US20110004406A1 - Systems and methods for location determination of devices using network fingerprints for power management - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and methods that enables the determination of the location of a device using a network fingerprint of a known location on the electrical grid. A collection of communication based information is utilized to construct a network fingerprint that is subsequently used to determine whether a device is at a previously known or unknown location. By detecting differences in some or all of this set of information, a system determines whether an electric car has moved from one known location to another or otherwise left a known location. Determining a change in the location of a device, the device or a server take further actions, such as: notifying a user, notifying another server, initiating a configuration process, or operating in different modes. Knowledge about network location assist with assessing the overall load characteristics of a given area of a power grid, and with determining billing related matters.

Description

• This non-provisional patent application claims priority to, and incorporates herein by reference, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/165,344 filed on Mar. 31, 2009. This application also incorporates herein by reference the following: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/252,657 filed Oct. 16, 2008; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/252,209 filed Oct. 15, 2008; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/252,803 filed Oct. 16, 2008; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/252,950 filed Oct. 16, 2008.
• This application includes material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention relates in general to the field of power management systems, and in particular to novel systems and methods for determining locations of electric vehicles on an electrical grid using network fingerprints.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• Low-level electrical and communication interfaces to enable charging and discharging of electric vehicles with respect to the grid is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,270 to Green et al., entitled, “Battery powered electric vehicle and electrical supply system,” incorporated herein by reference. The Green reference describes a bi-directional charging and communication system for grid-connected electric vehicles.
• Communication parameters can be used to infer a remote machine's operating system fingerprint. For example, in an IP over Ethernet based system there are several layers of message framing all with unique or semi unique characteristics. The MAC address of the gateway, the number of network peers and their addresses can all be determined by watching existing network traffic, or by soliciting such information of the network peers themselves. Techniques like port scanning are in wide use for determining network topology. Several techniques exist for determining the host operating systems of network peers using IP stack fingerprinting.
• While various other techniques for fingerprinting devices on a network are known in the art, novel methods are needed to determine the network location of mobile devices connected to a power grid in order to provide enhanced techniques for smart charging. Significant opportunities for improvement exist with respect to locating electric vehicles on a network that communications with power grids and various mobile devices. What is needed are systems and methods that determine the location of a device with respect to a known location on the electrical grid. With respect to the statistical nature of the fingerprint, there is also a need for novel statistical modeling that weighs the relevance of various pieces of communication based information collected to construct a network fingerprint. In particular, novel systems and methods are needed that efficiently determine the network location of mobile devices on networks for power management systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• In an embodiment, a method for determining the location of devices on power flow management system using network fingerprints includes receiving network information. Such network information is associated with electric devices, such as electric vehicles. The method includes generating a network fingerprint based on the network information, and storing the network fingerprint in a database. Further, the method includes detecting a change in device information for an electric devices. The changed device information of the electric devices is compared with the network fingerprint. The location of the electric device is determined based on the network fingerprint.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the invention.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a power aggregation system.
• FIGS. 2A-2B are diagrams of an example of connections between an electric vehicle, the power grid, and the Internet.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of connections between an electric resource and a flow control server of the power aggregation system.
• FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example of a layout of the power aggregation system.
• FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of control areas in the power aggregation system.
• FIG. 6 is a diagram of multiple flow control centers in the power aggregation system and a directory server for determining a flow control center.
• FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example of flow control server.
• FIG. 8A is a block diagram of an example of remote intelligent power flow module.
• FIG. 8B is a block diagram of an example of transceiver and charging component combination.
• FIG. 8C is an illustration of an example of simple user interface for facilitating user controlled charging.
• FIG. 9 is a diagram of an example of resource communication protocol.
• FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an example of fingerprinting a local network for a power management system, in accordance with the currently disclosed invention.
• FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an example of determining the location of an electric vehicle using a network fingerprint.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
• Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
• Overview
• Described herein is a power aggregation system for distributed electric resources, and associated methods. In one implementation, a system communicates over the Internet and/or some other public or private networks with numerous individual electric resources connected to a power grid (hereinafter, “grid”). By communicating, the system can dynamically aggregate these electric resources to provide power services to grid operators (e.g. utilities, Independent System Operators (ISO), etc).
• “Power services” as used herein, refers to energy delivery as well as other ancillary services including demand response, regulation, spinning reserves, non-spinning reserves, energy imbalance, reactive power, and similar products.
• “Aggregation” as used herein refers to the ability to control power flows into and out of a set of spatially distributed electric resources with the purpose of providing a power service of larger magnitude.
• “Charge Control Management” as used herein refers to enabling or performing the starting, stopping, or level-setting of a flow of power between a power grid and an electric resource.
• “Power grid operator” as used herein, refers to the entity that is responsible for maintaining the operation and stability of the power grid within or across an electric control area. The power grid operator may constitute some combination of manual/human action/intervention and automated processes controlling generation signals in response to system sensors. A “control area operator” is one example of a power grid operator.
