Method and apparatus for communicating with an intelligent electronic device associated to a switching device in power systems

1. A system for communicating with an intelligent electronic device suitable to be operatively coupled to a switching device used in a power system, comprising:

at least one computing device which is operatively connected to said intelligent electronic device and comprises a monitor, a memory, and a processor; and

a user-interface software program instruction which is stored in said memory and when executed by the processor provides a plurality of wizards selectable by the user, wherein the plurality of wizards comprises two or more wizards selected from the group consisting of a factory set-up and test wizard, a commissioning wizard, a data download wizard, and an alarm resolution wizard, and wherein upon selecting a wizard to be executed, said user-interface software program instruction causes the display on said monitor of a first window displaying wizard controls for guiding a user in the execution of one or more steps related to the selected wizard, and a second window separate from said first window displaying information related to the step under execution and one or more controls of the second window which are available to the user in parallel to said wizard controls displayed in the first window.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said user-interface software program instruction causes the appearance of said first window and the second window displayed on said monitor to change depending on the wizard selected or during execution of said one or more steps of the selected wizard.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein, when one or more alarms related to the operation of said switching device are issued by said intelligent electronic device, upon selection by the user of said alarm resolution wizard, said user-interface software program instruction causes the display in said second window of a set of working hypotheses suitable for identifying the root of the one or more alarms issued and requiring user input for selecting one of set working hypotheses.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said user-interface software program instruction causes the display in said second window of a report related to each of said one or more alarms issued.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said user-interface software program instruction causes the display on said first window of a control for indicating to the user that the selected wizard is not waiting for a user-input but for an external condition.

6. A method for communicating between an intelligent electronic device suitable to be operatively coupled to a switching device used in a power system and at least one computing device which is operatively connected to said intelligent electronic device, said at least one computing device comprising a monitor, a processor, a memory, and a user-interface software program instruction stored in said memory which, when executed by the processor, provides a plurality of wizards selectable by a user, wherein the plurality of wizards comprises two or more wizards selected from the group consisting of a factory set-up and test wizard, a commissioning wizard, a data download wizard, and an alarm resolution wizard, the method comprising the following steps:

a) selecting a wizard to be executed among said plurality of wizards;

b) displaying on said monitor a first window displaying wizard controls for guiding a user in the execution of one or more steps related to the selected wizard and a second window separate from said first window displaying information related to the step under execution and one or more controls of the second window which are available to the user in parallel to said wizard controls displayed in the first window.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said step b) comprises causing the appearance of the first window and the second window displayed on said monitor to change depending on the wizard selected or during execution of said one or more steps of the selected wizard.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein step a) further comprises selecting the alarm resolution wizard when one or more alarms related to the operation of said switching device are issued by said intelligent electronic device, and step b) further comprises displaying in said second window a set of working hypotheses suitable for identifying the root of one or more alarms issued and requiring user input for selecting one of said working hypotheses.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein step b) further comprises displaying in said second window a report related to each of said one or more alarms issued.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein step b) further comprises displaying on said first window a control for indicating to the user that the selected wizard is not waiting for a user-input but for an external condition.

11. In a system for communicating between an intelligent electronic device suitable to be operatively coupled to a switching device used in a power system and at least one computing device which is operatively connected to said intelligent electronic device, said at least one computing device comprising a monitor, and a processor, a computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by said processor, provides a plurality of wizards selectable by a user, wherein the plurality of wizards comprises two or more wizards selected from the group consisting of a factory set-up and test wizard, a commissioning wizard, a data download wizard, and an alarm resolution wizard, wherein upon selecting a wizard to be executed, said computer-readable instructions cause the display on the monitor of a first window displaying wizard controls for guiding a user in the execution of one or more steps related to the selected wizard, and a second window separate from said first window displaying information related to the step under execution and one or more controls of the second window which are available to the user in parallel to said wizard controls displayed in the first window.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein it comprises computer-readable instructions stored thereon which cause the appearance of the first window and the second window displayed on said monitor to change depending on the wizard selected or during execution of said one or more steps of the selected wizard.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein it comprises computer-readable instructions stored thereon which—when one or more alarms related to the operation of said switching device are issued by said intelligent electronic device and upon selection by the user of said alarm resolution wizard, cause the display in said second window of a set of working hypotheses suitable for identifying the root of the one or more alarms issued and requiring user input for selecting one of set working hypotheses.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein it comprises computer-readable instructions stored thereon which cause the display in said second window of a report related to each of said one or more alarms issued.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein it comprises computer-readable instructions stored thereon which cause the display on said first window of a control for indicating to the user that the selected wizard is not waiting for a user-input but for an external condition.