KR20220066708A - System for providing power supply service for cost saving based on Time of Use (TOU) and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for providing a cost-saving power supply service based on a time-of-use rate plan. The system includes: a service server generating a transaction by signing a smart contract including service details to be provided to a user device with a service private key and transmitting the generated transaction to a blockchain network; and node devices forming the blockchain network. Here, a node device that is one of the node devices and has succeeded in mining extracts the smart contract from the transaction, generates a block including the extracted smart contract, and propagates the generated block to the node devices. The node devices verify the block and connect the block to the blockchain when the verification is successful.

Description

System for providing power supply service for cost saving based on Time of Use (TOU) and method therefor

The present invention relates to a power supply service technology, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on TOU (Time-of-Use) data indicating a time-based rate plan it's about

Time-of-use (TOU) applies a high rate to seasons when power consumption is rapidly increasing, for example, summer and winter, and times when power consumption is sharp, for example, peak load time, and relatively low power consumption. It is a system in which low rates are applied in light seasons, such as spring and autumn, and during periods of relatively low power consumption, such as light and medium loads.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Patent No. 2020-0082123 published on July 08, 2020 (Title: Power management system performing peak reduction function and TOU function and operating method thereof)

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan and a method therefor.

A method for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-of-use (TOU) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is a service server using a user device The step of creating a transaction by signing a smart contract including the service details to be provided with the service private key, and transmitting the generated transaction to a blockchain network, and a node device that has succeeded in mining among a plurality of node devices belonging to the blockchain network extracting a smart contract from the transaction and generating a block including the extracted smart contract; and the node device successfully mining propagating the generated block to the plurality of node devices; The device verifies the block, and if the verification is successful, connecting the block to the blockchain.

The smart contract includes at least the service details selected by the user and the access address of the energy storage device encrypted using the user's public key as the private key.

The method includes the steps of, after the step of linking the blocks, transmitting, by the node device that has succeeded in mining, a completion notification message indicating that the smart contract has been stored to the service server specified from the smart contract; By activating the corresponding energy storage device according to the contract, the activated energy storage device receives and stores power from the power grid in the light load time or the heavy load time of the user's load based on the hourly rate plan according to the service details. further comprising steps.

The method includes the steps of: sending, by the node device, which has succeeded in mining, that a service has started to the user device specified from the smart contract, and sending a service notification message including an access address for a block in which the smart contract is stored; A step of accessing the smart contract through the access address for the block in which the smart contract is stored and reading the access address of the encrypted energy storage device using the user public key as the private key; detecting an access address of a storage device; and, by the user device, requesting power stored in a corresponding energy storage device according to the detected access address of the energy storage device; The method further includes providing the stored power to the user-side load at the time of day.

In the method, before the step of transmitting the transaction to the block chain network, the user device includes TOU data including the user's load for each time period and the time period usage fee, and provides a smart contract requesting power supply service to the service. Transmitting to a server, the service server generating at least one service detail that can be provided based on the TOU data of the smart contract, and transmitting the smart contract to which the generated service detail is added to the user device; , transmitting, by the user device, a service selected by the user, a smart contract to which a user public key is added, and a service selected by the user, the contents of finally agreeing to purchase the selected service, to the service server; The method further includes encrypting the access address of the energy storage device using the secret key, and adding the encrypted access address of the energy storage device to the smart contract.

A system for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-of-use (TOU) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a user device with A service server that generates a transaction by signing a smart contract including service details with a service private key, and transmits the generated transaction to a blockchain network, and a plurality of node devices forming the blockchain network. Here, among the plurality of node devices, a node device that has succeeded in mining extracts a smart contract from the transaction to generate a block including the extracted smart contract, and propagates the generated block to the plurality of node devices, and The node device of validates the block, and if the verification is successful, it connects the block to the block chain.

The smart contract includes at least the service details selected by the user and the access address of the energy storage device encrypted using the user's public key as the private key.

After the node device, which has succeeded in mining, connects the block, when a completion notification message notifying that the smart contract has been stored is transmitted to the service server specified from the smart contract, the service server responds according to the smart contract. It is characterized in that by activating the energy storage device, the activated energy storage device receives and stores power from the power grid in the light load time or the heavy load time of the user's load based on the time-based rate plan according to the service details.