• “Control area” as used herein, refers to a contained portion of the electrical grid with defined input and output ports. The net flow of power into this area must equal (within some error tolerance) the sum of the power consumption within the area and power outflow from the area.
• “Power grid” as used herein means a power distribution system/network that connects producers of power with consumers of power. The network may include generators, transformers, interconnects, switching stations, and safety equipment as part of either/both the transmission system (i.e., bulk power) or the distribution system (i.e. retail power). The power aggregation system is vertically scalable for use within a neighborhood, a city, a sector, a control area, or (for example) one of the eight large-scale Interconnects in the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC). Moreover, the system is horizontally scalable for use in providing power services to multiple grid areas simultaneously.
• “Grid conditions” as used herein, refers to the need for more or less power flowing in or out of a section of the electric power grid, in response to one of a number of conditions, for example supply changes, demand changes, contingencies and failures, ramping events, etc. These grid conditions typically manifest themselves as power quality events such as under- or over-voltage events or under- or over-frequency events.
• “Power quality events” as used herein typically refers to manifestations of power grid instability including voltage deviations and frequency deviations; additionally, power quality events as used herein also includes other disturbances in the quality of the power delivered by the power grid such as sub-cycle voltage spikes and harmonics.
• “Electric resource” as used herein typically refers to electrical entities that can be commanded to do some or all of these three things: take power (act as load), provide power (act as power generation or source), and store energy. Examples may include battery/charger/inverter systems for electric or hybrid-electric vehicles, repositories of used-but-serviceable electric vehicle batteries, fixed energy storage, fuel cell generators, emergency generators, controllable loads, etc.
• “Electric vehicle” is used broadly herein to refer to pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), especially vehicles that have significant storage battery capacity and that connect to the power grid for recharging the battery. More specifically, electric vehicle means a vehicle that gets some or all of its energy for motion and other purposes from the power grid. Moreover, an electric vehicle has an energy storage system, which may consist of batteries, capacitors, etc., or some combination thereof. An electric vehicle may or may not have the capability to provide power back to the electric grid.
• Electric vehicle “energy storage systems” (batteries, super capacitors, and/or other energy storage devices) are used herein as a representative example of electric resources intermittently or permanently connected to the grid that can have dynamic input and output of power. Such batteries can function as a power source or a power load. A collection of aggregated electric vehicle batteries can become a statistically stable resource across numerous batteries, despite recognizable tidal connection trends (e.g., an increase in the total number of vehicles connected to the grid at night; a downswing in the collective number of connected batteries as the morning commute begins, etc.) Across vast numbers of electric vehicle batteries, connection trends are predictable and such batteries become a stable and reliable resource to call upon, should the grid or a part of the grid (such as a person's home in a blackout) experience a need for increased or decreased power. Data collection and storage also enable the power aggregation system to predict connection behavior on a per-user basis.
• An Example of the Presently Disclosed System
• FIG. 1 shows apower aggregation system100. Aflow control center102 is communicatively coupled with a network, such as a public/private mix that includes theInternet104, and includes one or more servers106 providing a centralized power aggregation service. “Internet”104 will be used herein as representative of many different types of communicative networks and network mixtures (e.g., one or more wide area networks--public or private--and/or one or more local area networks). Via a network, such as theInternet104, theflow control center102 maintainscommunication108 with operators of power grid(s), andcommunication110 with remote resources, i.e., communication with peripheral electric resources112 (“end” or “terminal” nodes/devices of a power network) that are connected to thepower grid114. In one implementation, power line communicators (PLCs), such as those that include or consist of Ethernet-over-power line bridges120 are implemented at connection locations so that the “last mile” (in this case, last feet—e.g., in a residence124) of Internet communication with remote resources is implemented over the same wire that connects eachelectric resource112 to thepower grid114. Thus, each physical location of eachelectric resource112 may be associated with a corresponding Ethernet-over-power line bridge120 (hereinafter, “bridge”) at or near the same location as theelectric resource112. Eachbridge120 is typically connected to an Internet access point of a location owner, as will be described in greater detail below. The communication medium fromflow control center102 to the connection location, such asresidence124, can take many forms, such as cable modem, DSL, satellite, fiber, WiMax, etc. In a variation,electric resources112 may connect with the Internet by a different medium than the same power wire that connects them to thepower grid114. For example, a givenelectric resource112 may have its own wireless capability to connect directly with theInternet104 or an Internet access point and thereby with theflow control center102.
• Electric resources112 of thepower aggregation system100 may include the batteries of electric vehicles connected to thepower grid114 atresidences124, parking lots126 etc.; batteries in arepository128, fuel cell generators, private dams, conventional power plants, and other resources that produce electricity and/or store electricity physically or electrically.
• In one implementation, each participatingelectric resource112 or group of local resources has a corresponding remote intelligent power flow (IPF) module134 (hereinafter, “remote IPF module”134). The centralizedflow control center102 administers thepower aggregation system100 by communicating with theremote IPF modules134 distributed peripherally among theelectric resources112. Theremote IPF modules134 perform several different functions, including, but not limited to, providing theflow control center102 with the statuses of remote resources; controlling the amount, direction, and timing of power being transferred into or out of a remoteelectric resource112; providing metering of power being transferred into or out of a remoteelectric resource112; providing safety measures during power transfer and changes of conditions in thepower grid114; logging activities; and providing self-contained control of power transfer and safety measures when communication with theflow control center102 is interrupted. Theremote IPF modules134 will be described in greater detail below.
• In another implementation, instead of having anIPF module134, eachelectric resource112 may have a corresponding transceiver (not shown) to communicate with a local charging component (not shown). The transceiver and charging component, in combination, may communicate withflow control center102 to perform some or all of the above mentioned functions ofIPF module134. A transceiver and charging component are shown inFIG. 2B and are described in greater detail herein.
• FIG. 2A shows another view of electrical and communicative connections to anelectric resource112. In this example, anelectric vehicle200 includes a battery bank202 and aremote IPF module134. Theelectric vehicle200 may connect to a conventional wall receptacle (wall outlet)204 of aresidence124, the wall receptacle204 representing the peripheral edge of thepower grid114 connected via a residential powerline206.
