Power system including a circuit providing smart zone selective interlocking communication

A power system comprising:

• a plurality of main circuit interrupters, each of said main circuit interrupters including:
• a line input,
• a load output, and
• a zone selective interlocking input;
• a number of tie circuit interrupters, at least one of said number of tie circuit interrupters including:
• a first terminal electrically connected to the load output of a first one of said main circuit interrupters,
• a second terminal electrically connected to the load output of a different second one of said main circuit interrupters,
• separable contacts electrically connected between said first terminal and said second terminal, said separable contacts having an open state and a closed state,
• a zone selective interlocking input, and
• a zone selective interlocking output;
• a plurality of feeder circuit interrupters, each of said feeder circuit interrupters including:
• a line input electrically connected to the load output of one of said main circuit interrupters,
• a load output, and
• a zone selective interlocking output;
• and
• a circuit structured to block communication, at least when said at least one of said number of tie circuit interrupters has the open state, of the zone selective interlocking output of one of the feeder circuit interrupters having the line input electrically connected to the load output of said first one of said main circuit interrupters to the zone selective interlocking input of said different second one of said main circuit interrupters, and of the zone selective interlocking output of a different one of the feeder circuit interrupters having the line input electrically connected to the load output of said different second one of said main circuit interrupters to the zone selective interlocking input of said first one of said main circuit interrupters.