When the node device that has succeeded in mining notifies that the service has started to the user device specified from the smart contract and transmits a service notification message including an access address to the block in which the smart contract is stored,

The user device accesses the smart contract through the access address for the block in which the smart contract is stored, reads the access address of the encrypted energy storage device using the user public key as the private key, and the user device performs decryption with the user private key to detect the access address of the energy storage device, and the user device requests the stored power to the corresponding energy storage device according to the detected access address of the energy storage device. Accordingly, the energy storage device is characterized in that the power stored in the light load or heavy load time period is provided to the user-side load.

Before transmitting the transaction to the blockchain network, when the user device transmits the smart contract requesting the power supply service including TOU data including the time-hourly electricity usage amount and time-hourly usage fee of the user's load to the service server, , the service server generates at least one service detail that can be provided based on the TOU data of the smart contract, and transmits the smart contract to which the generated service detail is added to the user device.

When the user device transmits to the service server the service selected by the user in response to the smart contract to which the generated service details are added, the smart contract to which the user's public key is added and the service selected by the user to finally approve the purchase of the selected service , the service server encrypts the access address of the energy storage device using the user public key as a secret key, and adds the encrypted energy storage device access address to the smart contract.

The power supply service according to the present invention may provide a service that enables a user to save usage charges by using an energy storage device. Moreover, since the contract process and contract details are all stored in the block chain through the smart contract for these services, the more blocks are accumulated, the more difficult it is to forge or falsify the service contents recorded in the blocks, and the reliability of the service contents recorded in each block is improved. . Moreover, since the path to access the energy storage device through the smart contract is encrypted and stored, confidentiality of the important contents of the contract is maintained.

1 is a view for explaining a system for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram for explaining a method of executing a smart contract for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view for explaining a method for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram for explaining a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Prior to the detailed description of the present invention, the terms or words used in the present specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventors should develop their own inventions in the best way. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be appropriately defined as a concept of a term for explanation. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all the technical spirit of the present invention, so various equivalents that can be substituted for them at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be water and variations.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this case, it should be noted that in the accompanying drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted. For the same reason, some components are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the size of each component does not fully reflect the actual size.

First, a system for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a view for explaining a system for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , a system (hereinafter, abbreviated as 'power supply system') for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate system according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, abbreviated as 'power supply system') is a power grid 10, centralized Device 20, watt-hour meter 30, energy storage device 40, user device 100, service server 200, authentication server 300, and a plurality of node devices 400: 400-1 to 400-k) includes

The power transmission network 10 collectively refers to all entities constituting a network that transmits power generated in a power plant. Preferably, the power transmission network 10 may be a smart grid system.

The concentrator 20 receives the meter reading data from the watt-hour meter 30 installed in various loads including the user-side load (UL) and transmits it to the power grid 10 , and the meter reading data from the power grid 10 to the corresponding watt-hour meter 30 . Transmits TOU data according to the time-based rate plan in response to the strategic usage by time of day. In an embodiment of the present invention, the TOU data includes the time-based power consumption and time-based usage rate of the user-side load (UL).

The watt-hour meter 30 generates meter-reading data by reading the amount of electricity used by the user-side load (UL), provides the meter-reading data to the concentrator 20 , and responds to the power consumption by time of the meter-reading data from the concentrator 20 . to receive TOU data including time-based usage charges.

The energy storage device 40 is to store power supplied from the power grid 10 to the user-side load UL during a light load or heavy load time period, and supply it to the user-side load UL during a high load or maximum load time period. That is, the power supply service according to the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a service that enables a user to save a usage fee by using the energy storage device 40 .

The user device 100 is a device used by a user, and the service server 200 is a device used by a service provider that provides a power supply service for cost saving. Also, the authentication server 300 is a device used by a certification authority. The node device 400 is a device used by a large number of unspecified users participating in the blockchain network according to the implementation of the present invention. The user device 100 , the service server 200 , the authentication server 300 , and the node device 400 all perform a computing operation and may be a device having a communication function.

Therefore, the user device 100 , the service server 200 , the authentication server 300 , and the node device 400 may be any device as long as it performs a computing operation and communicates through a network. The user device 100, the service server 200, the authentication server 300 and the node device 400 are all information and communication devices, multimedia terminals, wired terminals, fixed terminals, and various terminals such as IP (Internet Protocol) terminals. can be applied. As a more specific example, the user device 100 , the service server 200 , the authentication server 300 and the node device 400 are a personal computer, a laptop computer, a multiprocessor system, a network PC, a minicomputer, a mainframe computer, and a handheld device. A device, a mobile phone, a PDA, a mobile phone, a portable multimedia player (PMP), a mobile Internet device (MID), a smart phone, a tablet, a phablet, a notebook computer, etc. may be exemplified.