• In one implementation, thepower cord208 between theelectric vehicle200 and the wall outlet204 can be composed of only conventional wire and insulation for conducting alternating current (AC) power to and from theelectric vehicle200. InFIG. 2A, a location-specificconnection locality module210 performs the function of network access point—in this case, the Internet access point. Abridge120 intervenes between the receptacle204 and the network access point so that thepower cord208 can also carry network communications between theelectric vehicle200 and the receptacle204. With such abridge120 andconnection locality module210 in place in a connection location, no other special wiring or physical medium is needed to communicate with theremote IPF module134 of theelectric vehicle200 other than aconventional power cord208 for providing residential line current at any conventional voltage. Upstream of theconnection locality module210, power and communication with theelectric vehicle200 are resolved into the powerline206 and anInternet cable104.
• Alternatively, thepower cord208 may include safety features not found in conventional power and extension cords. For example, an electrical plug212 of thepower cord208 may include electrical and/or mechanical safeguard components to prevent theremote IPF module134 from electrifying or exposing the male conductors of thepower cord208 when the conductors are exposed to a human user.
• In some embodiments, a radio frequency (RF) bridge (not shown) may assist theremote IPF module134 in communicating with a foreign system, such as a utility smart meter (not shown) and/or aconnection locality module210. For example, theremote IPF module134 may be equipped to communicate overpower cord208 or to engage in some form of RF communication, such as Zigbee or Bluetooth™, and the foreign system may be able to engage in a different form of RF communication. In such an implementation, the RF bridge may be equipped to communicate with both the foreign system andremote IPF module134 and to translate communications from one to a form the other may understand, and to relay those messages. In various embodiments, the RF bridge may be integrated into theremote IPF module134 or foreign system, or may be external to both. The communicative associations between the RF bridge andremote IPF module134 and between the RF bridge and foreign system may be via wired or wireless communication.
• FIG. 2B shows a further view of electrical and communicative connections to anelectric resource112. In this example, theelectric vehicle200 may include a transceiver212 rather than aremote IPF module134. The transceiver212 may be communicatively coupled to acharging component214 through a connection216, and the charging component itself may be coupled to a conventional wall receptacle (wall outlet)204 of aresidence124 and toelectric vehicle200 through apower cord208. The other components shown inFIG. 2B may have the couplings and functions discussed with regard toFIG. 2A.
• In various embodiments, transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 may, in combination, perform the same functions as theremote IPF module134. Transceiver212 may interface with computer systems ofelectric vehicle200 and communicate with chargingcomponent214, providingcharging component214 with information aboutelectric vehicle200, such as its vehicle identifier, a location identifier, and a state of charge. In response, transceiver212 may receive requests and commands which transceiver212 may relay tovehicle200's computer systems.
• Charging component214, being coupled to bothelectric vehicle200 and wall outlet204, may effectuate charge control of theelectric vehicle200. If theelectric vehicle200 is not capable of charge control management, chargingcomponent214 may directly manage the charging ofelectric vehicle200 by stopping and starting a flow of power between theelectric vehicle200 and apower grid114 in response to commands received from a flow control server106. If, on the other hand, theelectric vehicle200 is capable of charge control management, chargingcomponent214 may effectuate charge control by sending commands to theelectric vehicle200 through the transceiver212.
• In some embodiments, the transceiver212 may be physically coupled to theelectric vehicle200 through a data port, such as an OBD-II connector. In other embodiments, other couplings may be used. The connection216 between transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 may be a wireless signal, such as a radio frequency (RF), such as a Zigbee, or Bluetooth™ signal. And chargingcomponent214 may include a receiver socket to couple withpower cord208 and a plug to couple with wall outlet204. In one embodiment, chargingcomponent214 may be coupled toconnection locality module210 in either a wired or wireless fashion. For example, chargingcomponent214 may have a data interface for communicating wirelessly with both the transceiver212 andlocality module210. In such an embodiment, thebridge120 may not be required.
• Further details about the transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 are illustrated byFIG. 8B and described in greater detail herein.
• FIG. 3 shows another implementation of theconnection locality module210 ofFIG. 2, in greater detail. InFIG. 3, anelectric resource112 has an associatedremote IPF module134, including abridge120. Thepower cord208 connects theelectric resource112 to thepower grid114 and also to theconnection locality module210 in order to communicate with the flow control server106.
• Theconnection locality module210 includes another instance of abridge120, connected to a network access point302, which may include such components as a router, switch, and/or modem, to establish a hardwired or wireless connection with, in this case, theInternet104. In one implementation, thepower cord208 between the twobridges120 and120′ is replaced by a wireless Internet link, such as a wireless transceiver in theremote IPF module134 and a wireless router in theconnection locality module210.
• In other embodiments, a transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 may be used instead of aremote IPF module134. In such an embodiment, thecharging component214 may include or be coupled to abridge120, and theconnection locality module210 may also include abridge120′, as shown. In yet other embodiments, not shown, chargingcomponent214 andconnection locality module210 may communicate in a wired or wireless fashion, as mentioned previously, withoutbridges120 and120′. The wired or wireless communication may utilize any sort of connection technology known in the art, such as Ethernet or RF communication, such as Zigbee, or Bluetooth.
• System Layouts
• FIG. 4 shows a layout400 of thepower aggregation system100. Theflow control center102 can be connected to many different entities, e.g., via theInternet104, for communicating and receiving information. The layout400 includeselectric resources112, such as plug-inelectric vehicles200, physically connected to the grid within a single control area402. Theelectric resources112 become an energy resource for grid operators404 to utilize.
• The layout400 also includes end users406 classified into electric resource owners408 and electricalconnection location owners410, who may or may not be one and the same. In fact, the stakeholders in apower aggregation system100 include the system operator at theflow control center102, the grid operator404, the resource owner408, and the owner of thelocation410 at which theelectric resource112 is connected to thepower grid114.
• Electricalconnection location owners410 can include:
• Rental car lots—rental car companies often have a large portion of their fleet parked in the lot. They can purchase fleets ofelectric vehicles200 and, participating in apower aggregation system100, generate revenue from idle fleet vehicles.
