Quality of service terrain map for utilities
View Patent ↗A method of providing a graphic display (SD) of an electrical distribution network (N) to provide network personnel insight as to network operation comprising. A segment of the network is monitored to obtain information about predetermined types of incidents which occur. The information is then processed to ascertain where the incidents occurred and the number of incidents which occur over a predetermined period of time. The results are presented in a graphical display which includes the number of incidents occurring at each location within the network segment, and the number of incidents which occurred at each location during previous period of time at the respective locations.
1. A method of providing a graphic display of an electrical distribution network to provide network personnel insight into network operations comprising:
monitoring a network section of the distribution network including a plurality of interconnected line segments within the network section so to obtain, in real time, end to end information of the plurality of interconnected line segments, based on network connectivity of the interconnected line segments, about a predetermined performance characteristic of the section over the interconnected line segments;
aggregating the information to ascertain relative performance characteristic values for the interconnected line segments of the section based on network connectivity of the interconnected line segments; and,
displaying the results of the aggregation of the information in a graphic format which allows an observer to readily ascertain what is occurring at the respective interconnected line segments and determine whether operations within the network section are acceptable, and if not, where within the network section a problem is occurring, and the magnitude of the problem, displaying the information including a three-dimensional display in which one axis represents the interconnected line segments within the network section, a second axis a representative value of the monitored performance characteristic, and the third axis periods of time, the display providing a quality of service map for the network section.
2. The method of claim 1 in which the first axis of the display represents service paths within the interconnected line segments within the network segment.
3. The method of claim 2 further including a plurality of displays each of which comprises a terrain map including information about the network at a given point in time, the terrain maps being used to monitor and improve the quality of service within the network.
4. The method of claim 3 in which the terrain maps are arranged in a loop of maps and the method further includes a user traversing through the loop to obtain information about the quality of the network performance over time.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the display comprises a terrain map including both current and historical information about the network, the terrain map being used to monitor and improve the quality of service within the network.
6. The method of claim 5 further including rotating the display about any axis of the display to allow a viewer to readily view particular features on the terrain map.
7. The method of claim 1 in which monitoring the network section of the network includes counting customer complaints regarding problems within areas of the network section.
8. The method of claim 1 in which the monitoring further includes counting the occurrences of power outages within the network section.
9. The method of claim 8 in which the monitoring further includes measuring line voltages at the respective locations within the network.
10. The method of claim 9 including using a two-way network communications system to obtain the information about the network section.
11. The method of claim 1 further including providing a separate graphic display of multiple segments of the electrical distribution network.
12. The method of claim 11 further including combining the information used to produce the separate graphic displays to produce a graphic display for the entire network.
13. The method of claim 1 in which the information comprises a color coded, three dimensional display to facilitate understanding the information presented.
14. The method of claim 13 further including providing symbols to identify particular types of incidents which occurred at particular locations and/or particular times to facilitate interpreting the display.
15. The method of claim 13 in which the display is transmissible from one location to another by an electronic medium so the information can be displayed at more than one viewing location.
16. The method of claim 13 further including electronically storing the information used to produce the display.
17. The method of claim 13 further including periodically updating the display to include information for another predetermined period of time.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the end to end information is free from any geographic reference relating to the monitored interconnected line segments.
19. A method of providing a graphic display of an electrical distribution network to provide network personnel insight as to network operation comprising:
monitoring a network section of a power distribution network including a plurality of interconnected line segments within the network section to obtain, in real time, end to end information of the plurality of interconnected line segments, based on network connectivity of the interconnected line segments, information about predetermined types of incidents occurring within the network section over each respective interconnected line segment;
aggregating the information to ascertain the number of incidents which occur over each respective interconnected line segment for a predetermined period of time; and,
displaying the combined results in a graphic format which includes the number of incidents occurring within the network section, each interconnected line segment within the network section where they occurred, and the number of incidents which occurred for that interconnected line segment during previous periods of time, and including a three-dimensional display in which one axis represents the interconnected line segments within the network section, a second axis the number of incidents which occurred, and the third axis periods of time.
20. The method of claim 19 in which the first axis of the display represents service paths within the interconnected line segments within the network segment.
21. The method of claim 20 further including a plurality of displays each of which comprises a terrain map including information about the network at a given point in time, the terrain maps being used to monitor and improve the quality of service within the network.
22. The method of claim 21 in which the terrain maps are arranged in a loop of maps and the method further includes a user traversing through the loop to obtain information about the quality of network performance.
23. The method of claim 19 in which the display comprises a terrain map including both current and historical information about the network, the terrain map being used to monitor and improve the quality of service within the network.
24. The method of claim 23 further including rotating the display about any axis so a user can more readily view particular features on the terrain map.
25. The method of claim 19 further including color coding the display to make it easier to understand the information presented.
26. The method of claim 25 further including providing symbols to identify particular types of incidents which occurred at particular locations and/or particular times to make it easier to interpret the display.
27. A method of providing a graphic display of an electrical distribution network to provide insight into network operations comprising:
monitoring interconnected line segments of a section of the network to obtain, in real time, end to end information of the plurality of interconnected line segments current information about a predetermined performance characteristic within the interconnected line segments;
the information to ascertain relative performance characteristic values over different sections of the network section; and,
displaying the results of the aggregated information in a graphic format together with historical information about the respective interconnected line segments, for an observer to readily ascertain what is occurring at a respective interconnected line segment and determine whether operations within the network are acceptable, and if not, where a problem is occurring, and the magnitude of the problem.