The user device 100 , the service server 200 , the authentication server 300 , and the node device 400 may be connected to each other through a network. According to one embodiment of the present invention, both local and remote computer systems linked through a network by a wired data link, a wireless data link, or a combination of wired and wireless data links may run in a distributed system environment to perform tasks. . In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in local and remote memory storage devices.

According to another embodiment, the network may include a wireless communication network such as Wireless LAN (WLAN), Wi-Fi, Wibro, Wimax, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), and the like, and the system Depending on the implementation method, it may include a wired communication network such as Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, VDSL), HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable), FTTC (Fiber to The Curb), and FTTH (Fiber To The Home). In addition, the network of the present invention may include, for example, a mobile communication network including a plurality of access networks (not shown) and a core network (not shown) connecting them. Here, the access network is a network that performs wireless communication by directly connecting with the terminal, for example, a plurality of base stations such as BS (Base Station), BTS (Base Transceiver Station), NodeB, eNodeB, and BSC (Base Station Controller) , may be implemented as a base station controller such as a radio network controller (RNC). In addition, as described above, the digital signal processing unit and the wireless signal processing unit that were integrally implemented in the base station are divided into digital units (Digital Unit, hereinafter referred to as DU and radio unit, hereinafter referred to as RU), respectively, A plurality of RUs (not shown) may be installed in a plurality of areas, respectively, and a plurality of RUs may be connected to a centralized DU to form a core network (not shown) constituting a mobile network together with an access network. It plays a role of connecting other communication networks such as an external network, for example, the Internet network, etc. As described above, the core network is a network system that performs main functions for mobile communication services such as mobility control and switching between access networks, It performs circuit switching or packet switching, and manages and controls packet flow in the mobile network, and the core network manages inter-frequency mobility, access networks and traffic and other traffic in the core network. It may also play a role for interworking with a network, for example, an Internet network, such as a Serving GateWay (SGW), a PDN GateWay (PGW), a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), a Home Location Register (HLR), and a Mobile Mobility Entity) and HSS (Home Subscriber Server) may be configured to further include, etc. In addition, the network according to the present invention may include an Internet network. The Internet network is a general network in which information is exchanged according to the TCP/IP protocol. of the public network, that is, the public network.

Next, a method for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method of executing a smart contract for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention. And FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method for providing a power supply service for cost saving based on a time-based rate plan according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 2 , the user device 100 continuously accumulates and stores TOU data from the watt-hour meter 30 in step S100 . In an embodiment of the present invention, the TOU data includes the time-based power consumption and time-based usage rate of the user-side load (UL).

Meanwhile, the service server 200 requests the authentication server 300 for itself, that is, the service authentication key, which is the authentication key of the service server 200 in step S110. The service authentication key includes a service public key (Public Key) and a service private key (Private Key). Then, the authentication server 300 generates a service authentication key requested by the service server 200 in step S120 , and issues it to the service server 200 .

According to the user's operation, the user device 100 requests the user authentication key, which is the user's authentication key, in step S130. The user authentication key includes a user public key and a user private key. Then, the authentication server 300 generates a user authentication key requested by the user device 100 in step S140 , and issues it to the user device 100 .

On the other hand, the user device 100 generates a smart contract (Offer-TOU) that includes the TOU data accumulated and stored earlier in step S150 and requests a power supply service, and transmits the generated smart contract to the service server 200 . .

The service server 200 receiving the smart contract (Offer-TOU) generates at least one service detail that can be provided based on the TOU data of the smart contract in step S160. Here, service details (details) are calculated according to the time-hourly electricity usage and time-hourly usage fee of TOU data, and each service detail (details) is the capacity of the energy storage device 40 that can be rented, rental fee, and savings compared to commercial power includes the fee Then, the service server 200 transmits the smart contract (counter offer- service details) to which at least one service detail is added to the user device 100 in step S170 .

The user device 100 that has received the smart contract (counter offer- service details) displays the service details included in the smart contract (counter offer- service details) so that the user can view it. Accordingly, when any one of the service details included in the smart contract (counter offer-details) is selected according to the operation of the user who reads the service details, the user device 100 is The selected service, the content for finally accepting the purchase of the selected service, and a smart contract to which a user public key is added (acceptance-service-user public key) are transmitted to the service server 200 .