• Public parking lots—parking lot owners can participate in thepower aggregation system100 to generate revenue from parkedelectric vehicles200. Vehicle owners can be offered free parking, or additional incentives, in exchange for providing power services.
• Workplace parking—employers can participate in apower aggregation system100 to generate revenue from parked employeeelectric vehicles200. Employees can be offered incentives in exchange for providing power services.
• Residences—a home garage can merely be equipped with aconnection locality module210 to enable the homeowner to participate in thepower aggregation system100 and generate revenue from a parked car. Also, the vehicle battery202 and associated power electronics within the vehicle can provide local power backup power during times of peak load or power outages.
• Residential neighborhoods—neighborhoods can participate in apower aggregation system100 and be equipped with power-delivery devices (deployed, for example, by homeowner cooperative groups) that generate revenue from parkedelectric vehicles200.
• The grid operations116 ofFIG. 4 collectively include interactions with energy markets412, the interactions of grid operators404, and the interactions ofautomated grid controllers118 that perform automatic physical control of thepower grid114.
• Theflow control center102 may also be coupled withinformation sources414 for input of weather reports, events, price feeds, etc.Other data sources414 include the system stakeholders, public databases, and historical system data, which may be used to optimize system performance and to satisfy constraints on thepower aggregation system100.
• Thus, apower aggregation system100 may consist of components that:
• communicate with theelectric resources112 to gather data and actuate charging/discharging of theelectric resources112;
• gather real-time energy prices;
• gather real-time resource statistics;
• predict behavior of electric resources112 (connectedness, location, state (such as battery State-Of-Charge) at a given time of interest, such as a time of connect/disconnect);
• predict behavior of thepower grid114/load;
• encrypt communications for privacy and data security;
• actuate charging ofelectric vehicles200 to optimize some figure(s) of merit;
• offer guidelines or guarantees about load availability for various points in the future, etc.
• These components can be running on a single computing resource (computer, etc.), or on a distributed set of resources (either physically co-located or not).
• Power aggregation systems100 in such a layout400 can provide many benefits: for example, lower-cost ancillary services (i.e., power services), fine-grained (both temporal and spatial) control over resource scheduling, guaranteed reliability and service levels, increased service levels via intelligent resource scheduling, and/or firming of intermittent generation sources such as wind and solar power generation.
• Thepower aggregation system100 enables a grid operator404 to control the aggregatedelectric resources112 connected to thepower grid114. Anelectric resource112 can act as a power source, load, or storage, and theresource112 may exhibit combinations of these properties. Control of a set ofelectric resources112 is the ability to actuate power consumption, generation, or energy storage from an aggregate of theseelectric resources112.
• FIG. 5 shows the role of multiple control areas402 in thepower aggregation system100. Eachelectric resource112 can be connected to thepower aggregation system100 within a specific electrical control area. A single instance of theflow control center102 can administerelectric resources112 from multiple distinct control areas501 (e.g., control areas502,504, and506). In one implementation, this functionality is achieved by logically partitioning resources within thepower aggregation system100. For example, when the control areas402 include an arbitrary number of control areas, control area “A”502, control area “B”504, . . . , control area “n”506, then grid operations116 can include correspondingcontrol area operators508,510, . . . , and512. Further division into a control hierarchy that includes control division groupings above and below the illustrated control areas402 allows thepower aggregation system100 to scale topower grids114 of different magnitudes and/or to varying numbers ofelectric resources112 connected with apower grid114.
• FIG. 6 shows a layout600 of apower aggregation system100 that uses multiple centralized flow control centers102 and102′ and a directory server602 for determining a flow control center. Eachflow control center102 and102′ has its own respective end users406 and406′. Control areas402 to be administered by each specific instance of aflow control center102 can be assigned dynamically. For example, a firstflow control center102 may administer control area A502 and control area B504, while a secondflow control center102′ administers control area n506. Likewise, corresponding control area operators (508,510, and512) are served by the sameflow control center102 that serves their respective different control areas.
• In various embodiments, an electric resource may determine which flowcontrol center102/102′ administers its control area502/504/506 by communicating with a directory server602. The address of the directory server602 may be known toelectric resource112 or its associatedIPF module134 or chargingcomponent214. Upon plugging in, theelectric resource112 may communicate with the directory server602, providing thedirectory server112 with a resource identifier and/or a location identifier. Based on this information, the directory server602 may respond, identifying whichflow control center102/102′ to use.
• In another embodiment, directory server602 may be integrated with a flow control server106 of aflow control center102/102′. In such an embodiment, theelectric resource112 may contact the server106. In response, the server106 may either interact with theelectric resource112 itself or forward the connection to anotherflow control center102/102′ responsible for the location identifier provided by theelectric resource112.
• In some embodiments, whether integrated with a flow control server106 or not, directory server602 may include a publicly accessible database for mapping locations to flow control centers102/102′.
• Flow Control Server
• FIG. 7 shows a server106 of theflow control center102. The illustrated implementation inFIG. 7 is only one example configuration, for descriptive purposes. Many other arrangements of the illustrated components or even different components constituting a server106 of theflow control center102 are possible within the scope of the subject matter. Such a server106 and flowcontrol center102 can be executed in hardware, software, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc.
• The flow control server106 includes a connection manager702 to communicate withelectric resources112, a prediction engine704 that may include a learning engine706 and a statistics engine708, a constraint optimizer710, and a grid interaction manager712 to receive grid control signals714. Grid control signals714 are sometimes referred to as generation control signals, such as automated generation control (AGC) signals. The flow control server106 may further include a database/information warehouse716, a web server718 to present a user interface to electric resource owners408, grid operators404, and electricalconnection location owners410; a contract manager720 to negotiate contract terms with energy markets412, and aninformation acquisition engine414 to track weather, relevant news events, etc., and download information from public and private databases722 for predicting behavior of large groups of theelectric resources112, monitoring energy prices, negotiating contracts, etc.
• Remote IPF Module
