# US 10,871,754 B2 · Automated time-synchronized electrical system commissioning

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- Number: US 10,871,754 B2
- Document ID: US10871754B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/630,908
- Filed: 2017-06-22
- Published: 2018-12-27
- Granted: 2020-12-22
- Earliest claimed: 2017-06-22
- Assignees: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
- Applicants: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
- Inventors: Joe Soroka
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10871754B2

## CPC

- G05B 19/042: using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence)
- G01S 19/01: Satellite radio beacon positioning systems transmitting time-stamped messages, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System], GLONASS [Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System] or GALILEO
- G05B 23/0208: {characterized by the configuration of the monitoring system}
- H04J 3/0638: {Clock or time synchronisation among nodes; Internode synchronisation (synchronization for ring networks H04L12/422; data switching networks with synchronous transmission H04L12/43)}
- G06Q 50/06: Energy or water supply
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- H04J: MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION (transmission in general H04B; peculiar to transmission of digital information H04L5/00; systems for the simultaneous or sequential transmission of more than one television signal H04N7/08; in exchanges H04Q11/00; stereophonic systems H04S)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

Aspects extend to automated time-synchronized electrical system commissioning. Automated electrical system commissioning in industrial/commercial settings (e.g., a data center) increases the likelihood that the electrical system functions as intended when released into production. Automated data collection devices can be time-synchronized to collect commissioning data related to electrical and other characteristics of electrical/power system equipment. Time-synchronization can be used to correlate collected data related to electrical loads, electrical harmonics, transient conditions, etc. collected from different data collection devices. A commissioning center computer system can send a local timing signal over a network to a plurality of collection devices to update/synchronize clocks at each of the plurality of data collection devices to a specified time. The commissioning center computer system can include a receiver for receiving a global (e.g., GPS, GLONASS, etc.) time signal. The global time signal can be used to generate the local timing signal.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system, the system comprising:
one or more hardware processors;
system memory coupled to the one or more hardware processors, the system memory storing instructions that are executable by the one or more hardware processors;
a plurality of pieces of electrical system equipment connected together to form an electrical system;
a plurality of monitoring devices, each monitoring device configured to collect commissioning data, the commissioning data indicative of characteristics associated with operation of one or more of the plurality of pieces of electrical equipment;
the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to collect commissioning data used to determine a likelihood of the electrical system operating as intended when released into production, including the following:
access commissioning tests tailored for commissioning the electrical system for release into production;
formulate commands for configuring the plurality of monitoring devices from the accessed commissioning tests, the commands for configuring the plurality of monitoring devices to monitor characteristics associated with operation of one or more of the plurality of pieces of electrical equipment under one or more different test conditions;
for each of one or more of the plurality of monitoring devices:
send a local timing signal to the monitoring device, the local timing signal instructing the monitoring device to synchronize a clock to a specified time;
send a command to the monitoring device instructing the monitoring device to monitor one or more characteristics associated with operation of one or more of the plurality of pieces of electrical equipment under the one or more different test conditions;
receive time-synchronized commissioning data from the monitoring device, the time-synchronized commissioning data indicating values monitored for the one or more characteristics at the one or more pieces of electrical equipment under one or more different test conditions, the time-synchronized commissioning data synchronized in accordance with the local timing signal; and
store the time-synchronized commissioning data in a database for subsequent analysis and reporting to determine the likelihood of the electrical system operating as intended when released into production.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pieces of electrical system equipment include one or more of: a transformer, a generator, a switch, a relay, a circuit breaker, a bus bar, a battery, an alternator, or an equipment rack.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to:
receive a global time signal from a timing service; and
formulate the local timing signal from the global time signal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send a command to the monitoring device comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send a command to the monitoring device instructing the monitoring device to monitoring an environmental condition in an environment around a price of electrical equipment.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send a command to the monitoring device comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send a command to the monitoring device instructing the monitoring device to monitor an electrical characteristic of electricity on conducting wires inside a piece of electrical equipment.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to receive time-synchronized commissioning data from the monitoring device comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to receive time-synchronized commissioning data indicating sensed environment values.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to receive time-synchronized commissioning data from the monitoring device comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to receive time-synchronized commissioning data indicating sensed electrical characteristic values.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to store the time-synchronized commissioning data in database for subsequent analysis and reporting comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to store the time-synchronized commissioning data for use in forecasting the likelihood of an electrical system in a data center operating as intended when released into production.