The service server 200 receiving the smart contract (acceptance-service-user public key) generates a transaction including the smart contract in step S190. At this time, the service server 200 encrypts the access address of the energy storage device 40 using the user public key as a secret key, and adds the encrypted access address of the energy storage device 40 to the smart contract. . Next, the service server 200 digitally signs the smart contract to which the access address of the encrypted energy storage device 40 is added with a service private key to generate a transaction. The service server 200 encrypts the hash value of the smart contract with the service private key and adds it to the smart contract to generate a transaction. Then, the service server 200 transmits the transaction including the smart contract in step S200 to the blockchain network (BCNT) in which the plurality of node devices 400 are connected in a P2P manner.

Referring to FIG. 3 , among the plurality of node devices 400 ( 501 to 50N) belonging to the network BCNT, the node device 400 (eg, 400-1) that first received the transaction has a service public key (service public key) in step S210. key) to decrypt the signature file of the transaction to detect the smart contract. The service public key may be transmitted by the service server 200 by being included in the transaction, or may be shared with a plurality of node devices 400 (400-1 to 400-k) belonging to the network.

Next, the node device 400 (eg, 400-1) that first received the transaction propagates the transaction throughout the network BCNT in step S220. When such a transaction is propagated, other node devices 400 (400-2 to 400-k) belonging to the network receiving the transaction may also detect the smart contract in the same manner. Also, the corresponding transaction may be recorded in a temporary pool. This temporary pool is a place where transaction data is temporarily stored before transaction data is written to a block.

Next, if any one of the plurality of node devices (400: for example, 400-2) succeeds in mining, the node device (400: for example, 400-2) that has succeeded in mining is performed according to the smart contract. A block is created in step S230. Since the plurality of node devices 400 are unauthenticated and unspecified nodes, legitimacy for block generation must be verified. The proof-of-work algorithm is one of the consensus algorithms to prove legitimacy, and the specific operation is as follows. Each of the plurality of node devices 400 randomly substitutes a hash value, and provides a computing cost corresponding to the process performed regardless of the cost in the process of finding a nonce that satisfies a given target hash value, The legitimacy of the node device 400 is verified based on the computing cost. Accordingly, the node device 400 that has found a nonce that satisfies the target hash value, that is, the node device 400 (eg, 400-2) that has succeeded in mining may generate a block. At this time, the block includes the access address of the energy storage device 40 encrypted by using at least the service details and the user public key selected by the user as the secret key according to the block generation rule of the smart contract. The contract is saved. After generating the block, the node device 400 (eg, 400-2) that has succeeded in mining propagates the previously generated block to the network BCNT in step S240. Then, the plurality of node devices 400 belonging to the network (BCNT) verify the block in step S250, and if the verification is successful, connect the block to the existing block chain.

After the block chain is connected, the node device 400 (eg, 400-2) that has succeeded in mining transmits a completion notification message indicating that the smart contract has been stored to the service server 200 specified from the smart contract in step S260.

Upon receiving the completion notification, the service server 200 activates the corresponding energy storage device 40 according to the smart contract in step S270 and selects a Time-of-Use (TOU) plan according to service details. Based on the control, the energy storage device 40 receives and stores power from the power grid 10 in the light load time or the heavy load time of the user side load (UL).

On the other hand, the node device 400 (eg, 400-2) that has succeeded in mining transmits a service notification message notifying that the service has started to the user device 100 specified in the smart contract in step S280. This service notification message includes an access address for the block in which the corresponding smart contract is stored.

Upon receiving the service notification message, the user device 100 accesses the smart contract through the access address for the block in which the smart contract is stored in step S290, reads the smart contract, and encrypts the user public key as the private key. The access address of the energy storage device 40 is read. Then, the user device 100 detects the access address of the energy storage device 40 by performing decryption with the user private key, and at the access address of the energy storage device 40 detected in step S300 Accordingly, the power stored in the corresponding energy storage device 40 is requested. Then, in response to such a request, the energy storage device 40 may provide pre-stored power, that is, power stored in the light load or heavy load time period, to the user-side load UL. Accordingly, the user-side load UL may use the stored power according to the charge of the light load or the heavy load.

4 is a diagram for explaining a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computing device TN100 of FIG. 4 includes the devices described herein (eg, the user device 100, the service server 200, the authentication server 300, and the plurality of node devices 400: 400-1 to 400-k). ), etc.) may be.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the computing device TN100 may include at least one processor TN110 , a transceiver device TN120 , and a memory TN130 . In addition, the computing device TN100 may further include a storage device TN140 , an input interface device TN150 , an output interface device TN160 , and the like. Components included in the computing device TN100 may be connected by a bus TN170 to communicate with each other.