• FIG. 8A shows theremote IPF module134 ofFIGS. 1 and 2 in greater detail. The illustratedremote IPF module134 is only one example configuration, for descriptive purposes. Many other arrangements of the illustrated components or even different components constituting aremote IPF module134 are possible within the scope of the subject matter. Such aremote IPF module134 has some hardware components and some components that can be executed in hardware, software, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc. In other embodiments, executable instructions configured to perform some or all of the operations ofremote IPF module134 may be added to hardware of anelectric resource112 such as an electric vehicle that, when combined with the executable instructions, provides equivalent functionality toremote IPF module134. References toremote IPF module134 as used herein include such executable instructions.
• The illustrated example of aremote IPF module134 is represented by an implementation suited for anelectric vehicle200. Thus, some vehicle systems800 are included as part of theremote IPF module134 for the sake of description. However, in other implementations, theremote IPF module134 may exclude some or all of the vehicles systems800 from being counted as components of theremote IPF module134.
• The depicted vehicle systems800 include a vehicle computer and data interface802, an energy storage system, such as a battery bank202, and an inverter/charger804. Besides vehicle systems800, theremote IPF module134 also includes a communicative power flow controller806. The communicative power flow controller806 in turn includes some components that interface with AC power from thegrid114, such as a powerline communicator, for example an Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120, and a current or current/voltage (power) sensor808, such as a current sensing transformer.
• The communicative power flow controller806 also includes Ethernet and information processing components, such as a processor810 or microcontroller and an associated Ethernet media access control (MAC) address812; volatile random access memory814, nonvolatile memory816 or data storage, an interface such as an RS-232 interface818 or a CAN-bus interface820; an Ethernet physical layer interface822, which enables wiring and signaling according to Ethernet standards for the physical layer through means of network access at the MAC/Data Link Layer and a common addressing format. The Ethernet physical layer interface822 provides electrical, mechanical, and procedural interface to the transmission medium—i.e., in one implementation, using the Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120. In a variation, wireless or other communication channels with theInternet104 are used in place of the Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120.
• The communicative power flow controller806 also includes a bidirectional power flow meter824 that tracks power transfer to and from eachelectric resource112, in this case the battery bank202 of anelectric vehicle200.
• The communicative power flow controller806 operates either within, or connected to anelectric vehicle200 or otherelectric resource112 to enable the aggregation ofelectric resources112 introduced above (e.g., via a wired or wireless communication interface). These above-listed components may vary among different implementations of the communicative power flow controller806, but implementations typically include:
• • an intra-vehicle communications mechanism that enables communication with other vehicle components;
  • a mechanism to communicate with theflow control center102;
  • a processing element;
  • a data storage element;
  • a power meter; and
  • optionally, a user interface.
• Implementations of the communicative power flow controller806 can enable functionality including:
• • executing pre-programmed or learned behaviors when theelectric resource112 is offline (not connected toInternet104, or service is unavailable);
  • storing locally-cached behavior profiles for “roaming” connectivity (what to do when charging on a foreign system, i.e., when charging in the same utility territory on a foreign meter or in a separate utility territory, or in disconnected operation, i.e., when there is no network connectivity);
  • allowing the user to override current system behavior; and
  • metering power-flow information and caching meter data during offline operation for later transaction.
• Thus, the communicative power flow controller806 includes a central processor810, interfaces818 and820 for communication within theelectric vehicle200, a powerline communicator, such as an Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120 for communication external to theelectric vehicle200, and a power flow meter824 for measuring energy flow to and from theelectric vehicle200 via aconnected AC powerline208.
• Power Flow Meter
• Power is the rate of energy consumption per interval of time. Power indicates the quantity of energy transferred during a certain period of time, thus the units of power are quantities of energy per unit of time. The power flow meter824 measures power for a givenelectric resource112 across a bidirectional flow—e.g., power fromgrid114 toelectric vehicle200 or fromelectric vehicle200 to thegrid114. In one implementation, theremote IPF module134 can locally cache readings from the power flow meter824 to ensure accurate transactions with the central flow control server106, even if the connection to the server is down temporarily, or if the server itself is unavailable.
• Transceiver and Charging Component
• FIG. 8B shows the transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 ofFIG. 2B in greater detail. The illustrated transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 is only one example configuration, for descriptive purposes. Many other arrangements of the illustrated components or even different components constituting the transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 are possible within the scope of the subject matter. Such a transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 have some hardware components and some components that can be executed in hardware, software, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc.
• The illustrated example of the transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 is represented by an implementation suited for anelectric vehicle200. Thus, some vehicle systems800 are illustrated to provide context to the transceiver212 and chargingcomponent214 components.
• The depicted vehicle systems800 include a vehicle computer and data interface802, an energy storage system, such as a battery bank202, and an inverter/charger804. In some embodiments, vehicle systems800 may include a data port, such as an OBD-II port, that is capable of physically coupling with the transceiver212. The transceiver212 may then communicate with the vehicle computer and data interface802 through the data port, receiving information fromelectric resource112 comprised by vehicle systems800 and, in some embodiments, providing commands to the vehicle computer and data interface802. In one implementation, the vehicle computer and data interface802 may be capable of charge control management. In such an embodiment, the vehicle computer and data interface802 may perform some or all of thecharging component214 operations discussed below. In other embodiments, executable instructions configured to perform some or all of the operations of the vehicle computer and data interface802 may be added to hardware of anelectric resource112 such as an electric vehicle that, when combined with the executable instructions, provides equivalent functionality to the vehicle computer and data interface802. References to the vehicle computer and data interface802 as used herein include such executable instructions.