### Claim 9

A system, the system comprising:
one or more hardware processors;
system memory coupled to the one or more hardware processors, the system memory storing instructions that are executable by the one or more hardware processors;
a plurality of monitoring devices, each monitoring device configured to collect commissioning data, the commissioning data including characteristics associated with operation of one or more of the plurality of pieces of electrical equipment in an electrical system;
the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to determine a likelihood of the electrical system operating as intended when released into production, including the following:
access time-synchronized commissioning data from a storage device, the time-synchronized commissioning data received from each of the plurality of monitoring devices over a computer network, the time-synchronized commissioning data synchronized between the plurality of monitoring devices in accordance with a local timing signal;
for at least two pieces of electrical equipment from among the plurality of pieces of electrical equipment under test:
compare time-synchronized commissioning data for the at least two pieces of electrical equipment relative to defined pass/fail criteria for an aspect of the electrical system, the pass/fail criteria defining appropriate operation of the aspect of the electrical system within the production environment;
forecast the likelihood of the electrical system operating as intended in the production environment based on the comparison; and
generate a report indicative of the forecasted operation of the electrical system within the production environment.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to access time-synchronized commissioning data from a storage device comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to access time-synchronized commissioning data indicative of environmental condition values and electrical characteristics values monitored at the at least two pieces of electrical equipment in the electrical system.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to compare time-synchronized commissioning data for the at least two pieces of electrical equipment relative to defined pass/fail criteria comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to compare time-synchronized commissioning data indicative of one or more environmental condition values for each of the least two pieces of electrical equipment relative to pass/fail criteria.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to compare time-synchronized commissioning data for the at least two pieces of electrical equipment relative to defined pass/fail criteria comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to compare time-synchronized commissioning data indicative of one or more electrical characteristic values for each of the at least two pieces of electrical equipment relative to the pass/fail criteria.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, further comprising the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to receive input indicating that further time-synchronized commissioning data is to be collected based on the generated report.

### Claim 14 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to forecast the likelihood of the electrical system operating as intended in the production environment based on the comparison comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to forecast the likelihood of the electrical system providing a stable power source for servers installed at a data center.

### Claim 15

A device for monitoring characteristics associated with a piece of electrical equipment in an electrical system, the device comprising:
one or more hardware processors;
system memory coupled to the one or more hardware processors, the system memory storing instructions that are executable by the one or more hardware processors;
network hardware from communicating with a commissioning center computer system over a computer network;
one or more sensors for sensing characteristics associated with the piece of electrical equipment;
a clock; and
the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to collect time-synchronized commissioning data for the piece of electrical equipment, including the following:
receive a local timing signal from the commissioning center computer system over a computer network, the local timing signal instructing the monitoring device to synchronize the clock to a specified time
synchronize the clock with clocks at one or more other devices monitoring pieces of the electrical equipment in the electrical system;
synchronize the clock to a first specified time based on the local timing signal;
receive a command from the commissioning center computer system over the computer network, the command instructing the device to monitor one or more characteristics associated with operation of the piece of electrical equipment at a second specified time, the second specified time after the first specified time;
monitor the piece of electrical equipment with the sensors when the clock indicates the second specified time to sense values for each of the one or more characteristics associated with operation of the piece of electrical equipment;
transform the sensed values into time-synchronized commissioning data, the time-synchronized commissioning data indicative of the sensed values and that the second values were sensed at the second specified time;
send the time-synchronized commissioning data to the commissioning center computer system for use in analysis and reporting to determine the likelihood of the electrical system operating as intended when released into production.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The device of claim 15, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to monitor the piece of electrical equipment comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to sense values for an environmental characteristic associated with the piece of electrical equipment.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The device of claim 15, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to monitor the piece of electrical equipment comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to sensed values for an electrical characteristic associated with the piece of electrical equipment.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The device of claim 17, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to transform the sensed values into time-synchronized commissioning data comprises the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to transform the sensed values for the electrical characteristic into time-synchronized commissioning data.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send the time-synchronized commissioning data to the commissioning center computer system comprises the one or more wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send the time-synchronized commissioning data to the commissioning center computer system to assist with identifying an electrical transient condition in the electrical system.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send the time-synchronized commissioning data to the commissioning center computer system comprises the one or more wherein the one or more hardware processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to send the time-synchronized commissioning data to the commissioning center computer system to assist with identifying an electrical harmonic in the electrical system.