The processor TN110 may execute a program command stored in at least one of the memory TN130 and the storage device TN140. The processor TN110 may mean a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to an embodiment of the present invention are performed. The processor TN110 may be configured to implement procedures, functions, and methods described in connection with an embodiment of the present invention. The processor TN110 may control each component of the computing device TN100.

Each of the memory TN130 and the storage device TN140 may store various information related to the operation of the processor TN110. Each of the memory TN130 and the storage device TN140 may be configured as at least one of a volatile storage medium and a nonvolatile storage medium. For example, the memory TN130 may include at least one of a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM).

The transceiver TN120 may transmit or receive a wired signal or a wireless signal. The transceiver TN120 may be connected to a network to perform communication.

On the other hand, the methods according to the embodiment of the present invention described above may be implemented in the form of a program readable by various computer means and recorded in a computer readable recording medium. Here, the recording medium may include a program command, a data file, a data structure, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. For example, the recording medium includes magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magneto-optical media such as floppy disks ( magneto-optical media), and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions may include not only machine language wires such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language wires that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. Such hardware devices may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

Although the present invention has been described above using several preferred embodiments, these examples are illustrative and not restrictive. As such, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that various changes and modifications can be made in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents without departing from the spirit of the present invention and the scope of rights set forth in the appended claims.

10: power grid
20: Concentrator
30: watt-hour meter
40: energy storage device
100: user device
200: service server
300: authentication server
400: node device

Claims (6)

In the method for providing power supply service for cost saving based on time-of-use (TOU),
The service server signing the smart contract including the service details to be provided to the user device with the service private key to generate a transaction, and transmitting the generated transaction to the block chain network;
generating a block including the extracted smart contract by extracting a smart contract from the transaction by a node device that has succeeded in mining among a plurality of node devices belonging to the block chain network;
propagating, by the node device, which has succeeded in mining, the generated block to the plurality of node devices; and
The plurality of node devices verify the block, and if the verification is successful, connecting the block to the block chain; characterized in that it comprises
A method for providing power supply services. The method of claim 1,
The smart contract
At least the service details selected by the user and
The access address of the encrypted energy storage device using the user's public key as the private key
characterized in that it comprises
A method for providing power supply services. 3. The method of claim 2,
After connecting the blocks,
transmitting, by the node device that has succeeded in mining, a completion notification message indicating that the smart contract has been stored to the service server specified from the smart contract; and
The service server activates the corresponding energy storage device according to the smart contract, and the activated energy storage device receives power from the power grid in the light or heavy load time of the user's load based on the time-based rate plan according to the service details. controlling to receive and store the supply;
characterized in that it further comprises
A method for providing power supply services. 4. The method of claim 3,
transmitting, by the node device that has succeeded in mining, that a service has started to the user device specified from the smart contract, and sending a service notification message including an access address to the block in which the smart contract is stored; and
reading, by the user device, the access address of the encrypted energy storage device by accessing the smart contract through the access address for the block in which the smart contract is stored and using the user public key as a private key;
detecting, by the user device, an access address of the energy storage device by performing decryption with the user's private key;
requesting, by the user device, stored power to a corresponding energy storage device according to the detected access address of the energy storage device; and
providing, by the energy storage device, the power stored in the light load or heavy load time period to a user-side load;
characterized in that it further comprises
A method for providing power supply services. The method of claim 1,
Before sending the transaction to the blockchain network,
transmitting, by the user device, a smart contract for requesting a power supply service including TOU data including time-specific power usage amount and time-hourly usage fee of the user-side load to the service server;
generating, by the service server, at least one service detail that can be provided based on the TOU data of the smart contract, and transmitting a smart contract to which the generated service detail is added to the user device;
transmitting, by the user device, a service selected by the user, a smart contract to which a user's public key is added and a content for finally accepting purchase of the selected service to the service server; and
encrypting, by the service server, an access address of an energy storage device using the user public key as a private key, and adding the encrypted access address of the energy storage device to the smart contract;
characterized in that it further comprises
A method for providing power supply services. In the system for providing power supply service for cost saving based on time-of-use (TOU),
a service server that generates a transaction by signing a smart contract including the service details to be provided to the user device with the service private key, and transmits the generated transaction to the block chain network; and
a plurality of node devices forming the block chain network;
includes,
A node device that has succeeded in mining among the plurality of node devices extracts a smart contract from the transaction, generates a block including the extracted smart contract, and propagates the generated block to the plurality of node devices,
The plurality of node devices verify the block, and if the verification is successful, the block is connected to the block chain
A system for providing power supply services.

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