# US 10,313,140 B2 · Power distribution unit, power distribution system and network-connecting relay method thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,313,140 B2 - Document ID: US10313140B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/624,127 - Filed: 2017-06-15 - Published: 2018-05-17 - Granted: 2019-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2016-11-11 - Assignees: Delta Electronics, Inc. - Applicants: Delta Electronics, Inc. - Inventors: Chih-Chiang Chan; I-Chieh Li; Wei-Yu Chen - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10313140B2 ## CPC - H04L 12/403: with centralised control, e.g. polling - H04L 12/10: Current supply arrangements - H04L 41/0654: using network fault recovery (ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437) - Y02B 70/30: Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level - Y04S 20/20: End-user application control systems - Y04S 40/00: Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - Y02B: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract A power distribution system capable of network-connecting relay is provided. Power distribution units of the power distribution system execute a master-node-arbitrating process to generate an arbitration result, and respectively switch to a master node mode for being a master node or a slave node mode for being a slave node according to the arbitration result. When being the master node, a power distribution unit receives a monitor command from a remote management device via an external network, and transfers it to the corresponded slave node(s). When being the slave node, a power distribution unit executes the monitor command received from the master node. Therefore, the complexity of building system and the cost of building system can be effectively reduced, and network-connecting relay service can be provided. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A network-connecting relay method, the network-connecting relay method being adopted in a power distribution system comprising a plurality of power distribution units, the network-connecting relay method comprising: a) each power distribution unit sensing a quality of external connection of the external network respectively; b) broadcasting the sensed quality of external connection to another power distribution unit; c) receiving the quality of external connection sensed by another power distribution unit; d) determining arbitration result according to the qualities of external connections; e) each power distribution unit switching to a master node mode for functioning as a master node or switching to a slave node mode for functioning as a slave node according to the arbitration result; f) when functioning as the master node, receiving a monitor command from a remote management device via an external network, and transferring the monitor command to the corresponded slave node; and g) when functioning as the slave node, executing the monitor command received from the master node. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 1, wherein the monitor command is a command for controlling power output, the step g is to control a connection between a power input unit and a power output unit of the slave node to disconnect or connect. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 1, wherein the step d comprises: d1) determining that the arbitration result is “master node” when the sensed quality of external connection is determined to be higher than all the received quality of external connection; and d2) determining that the arbitration result is “slave node” when the sensed quality of external connection is determined to be lower than any received quality of external connection. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 3, wherein the step d further comprises: d3) when the sensed quality of external connection and at least one received quality of external connection are determined to be highest, determining the arbitration result via comparing a device code value of the power distribution unit with a device code value of another power distribution unit having the same quality of external connection. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 4, wherein the device code value is a device ID or a MAC address, the step d3 is to determine that the arbitration result is “master node” when the device code value of the power distribution unit is less than the device code value of another power distribution unit having the same quality of external connection, and determining that the arbitration result is “slave node” when the device code value of the power distribution unit is greater than the device code value of another power distribution unit having the same quality of external connection. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 3, wherein the step d further comprises: d4) when the sensed quality of external connection and at least one received quality of external connection are determined to be highest, determining the arbitration result according to a pre-default priority. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 1, wherein the step d comprises: d5) each power distribution unit determining and broadcasting a preliminary result to another power distribution unit according to the sensed quality of external connection; d6) transferring a notification of rejection to the power distribution unit having the same preliminary result when the preliminary result is “master node” and same as any received preliminary result, and a priority of the power distribution unit is higher than a priority of the power distribution unit having the same preliminary result; d7) modifying the determined preliminary result to “slave node” and broadcasting the modified preliminary result when receiving any notification of rejection; and d8) making the preliminary result as the arbitration result after an arbitration time elapses. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 1, wherein the network-connecting relay method further comprises: h) executing the step a to the step e for making one of the slave nodes function as the new master node for network failover when the master node is determined to malfunction. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The network-connecting relay method according to claim 8, wherein the step h comprises: h1) when functioning as the slave node and detecting that the master node fails to respond within a period or is disconnected from the external network, determining that the master node malfunctions and executing the step a to the step e; and h7) when functioning as the master node and detecting the malfunction on its own, executing the step a to the step e. ### Claim 10 A power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay, comprising: a control unit, controlling the power distribution unit to switch to a master node mode for making the power distribution unit function as a master node or switch to a slave node mode for making the power distribution unit function as a slave node; a network unit electrically connected to the control unit, receiving a monitor command from a remote management device when the power distribution unit is the master node; and a communication unit electrically connected to the control unit, when the power distribution unit functions as the master node, the communication unit transferring the monitor command to another power distribution unit functioning as the slave node, when the power distribution unit functions as the slave node, the communication unit receiving a monitor command from another power distribution unit functioning as the master node, wherein the control unit executes a master-node-arbitrating process with another power distribution unit for generating an arbitration result when the power distribution unit functions as slave node and the master node malfunctions, and determines whether the control unit controls the power distribution unit to switch to the master node mode for making the power distribution unit function as the new master node for network-connecting relay; wherein the control unit executes the master-node-arbitrating process to sense a quality of external connection via the network unit, broadcast the sensed quality of external connection to another power distribution unit, receive the quality of external connection sensed by another power distribution unit via the communication unit, and determine the arbitration result according to the qualities of external connections. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 10, wherein during executing the master-node-arbitrating process, the control unit determines that the arbitration result is “master node” when the sensed quality of external connection is determined to be higher than all received quality of external connection, and determines that the arbitration result is “slave node” when the sensed quality of external connection is determined to be lower than any received quality of external connection. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 11, wherein during executing the master-node-arbitrating process, when the sensed quality of external connection and at least one received quality of external connection are determined to be highest, the control unit compares a device code value of the power distribution unit with a device code value of another power distribution unit having the same quality of external connection, wherein the control unit determines that the arbitration result is “master node” when the device code value of the power distribution unit is less than the device code value of another power distribution unit having the same quality of external connection, and determines that the arbitration result is “slave node” when the device code value of the power distribution unit is greater than the device code value of another power distribution unit having the same quality of external connection. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 12, wherein the device code value is a device ID or a MAC address of the power distribution unit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 10, further comprising a memory unit electrically connected to the control unit, the memory unit storing a priority, wherein during executing the master-node-arbitrating process, the control unit determines the arbitration result according to the priority when the sensed quality of external connection and at least one received quality of external connection are determined to be highest. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 10, further comprising a timer unit electrically connected to the control unit, wherein during executing the master-node-arbitrating process, the control unit determines a preliminary result according to the sensed quality of external connection, and broadcasts the preliminary result to another power distribution unit via the communication unit, the control unit transfers a notification of rejection to the power distribution unit having the same preliminary result when the preliminary result is “master node” and same as any received preliminary result, and a priority of the power distribution unit is higher than a priority of the power distribution unit having the same preliminary result, modifies the determined preliminary result to “slave node” and broadcasts the modified preliminary result when receiving any notification of rejection, and makes the preliminary result as the arbitration result after an arbitration time elapses via the timer unit timing. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 10, wherein the control unit determines that the master node malfunctions when the power distribution unit functions as the slave node and detects that the master node fails to respond within a period or is disconnected from the external network, and leaves the master node mode and executes the master-node-arbitrating process when functioning as the master node and detecting the malfunction on its own. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 10, wherein the communication unit is to connect to a communication unit of another power distribution unit in series via a transmission cable. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The power distribution unit capable of network-connecting relay according to claim 10, wherein the communication unit is CAN bus interface, RS-232 interface or the other serial communication interface. ### Claim 19 (depends on 10) A power distribution system capable of network-connecting relay, comprising: a plurality of power distribution units according to claim 10, each power distribution unit operates respectively in the master node mode for functioning as the master node or in the slave node mode for functioning as the slave node according to the arbitration result of the master-node-arbitrating process.