A FLOATING-WINDOW ALGORITHM FOR DETECTING CERTAIN POWER-LINE FAULTS THAT DISRUPT SENSITIVE ELECTRONIC LOADS

Alternating current (ac) power is generally distributed in a voltage waveform that closely approximates a sinusoidal function with respect to time. Sensitive electronic loads, including computers and medical equipment, may be disrupted by substantial deviations from this sine wave approximation. A floating-window algorithm is described which performs a triggering function that detects changes in the voltage waveform which may disrupt sensitive electronic loads. This triggering function may be used to capture digitally sampled power line disturbances so their cause may be identified and corrected. (The algorithm may have other applications where deviation from a repetitive waveform must be detected, such as electrocardiograms.) © 1990 IEEE