• In various embodiments, the transceiver212 may have a physical form that is capable of coupling to a data port of vehicle systems800. Such a transceiver212 may also include a plurality of interfaces, such as an RS-232 interface818 and/or a CAN-bus interface820. In various embodiments, the RS-232 interface818 or CAN-bus interface820 may enable the transceiver212 to communicate with the vehicle computer and data interface802 through the data port. Also, the transceiver may be or comprise an additional interface (not shown) capable of engaging in wireless communication with a data interface820 of thecharging component214. The wireless communication may be of any form known in the art, such as radio frequency (RF) communication (e.g., Zigbee, and/or Bluetooth™ communication). In other embodiments, the transceiver may comprise a separate conductor or may be configured to utilize apowerline208 to communicate with chargingcomponent214. In yet other embodiments, not shown, transceiver212 may simply be a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag capable of storing minimal information about theelectric resource112, such as a resource identifier, and of being read by a corresponding RFID reader of chargingcomponent214. In such other embodiments, the RFID tag may not couple with a data port or communicate with the vehicle computer and data interface802.
• As shown, thecharging component214 may be an intelligent plug device that is physically connected to a charging medium, such as a powerline208 (the charging medium coupling thecharging component214 to the electric resource112) and an outlet of a power grid (such as the wall outlet204 shown inFIG. 2B). In otherembodiments charging component214 may be a charging station or some other external control. In some embodiments, thecharging component214 may be portable.
• In various embodiments, thecharging component214 may include components that interface with AC power from thegrid114, such as a powerline communicator, for example an Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120, and a current or current/voltage (power) sensor808, such as a current sensing transformer.
• In other embodiments, thecharging component214 may include a further Ethernet plug or wireless interface in place ofbridge120. In such an embodiment, data-over-powerline communication is not necessary, eliminating the need for abridge120. The Ethernet plug or wireless interface may communicate with a local access point, and through that access point to flow control server106.
• Thecharging component214 may also include Ethernet and information processing components, such as a processor810 or microcontroller and an associated Ethernet media access control (MAC) address812; volatile random access memory814, nonvolatile memory816 or data storage, a data interface826 for communicating with the transceiver212, and an Ethernet physical layer interface822, which enables wiring and signaling according to Ethernet standards for the physical layer through means of network access at the MAC/Data Link Layer and a common addressing format. The Ethernet physical layer interface822 provides electrical, mechanical, and procedural interface to the transmission medium—i.e., in one implementation, using the Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120. In a variation, wireless or other communication channels with theInternet104 are used in place of the Ethernet-over-powerline bridge120.
• Thecharging component214 may also include a bidirectional power flow meter824 that tracks power transfer to and from eachelectric resource112, in this case the battery bank202 of anelectric vehicle200.
• Further, in some embodiments, thecharging component214 may comprise an RFID reader to read the electric resource information from transceiver212 when transceiver212 is an RFID tag.
• Also, in various embodiments, thecharging component214 may include a credit card reader to enable a user to identify theelectric resource112 by providing credit card information. In such an embodiment, a transceiver212 may not be necessary.
• Additionally, in one embodiment, thecharging component214 may include a user interface, such as one of the user interfaces described in greater detail below.
• Implementations of thecharging component214 can enable functionality including:
• • executing pre-programmed or learned behaviors when theelectric resource112 is offline (not connected toInternet104, or service is unavailable);
  • storing locally-cached behavior profiles for “roaming” connectivity (what to do when charging on a foreign system or in disconnected operation, i.e., when there is no network connectivity);
  • allowing the user to override current system behavior; and
  • metering power-flow information and caching meter data during offline operation for later transaction.
• User Interfaces (UI)
• Charging Station UI. An electrical charging station, whether free or for pay, can be installed with a user interface that presents useful information to the user. Specifically, by collecting information about thegrid114, the electric resource state, and the preferences of the user, the station can present information such as the current electricity price, the estimated recharge cost, the estimated time until recharge, the estimated payment for uploading power to the grid114 (either total or per hour), etc. Theinformation acquisition engine414 communicates with theelectric resource112 and with public and/or private data networks722 to acquire the data used in calculating this information.
• The types of information gathered from theelectric resource112 can include an electric resource identifier (resource ID) and state information like the state of charge of theelectric resource112. The resource ID can be used to obtain knowledge of the electric resource type and capabilities, preferences, etc. through lookup with the flow control server106.
• In various embodiments, the charging station system including the UI may also gather grid-based information, such as current and future energy costs at the charging station.
• User Charge Control UI Mechanisms. In various embodiments, by default,electric resources112 may receive charge control management viapower aggregation system100. In some embodiments, an override control may be provided to override charge control management and charge as soon as possible. The override control may be provided, in various embodiments, as a user interface mechanism of theremote IPF module134, thecharging component214, of the electric resource (for example, if electric resource is avehicle200, the user interface control may be integrated with dash controls of the vehicle200) or even via a web page offered by flow control server106. The control can be presented, for example, as a button, a touch screen option, a web page, or some other UI mechanism. In one embodiment, the UI may be the UI illustrated byFIG. 8C and discussed in greater detail below. In some embodiments, the override is a one-time override, only applying to a single plug-in session. Upon disconnecting and reconnecting, the user may again need to interact with the UI mechanism to override the charge control management.
• In some embodiments, the user may pay more to charge with the override on than under charge control management, thus providing an incentive for the user to accept charge control management. Such a cost differential may be displayed or rendered to the user in conjunction with or on the UI mechanism. This differential can take into account time-varying pricing, such as Time of Use (TOU), Critical Peak Pricing (CPP), and Real-Time Pricing (RTP) schemes, as discussed above, as well as any other incentives, discounts, or payments that may be forgone by not accepting charge control management.
