IP Library Granted Patent US 12,621,589
Granted Patent B2
US 12,621,589 · App. 18/742,296 · Granted May 5, 2026

Self-tuning current transformer

Inventors: Micheal M. Austin (South Jordan, UT); Kody Shook Brown (West Jordan, UT)
Assignee: Vutility, Inc.
H04Q9/00G08C19/00H03M1/0617H04Q2209/60
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,621,589
App. No.
18/742,296
Granted
May 5, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An electricity usage monitor may include a coupling component to attach the electricity usage monitor to an electrical circuit to monitor electricity usage of the electrical circuit, an analog-digital converter (ADC) configured to convert analog current readings captured by the electricity usage monitor into digital values, a processor operably coupled to the ADC, and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor and comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations may include determining a standard deviation of the digital values, based on the standard deviation, adjusting a gain of the ADC, and transmitting a signal to a server comprising the digital values.

Claims (38)

1 . A method of electricity usage monitoring, comprising:

receiving a plurality of readings captured by an electricity usage monitor;

converting, by an analog-digital converter (ADC) of the electricity usage monitor, the plurality of readings to digital values;

determining a standard deviation of the plurality of readings captured by the electricity usage monitor, based on the digital values;

adjusting a gain of the ADC based on the standard deviation; and

transmitting a digital communication comprising the digital values and the adjusted gain of the ADC.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the gain of the ADC is adjusted to be proportional to a multiple of the standard deviation of the digital values.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the gain of the ADC comprises adjusting the gain based on an average of the digital values.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising decoding the digital values using the adjusted gain of the ADC.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising receiving an acknowledgement indicating that the gain was adjusted at a remote computing device based on the standard deviation before the adjusting the gain of the ADC at the electricity usage monitor.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the digital communication further comprises ADC buckets associated with the digital values.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a new standard deviation of the plurality of readings; and

based on the new standard deviation, updating the adjusted gain of the ADC.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a difference between the standard deviation and a standard deviation threshold; and

updating the adjusted gain of the ADC based on the difference.

9 . A method of electricity usage monitoring comprising:

receiving, by a server system, from an electricity usage monitor, a digital communication comprising readings captured by the electricity usage monitor converted into digital values by an analog-digital converter (ADC) of the electricity usage monitor;

receiving, by the server system, an adjusted gain of the ADC;

updating the server system based on the adjusted gain of the ADC; and

decoding, by the server system, the digital values based on the adjusted gain.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the electricity usage monitor utilizes a first lookup table for converting the readings into digital values.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first lookup table is based on the adjusted gain of the ADC.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the server system stores a second lookup table.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein updating the server system comprises adjusting the second lookup table based on the digital communication, such that the second lookup table matches the first lookup table.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the first lookup table and the second lookup table comprise ADC buckets associated with the digital values.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein decoding the digital values comprises referencing the second lookup table to determine measurement values.

16 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the server system, an acknowledgement of the adjusted gain of the ADC.

17 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the adjusted gain of the ADC is proportional to a multiple of a standard deviation of the digital values.

18 . A method of electricity usage monitoring comprising:

receiving, by a server system, from an electricity usage monitor, a digital communication comprising a plurality of readings captured by the electricity usage monitor converted into digital values by an analog-digital converter (ADC) of the electricity usage monitor;

determining a standard deviation of the plurality of readings, based on the digital values;

adjusting a gain of the ADC based on the standard deviation; and

transmitting, to the electricity usage monitor, the adjusted gain of the ADC.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising decoding, by the server system, the digital values using the adjusted gain of the ADC.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising receiving an acknowledgement indicating that the gain has been adjusted at a remote computing device based on the standard deviation before the adjusting the gain of the ADC at the server system.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 14, 2024
From: AUSTIN, MICHEAL M.; BROWN, KODY SHOOK
To: VUTILITY, INC.
Reel/Frame 067728/0388 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17949070 · Sep 20, 2022
Provisional Application 63261401 · Sep 20, 2021
Related Publication 20240414457A1 · Dec 12, 2024
References Cited (26)
US 5583837A · Ogino et al. · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 6229467B1 · Eklund · 2001 [cited by examiner]
US 8860590B2 · Yamagata et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 9466417B2 · Jefferies et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9774343B1 · Liaghati · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 11754997B2 · Engelstein · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11991490B2 · Austin et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20030048199A1 · Zigdon et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20120191395A1 · Bandsmer · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130338949A1 · Jetcheva et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140361908A1 · Laird et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150372539A1 · Livadaras et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20180034657A1 · Brown et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190101576A1 · Sharp et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190122132A1 · Rimini et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200285983A1 · Bhattacharyya · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200374605A1 · Snook et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020160150156A · 2016 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2016028710A1 · 2016 [cited by applicant]
International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Dec. 28, 22 for international application PCT/US2022/044147. [cited by applicant]
Karlsson, Power Transformer Monitoring and Diagnosis using Transformer Explorer, Thesis [online], Mar. 2016 [retrieved Dec. 5, 2022]. Entire Document. Retrieved from the Internet: URL: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/… [cited by applicant]
PCT International Search Report and Written Opinion, Apr. 13, 2023,. [cited by applicant]
Extended European Search Report dated Sep. 8, 2025, for EP22879837.6. [cited by applicant]
Tong Xing et al: “Smart Metering Load Data Compression Based on Load Feature Identification”, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, IEEE, USA, vol. 7, No. 5, Sep. 1, 2016, pp. 2414-2422, XP011620727. [cited by applicant]
Extended European Search Report dated Jun. 5, 2025, for EP22870857.4. [cited by applicant]
Karlsson Svante: “Power Transformer Monitoring and Diagnosis using Transformer Explorer” In: “Thesis”, Jan. 1, 2016, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen f?r teknikvetenskaper, Sweden, XP093049614, pp. 1-71. [cited by applicant]