engine continues monitoring the real-time data output and the predictive data output; anda calibration engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component, the virtual system modeling engine, the virtual system modeling database, and the analytics engine, the calibration engine configured to receive the calibration request from the analytics engine and update operational parameters of the virtual system modeling engine and the virtual system model upon receipt of the calibration request.

59. A system for providing real-time modeling of a monitored system, comprising: a data acquisition component communicatively connected to sensors configured to provide real-time data of ambient environmental conditions impacting the monitored system;a virtual system modeling database configured to store a virtual system model of the monitored system, wherein the virtual system model includes preset values for the environmental conditions impacting the monitored system;an analytics engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component and the virtual system modeling engine, the analytics engine configured to monitor and determine a difference between the real-time ambient environmental data and the preset environmental values, wherein, if the difference exceeds an alarm condition value, the analytics engine generates a warning message,if the difference is less than the alarm condition value but greater than a set value, the analytics engine generates a virtual system model calibration request, andif the difference is less than the set value, the analytics engine continues monitoring the real-time ambient environmental data and the preset environmental values; anda calibration engine communicatively connected to the data acquisition component, the virtual system modeling database, and the analytics engine, the calibration engine configured to receive the calibration request from the analytics engine and update the preset environmental values upon receipt of the calibration request.

60. A method for real-time monitoring and predictive analysis of a monitored system, comprising: processing real-time data indicative of the monitored system status to enable a virtual model of the monitored system under management to be calibrated and synchronized with the real-time data;updating the virtual model of the monitored system in response to the real-time data; andcomparing the processed real-time data indicative of the monitored system status with corresponding output values of the updated virtual model to generate a real-time report of the system status in response to the comparison.

61. A method for managing real-time updates to a virtual system model of a monitored system, comprising: receiving real-time data output from a sensor interfaced with the monitored system;processing the real-time data output into a defined format;generating predicted system data for the electrical system using a virtual system model of the monitored system;determining whether a difference between the real-time data output and the predicted system data falls between a set value and an alarm condition value, wherein, if the difference falls between the set value and the alarm condition value, a virtual system model calibration request is generated.

62. A method for synchronizing real-time system data with a virtual system model of a monitored system, comprising: receiving a virtual system model calibration request;updating a predicted system output value for the virtual system model with a real-time system output value from the monitored system;determining a difference between a real-time sensor value measurement from a sensor integrated with the electrical system and a predicted sensor value for the sensor; andadjusting operating parameters of the virtual system model to minimize the difference.