Autonomous Tie Breaker

Abstract

An autonomous breaker can apply a current through a high impedance source to a bus coupled to either end of a breaker in order to measure an impedance of the bus. The status of the bus can be determined from the measurement. Based on the determined status, a fault detection procedure can be selected and implemented to determine if a fault exists on the bus. When the fault detection procedure has been implemented and no fault has been detected, the breaker can close, and thus couple the bus to another bus.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining, by a breaker coupled between a first bus and a second bus, that the first bus is over-loaded; and   closing the breaker in response to the determination that the first bus is over-loaded, thereby coupling the first bus to the second bus,   wherein the second bus is coupled to an AC power source.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, by the breaker, that the first bus is under-loaded; and   opening the breaker in response to the determination that the first bus is under-loaded, thereby decoupling the first bus from the second bus.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of determining, by the breaker, that the first bus is under-loaded, comprises detecting, by the breaker, a variation in a frequency of power on the first bus indicating that the first bus is under-loaded. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein coupling the first bus to the second bus removes the over-load. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining comprises detecting, by the breaker, a variation in a frequency of power on the first bus indicating that the first bus is over-loaded. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining that there is no fault on the first bus prior to coupling the first bus to the second bus. 
     
     
         7 . A method, comprising:
 determining, by a breaker coupled between a first bus and a second bus, that the first bus is under-loaded; and   opening the breaker in response to the determination that the first bus is under-loaded, thereby decoupling the first bus from the second bus,   wherein the second bus is coupled to an AC power source.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 determining, by the breaker, that the first bus is over-loaded; and   closing the breaker, in response to the determination that the first bus is over-loaded, thereby coupling the first bus to the second bus.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining, by the breaker, that there is no fault on the first bus prior to coupling the first bus to the second bus. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the step of determining, by the breaker, that the first bus is over-loaded, comprises detecting, by the breaker, a variation in a frequency of power on the first bus indicating that the first bus is over-loaded. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein decoupling the first bus from the second bus by opening the breaker removes the under-load. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the step of determining comprises detecting, by the breaker, a variation in a frequency of power on the first bus indicating that the first bus is under-loaded. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a breaker coupled between a first bus and a second bus; and   an AC power source coupled to the second bus;   wherein the breaker comprises a controller configured to:
 determine that the first bus is over-loaded; and 
 close in response to the determination that the first bus is over-loaded, thereby coupling the first bus to the second bus. 
   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine that the first bus is under-loaded; and   open in response to the determination that the first bus is under-loaded, thereby decoupling the first bus from the second bus.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein opening, in response to the determination that the first bus is under-loaded removes the under-load from the first bus. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine that there is not fault on the first bus prior to closing in response to the determination that the first bus is over-loaded. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , in which the breaker is an autonomous breaker. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , in which the breaker further comprises a sensor for monitoring a frequency of power on the first bus. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein determining that the first bus is over-loaded comprises detecting a variation in a frequency of power on the first bus with the sensor indicating that the first bus is over-loaded.