• UI Mechanism for Management Preferences. In various embodiments, a user interface mechanism of theremote IPF module134, thecharging component214, of the electric resource (for example, if electric resource is avehicle200, the user interface control may be integrated with dash controls of the vehicle200) or even via a web page offered by flow control server106 may enable a user to enter and/or edit management preferences to affect charge control management of the user'selectric resource112. In some embodiments, the UI mechanism may allow the user to enter/edit general preferences, such as whether charge control management is enabled, whether vehicle-to-grid power flow is enabled or whether theelectric resource112 should only be charged with clean/green power. Also, in various embodiments, the UI mechanism may enable a user to prioritize relative desires for minimizing costs, maximizing payments (i.e., fewer charge periods for higher amounts), achieving a full state-of-charge for theelectric resource112, charging as rapidly as possible, and/or charging in as environmentally-friendly a way as possible. Additionally, the UI mechanism may enable a user to provide a default schedule for when the electric resource will be used (for example, ifresource112 is avehicle200, the schedule is for when thevehicle200 should be ready to drive). Further, the UI mechanism may enable the user to add or select special rules, such as a rule not to charge if a price threshold is exceeded or a rule to only use charge control management if it will earn the user at least a specified threshold of output. Charge control management may then be effectuated based on any part or all of these user entered preferences.
• Simple User Interface.FIG. 8C illustrates a simple user interface (UI) which enables a user to control charging based on selecting among a limited number of high level preferences. For example, UI2300 includes the categories “green”, “fast”, and “cheap” (with what is considered “green”, “fast”, and “cheap” varying from embodiment to embodiment). The categories shown in UI2300 are selected only for the sake of illustration and may instead includes these and/or any other categories applicable toelectric resource112 charging known in the art. As shown, the UI2300 may be very basic, using well known form controls such as radio buttons. In other embodiments, other graphic controls known in the art may be used. The general categories may be mapped to specific charging behaviors, such as those discussed above, by a flow control server106.
• Electric Resource Communication Protocol
• FIG. 9 illustrates a resource communication protocol. As shown, aremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 may be in communication with a flow control server106 over theInternet104 or another networking fabric or combination of networking fabrics. In various embodiments, a protocol specifying an order of messages and/or a format for messages may be used to govern the communications between theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 and flow control server106.
• In some embodiments, the protocol may include two channels, one for messages initiated by theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 and for replies to those messages from the flow control server106, and another channel for messages initiated by the flow control server106 and for replies to those messages from theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214. The channels may be asynchronous with respect to each other (that is, initiation of messages on one channel may be entirely independent of initiation of messages on the other channel). However, each channel may itself be synchronous (that is, once a message is sent on a channel, another message may not be sent until a reply to the first message is received).
• As shown, theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 may initiate communication902 with the flow control server106. In some embodiments, communication902 may be initiated when, for example, anelectric resource112 first plugs in/connects to thepower grid114. In other embodiments, communication902 may be initiated at another time or times. The initial message902 governed by the protocol may require, for example, one or more of an electric resource identifier, such as a MAC address, a protocol version used, and/or a resource identifier type.
• Upon receipt of the initial message by the flow control server106, a connection may be established between theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 and flow control server106. Upon establishing a connection, theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 may register with flow control server106 through a subsequent communication903. Communication903 may include a location identifier scheme, a latitude, a longitude, a max power value that theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 can draw, a max power value that theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 can provide, a current power value, and/or a current state of charge.
• After the initial message902, the protocol may require or allowmessages904 from the flow control server106 to theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 or messages906 fromremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 to the flow control server106. Themessages904 may include, for example, one or more of commands, messages, and/or updates.Such messages904 may be provided at any time after the initial message902. In one embodiment,messages904 may include a command setting, a power level and/or a ping to determine whether theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 is still connected.
• The messages906 may include, for example, status updates to the information provided in the registration message903. Such messages906 may be provided at any time after the initial message902. In one embodiment, the messages906 may be provided on a pre-determined time interval basis. In various embodiments, messages906 may even be sent when theremote IPF module134 or chargingcomponent214 is connected, but not registered. Such messages906 may include data that is stored by flow control server106 for later processing. Also, in some embodiments,messages904 may be provided in response to a message902 or906.
• Mobile Resource Locator
• Referring back toFIG. 1, the exemplarypower aggregation system100 also includes various techniques for determining the electrical network location of a mobileelectric resource112, such as a plug-inelectric vehicle200 as illustrated inFIG. 2A.Electric vehicles200 can connect to thegrid114 in numerous locations and accurate control and transaction of energy exchange can be enabled by specific knowledge of the charging location. Some of the exemplary techniques for determining electric vehicle charging locations include:
• • querying a unique identifier for the location (via wired, wireless, etc.), which can be:
    • the unique ID of the network hardware at the charging site;
    • the unique ID of the locally installed smart meter, by communicating with the meter;
    • a unique ID installed specifically for this purpose at a site; and
    • using GPS or other signal sources (cell, WiMAX, etc.) to establish a “soft” (estimated geographic) location, which is then refined based on user preferences and historical data (e.g., vehicles tend to be plugged-in at the owner'sresidence124, not a neighbor's residence).
• Location Determination Using A Network Fingerprint
• The presently disclosed systems and methods can solve the problem of determining the location of a device with respect to a known location on the electrical grid or a known physical location (e.g. my home, my office) associated with a location on the electrical grid. Traditional approaches of using the Global Positioning System (GPS) or cellular tower based Location Based Services (LBS) are not sufficient. Limitations in GPS and cellular resolution make the precise determination of a location difficult, especially in cases where two locations are overlapping or in close proximity. When two locations are too close to distinguish and resolve their locations using GPS and/or cellular information, or in cases where GPS and cellular information is not available because of the lack of a transceiver or the lack of signal, the device described herein uses a collection of other communication based information to construct a network fingerprint of a known location that is subsequently used to determine whether a device is at a previously known or unknown location.
