Provided are a method and apparatus for system self-recovery. Specifically, a power meter employs a method in which a processor monitors the status of threads running in the power meter. The threads include at least one critical thread for measuring electricity usage at a metering point and at least one noncritical thread for other auxiliary functions. The Power meter can reboot if the status received from the threads indicates that a critical thread among the at least one critical thread works abnormally, and can restart the noncritical thread if the status received from the threads indicates that a noncritical thread among the at least one noncritical thread works abnormally.

Systems and methods are disclosed for detecting node outages in a mesh network. A tracking node in the mesh network detects a set of signals originating from a tracked node in the mesh network. The set of signals includes beacons and communication messages transmitted by the tracked node. The tracking node determines that a threshold number of the alive beacon intervals have passed since receiving a most recent signal from the tracked node. The tracking node then outputs a ping to the tracked node requesting a response to the ping. When the response to the ping is not received from the tracked node, the tracking node transmits an outage alarm message to a next topologically higher layer of the mesh network, the outage alarm message comprising an identification of the tracked node.

A method of detecting a fault in a device is described. The method comprises receiving an energy consumption signal for the device, the energy consumption signal indicating a varying energy consumption of the device over time during operation of the device. A basis function is selected, the basis function defining a signal pattern associated with a known fault type. A correlation between the basis function and the energy consumption signal is evaluated. Presence of an operating fault in the device is determined in dependence on the correlation, and an output is generated based on the determination.

Described herein are methods and systems for detection and notification of electrical power outages and power quality. A sensor coupled to a circuit transmits a keepalive packet to a server. The sensor detects an input signal generated by electrical activity. The sensor generates an output signal based upon the input signal. The sensor monitors the output signal. During a clock cycle, the sensor determines whether a rising edge occurred and transmits a fault packet to the server when the rising edge occurred prior to a predetermined clock value or when no rising edge occurred. The server receives the fault packet from the sensor and listens for keepalive packets. The server transmits a power outage notification when no keepalive packets are received for at least a defined time period after the fault packet is received. The server transmits a power restoration notification when one or more keepalive packets are subsequently received.

Systems and methods are disclosed for detecting node outages in a mesh network. A tracking node in the mesh network detects a set of signals originating from a tracked node in the mesh network. The set of signals includes beacons and communication messages transmitted by the tracked node. The tracking node determines that a threshold number of the alive beacon intervals have passed since receiving a most recent signal from the tracked node. The tracking node then outputs a ping to the tracked node requesting a response to the ping. When the response to the ping is not received from the tracked node, the tracking node transmits an outage alarm message to a next topologically higher layer of the mesh network, the outage alarm message comprising an identification of the tracked node.

Systems and methods are disclosed for detecting and reporting node power outages in a connected network. A node in the network detects that a power outage has occurred at the node and the node generates a last gasp packet using a packet format containing fewer data units than a regular packet format used by the network for communication. The node broadcasts the last gasp packet to its neighboring nodes. After receiving the last gasp packet, a neighboring node estimates the time of the power outage and converts the last gasp packet into an outage alarm message using the regular packet format. The neighboring node transmits the outage alarm message to a headend system to report the power outage at the node.

Certain aspects and features include a system and method for energy measurement in electric meter systems. In an example, an electric meter receives an Alternating Current (A/C) signal. The electric meter includes a current measurement device that is configured to obtain a current measurement of a current of the A/C signal. The current measurement includes a fundamental frequency component and a noise component. The electric meter receives a current measurement signal from the current measurement device and filters the noise component from the current measurement, thereby creating a filtered current measurement signal. When the filtered current measurement signal is greater than a starting current threshold, the electric meter calculates an energy consumption measurement.

An electrical meter including a housing including a socket interface operable to connect to a facility. The meter further including a sensor configured to sense a characteristic of the electrical meter. The meter further including a controller having an electronic processor and a memory. The electronic processor is configured to receive, from the sensor, a signal indicative of the electrical characteristic, determine, based on the signal, presence of a hot socket, and output an alert based on determining presence of the hot socket.

The present general inventive concept is directed to a signal generation system, device, and method for meter testing, including a digital signal generator to generate an arbitrary digital test signal, a digital-to-analog converter to convert the arbitrary digital test signal to an analog test signal, a signal converter to convert the analog test signal to a differential pair of signals corresponding to the analog test signal, and a power signal generator including: an input module to receive the differential pair of signals; an amplifier to amplify the differential pair of test signals; and an output module to output an output differential pair of signals to a load, to feed back a proportional representation of the output differential pair of signals to the input module, and to receive the amplified differential pair of signals from the amplifier.

Devices, methods, systems, and computer-readable media for power metering are described herein. One or more embodiments include a power metering device, comprising a number of sensors configured to output pulses corresponding to a quantity of power consumed over a period of time, a first module configured to receive the pulses from the number of sensors, and meter power consumption using the output pulses. In addition the power metering device includes a second module configured to communicate with the number of sensors using a plurality of communication protocols.