IP Library Granted Patent US 10,914,770
Granted Patent B2
US 10,914,770 · App. 16/245,110 · Granted Feb 9, 2021

Electrical energy loss detection

Inventor: Daniel A. Staver (Colorado Springs, CO)
Assignee: Microchip Technology Incorporated
G01R22/066G01R11/57
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,914,770
App. No.
16/245,110
Granted
Feb 9, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various embodiments relate to detecting theft of electrical energy. A method of detecting theft of electrical energy may include measuring, for each time sample of a number of time samples, a neutral current of an electrical energy metering system. The method may further include summing, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a number of measured phase current values of the electrical energy metering system to determine an imputed neutral current. Further, the method may include determining, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a squared difference between the measured neutral current and the imputed neutral current. Moreover, the method may include integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference to determine an accumulator value. In addition, the method may include detecting, based on the accumulator value, theft of electrical energy from the electrical energy metering system.

Claims (52)

1. A method of detecting theft of electrical energy, the method comprising:

measuring, for each time sample of a number of time samples, a neutral current of an electrical energy metering system;

summing, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a number of measured phase current values of the electrical energy metering system to determine an imputed neutral current;

determining, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a squared difference between the measured neutral current and the imputed neutral current;

integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference to determine an accumulator value; and

detecting, based on the accumulator value, theft of electrical energy from the electrical energy metering system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the integrating comprises integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference over an integral number of half cycles to determine the accumulator value.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

squaring, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the measured neutral current; and

integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared measured neutral current to determine an integrated measured neutral current squared.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

squaring, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the imputed neutral current; and

integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared imputed neutral current to determine an integrated imputed neutral current squared.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining a phase angle between the integrated measured neutral current squared and the integrated imputed neutral current squared via the Law of Cosines; and

outputting a signal indicative of the determined phase angle.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring the neutral current of the electrical energy metering system comprises one of processing raw data and processing filtered data to measure the neutral current.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the summing the number of measured phase currents to determine the imputed neutral current comprises one of summing raw data and summing filtered data.

8. A system, comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

measure, for each time sample of a number of time samples, a neutral current of an electrical energy metering system;

sum, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a number of measured phase current values of the electrical energy metering system to determine an imputed neutral current;

determine, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a squared difference between the measured neutral current and the imputed neutral current;

integrate, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference to determine an accumulator value; and

detect, based on the accumulator value, theft of electrical energy from the electrical energy metering system.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to integrate, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference over an integral number of half cycles to determine the accumulator value.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

square, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the measured neutral current; and

integrate, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared measured neutral current to determine an integrated measured neutral current squared.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

square, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the imputed neutral current; and

integrate, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared imputed neutral current to determine an integrated imputed neutral current squared.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a phase angle between the integrated measured neutral current squared and the integrated imputed neutral current squared via the Law of Cosines.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to process one of raw data and filtered data to measure the neutral current.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to one of sum raw phase current data and sum filtered phase current data to determine the imputed neutral current.

15. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a monitoring unit including and meter and at least one processor of the one or more processors.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processing device to perform or control performance of operations comprising:

measuring, for each time sample of a number of time samples, a neutral current of an electrical energy metering system;

summing, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a number of measured phase current values of the electrical energy metering system to determine an imputed neutral current;

determining, for each time sample of the number of time samples, a squared difference between the measured neutral current and the imputed neutral current;

integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference to determine an accumulator value; and

detecting, based on the accumulator value, theft of electrical energy from the electrical energy metering system.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the integrating comprises integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared difference over an integral number of half cycles to determine the accumulator value.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , the operations further comprising:

squaring, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the measured neutral current; and

integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared measured neutral current to determine an integrated measured neutral current squared.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , the operations further comprising:

squaring, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the imputed neutral current; and

integrating, for each time sample of the number of time samples, the squared imputed neutral current to determine an integrated imputed neutral current squared.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , the operations further comprising determining a phase angle between the integrated measured neutral current squared and the integrated imputed neutral current squared via the Law of Cosines.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the measuring the neutral current of the electrical energy metering system comprises one of processing raw data and processing filtered data to measure the neutral current.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the summing the number of measured phase currents to determine the imputed neutral current comprises one of summing raw data and summing filtered data.

Assignments (12)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 060894/0437 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 10, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059863/0400 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 9, 2022
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059358/0335 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2022
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 059263/0001 →
GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 19, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 058214/0625 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 4, 2021
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 057935/0474 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 055671/0612 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 052856/0909 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 053468/0705 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 30, 2020
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 053466/0011 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 24, 2020
From: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC.; SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, INC.; ATMEL CORPORATION; MICROSEMI CORPORATION; MICROSEMI STORAGE SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 053311/0305 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 11, 2019
From: STAVER, DANIEL A.
To: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 047963/0763 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62750604 · Oct 25, 2018
Related Publication 20200132739A1 · Apr 30, 2020