Patent ID: 8665061
Filing Date: 2014-03-04
Classification: G01D,G01R,G06F,G06Q,H04L,Y02B,Y04S

Abstract:
1. An intelligent electronic device (IED), comprising: a metering module configured for measuring or calculating parameters of waveforms of voltages and currents of an electrical power distribution system; a processing module configured for processing data obtained using the metering module and administering operational features of the IED; a user interface module configured for displaying data and configuration settings of the IED; and a user authentication module configured for authenticating an authorized user of the IED and preventing an access by non-authorized personnel to a portion of the operational features of the IED, wherein the user authentication module includes a biometric sensor disposed on a front panel of the IED, the biometric sensor configured to acquire a first piece of user authenticating information, and wherein the user authentication module further includes a keypad or a touch-screen display disposed on the front panel of the IED, the keypad or touch-screen display configured to acquire a second piece of user authenticating information; wherein the user authentication module grants the authorized user access to the portion of the operational features of the IED after the first and second pieces of user authenticating information have been verified; and wherein the user authentication module grants the authorized user access to the portion of the operational features of the IED for a duration of a pre-determined time interval.