• In one embodiment, the disclosed methods determine whether an electric car, or other electrical equipment such as a charging station that may be semi or completely mobile, has moved from one known location to another or otherwise left a known location. This is crucial when determining billing related matters; for example, when deciding whether to bill my home or my office for the electric power used or produced. It is also important to have knowledge about which devices are located on a network when establishing the overall load characteristics of a given area of the grid. In one example, such knowledge is useful in determining whether charging a device affects, or will affect, the overall load of my home neighborhood or my office neighborhood.
• To address the issue of location resolution, a device may contain one or more communications adapters, such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Cellular, LBS, or GPS. The device may use some or all of these communications mediums in a combination of active or passive modes to extract information that is unique to a given location. Various techniques fingerprinting devices on a network may be combined to construct an overall fingerprint of the surrounding network as a whole.
• Once a network location fingerprint is collected and stored it may be associated with a known location (e.g. home, or office, or parking lot space #12), or it may be assigned an otherwise random location identifier. The fingerprint may be stored in a database for later use when trying to determine a device's location.
• The disclosed system can also take into account the dynamic nature of such information. A portion of the fingerprint may be expected to change over time. For example, the list of network peers may change as new peers are added or removed from the network. The MAC address of devices may change as they are replaced with new hardware. Host operating system information collected in IP stack fingerprinting may change as operating systems are upgraded. As such, the fingerprint of a location may change over time and the database can record the last fingerprint. The database may also record the entire history of fingerprints of a location in cases where the variation over time is itself useful in identifying the location. For example, a given home location may have three network peers in the evenings while various people are home from work with their networked laptops and phones, but may have only one peer during the workweek while they are at work. Depending on the time that the network location fingerprint is compared, this sort of dynamic information can be used to resolve the location name.
• Pattern matching can be used to match one location fingerprint against another. Based on the statistical nature of the fingerprint, the disclosed system is capable of making a location determination in the presence of partial or changing fingerprints by applying any number of statistical methods, such as regression analysis, logistic regression, Bayesian, pattern matching, or ad hoc weighting of various parts of the fingerprint. For example, the likelihood that a given location will replace the communications gateway that a car would connect to (and thus a change in the MAC address present in IP traffic from the gateway) is probably low in comparison to the probability of adding or removing of peers to the same network.
• In an embodiment, the disclosed method uses a process by which a device connected to a network can query network peers and collect and store a set of identification information, such as MAC address, IP address, and trace routes. The method may utilize other various pieces of information to construct a fingerprint of the device's current location such as ping latencies to gateways, other network peers, cell tower information, or GPS information. As such, the method constructs a location fingerprint that is the aggregation of various sources of information, and may further use a statistical model weighting the relevance of the various pieces of information. The information can be stored on a server or the device.
• When a device subsequently performs the fingerprint process, the device can subsequently detect whether the device has changed locations by detecting differences in some or all of this set of information. Upon detecting that the device has returned to a known location, or that the device is at a new location, the device or a server can take certain actions. Such actions may include: notifying a user, notifying another server, initiating a configuration process, or operating in different modes.
• According to an embodiment, a user plugs in a device to their home network, and the device scans for and records the MAC addresses of the user's router, home PC and printer. The device transmits this information to a server, such that a fingerprint is associated with the location. The user may move the device to a new location, e.g. the user's office. The device detects a different fingerprint from the MAC of a new router, and several dozen work computers. Another information relating to the new location is stored in the server so that the fingerprint is associated with the location. When the user returns the device to the home network, the device recognizes it is at home. The device can recognize a location even if some, but not all, of the fingerprint has changed. For example, a printer may no longer be present.
• FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of fingerprinting a local network for a power management system. Network information from devices, such as electric vehicles, is collected1010 in order to generate anetwork fingerprint1020, which is stored1030 in a database. As shown inFIG. 11, according to an embodiment, a change in the location of a device is detected1110 and compared with anetwork fingerprint1120 in order to determine1130 the location of an electric vehicle.
CONCLUSION
• Although systems and methods have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as examples of implementations of the claimed methods, devices, systems, etc. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (11)

1. A method for determining the location of devices on power flow management system using network fingerprints, comprising:

receiving network information, wherein the network information is associated with a plurality of electric devices;

generating a network fingerprint based on the network information; storing the network fingerprint in a database;

detecting a change in device information of at least one of the plurality of electric devices;

comparing the changed device information of the at least one of the plurality of electric devices with the network fingerprint; and

determining a location of the at least one of the plurality of electric devices based on the network fingerprint.

2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the network information is received by a power flow management system.

3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the network information is received by at least one of the plurality of electric devices.

4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the database is stored by a power flow management system.

5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the database is stored by at least one of the plurality of electric devices.

6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the network fingerprint is generated using an approach selected from a group consisting of Global Positioning System (GPS) or cellular tower based Location Based Services (LBS).

7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the device information of the at least one of the plurality of electric devices is information selected from a group consisting of a MAC addresses, IP addresses, or trace routes.

8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the changed device information and the network fingerprint is compared using pattern matching.

9. (canceled)

10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the location of the at least one of the plurality of electric devices is a network reference.

11. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: assigning a random location identifier.

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