Abstract:
An infrastructure assessment system integrates with a smart grid infrastructure at all layers of the infrastructure. Data may be collected across layers. Performance metrics may be monitored and simulations may be performed. Action items may be decided upon based on actual behavior of the infrastructure determined from the collected data and on predicted behavior from simulations of the infrastructure. The action items may then be dispatched to be performed on the infrastructure. The effect of the management actions can then be “acquired” by the system via detailed monitoring and can be used, for example, to measure the effectiveness of the decisions or recalibration of the whole system.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. 
         [0002]    The term “smart grid” is often used to refer technology that utility companies use to monitor and control the delivery and production/consumption of a resource such as electricity, gas, water, etc., using computer-based remote control and automation. The smart grid is empowered by information technology (IT) tools for monitoring and control. The smart grid envisions several sophisticated services, which heavily depend on near real-time monitoring of the assets and functionality they provide. However, we still face several problems when it comes down to assessment of the infrastructure, not to mention estimation of behavior. Today it is very difficult to: (i) anticipate the requirements for all of its layers e.g., of a smart metering deployment needed in hardware and software; and (ii) modify, on the fly, the infrastructure to guarantee envisioned constraints such as performance or quality of service (QoS). The smart grid promises a more versatile and intelligent network of collaborating actors that will eventually lead to better utilization of its resources in order to achieve goals such as energy efficiency. The smart grid is a cyber-physical system (CPS) that depends on IT and has spawned several traditional domains and (business) processes (e.g. industrial automation, smart metering, etc.) in an effort to deliver an optimized critical energy infrastructure and auxiliary services. 
         [0003]    As users in the smart grid era will be able to not only consume but also produce energy (referred to as “prosumers”), the dynamics and complexity of the system increases. Information and communication technologies may be employed to provide insight to the prosumer&#39;s current and future activities that is not possible in the conventional grid. In the future, devices may no longer be single role devices that either only consume energy (e.g., a home appliance) or only produce energy (e.g., a photovoltaic panel), but rather will have interchangeable dual roles of energy consumer and energy producer, and hence the term “prosumer devices.” A typical example of a prosumer device is the electric car, which consumes electricity when driven, and produces electricity that is stored when braking. A commonly described usage scenario involves a fleet of electric cars. While the cars are being driven or charged, they can be viewed as “consuming” energy. However, if the need arises, they can feed the energy stored in their batteries to the grid as providers. 
         [0004]    As energy monitoring and management systems become increasingly integrated with enterprise systems, enterprise services will integrate information coming from highly distributed smart metering points in near real-time, process it, and take appropriate decisions. The decision making process can consider prosumer-specific behavioral information either measured, assumed, or explicitly provided by the prosumer. This will give rise to a new generation of applications that depend on “real-world” services which constantly hold actualized data as they are generated. Furthermore, the integration of potential future behavior of the prosumer may enable better correlation and analytics. Such information is usually not available at all, or in the best case only acquired by local systems (e.g., a building&#39;s energy management system), and over dedicated channels and proprietary interfaces that hinder further dissemination of the information. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a high level illustration of a smart grid architecture in accordance with the present disclosure. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a system block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of an infrastructure assessment system (for monitoring and management). 
           [0007]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate alternate embodiments, showing different configurations of the cockpit module. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a process flow illustrating the role of an infrastructure assessment system in a pre-deployment scenario. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a process flow illustrating the roll of an infrastructure assessment system in an existing smart grid deployment. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  shows an example of a computer system configured according to the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]    In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous examples and specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure as defined by the claims may include some or all of the features in these examples alone or in combination with other features described below, and may further include modifications and equivalents of the features and concepts described herein. 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates an infrastructure assessment system  100  in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure integrated in a smart grid infrastructure  102 . A typical configuration of the smart grid infrastructure  102  is a three-layered hierarchical structure, similar to what is depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0013]    A prosumer device layer  122  may be viewed as producers of data within the smart grid infrastructure  102 . This layer hosts all classes of prosumer devices  132 ,  134 ,  136 , including strictly consuming devices and strictly producing devices as well as devices that consume and produce. Prosumer device  132 - 136  may be complex devices or entire systems. Prosumer devices  132 - 136  may include sufficient computing capacity and communication capability in order to communicate data (whether wirelessly or wired) to higher layers  124 ,  126  in the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Illustrative examples of strictly consuming devices include household appliances. For example, a washing machine may be able to report data to the smart grid infrastructure  102  about its electricity consumption and water consumption. An electric meter may be able to report data to the smart grid infrastructure  102  about electricity consumed by the household, and so on. An illustrative example of a prosumer device is the electric car, which consumes electricity when accelerating and produces electricity when braking. Solar cells are an example of a strictly producing device. 
         [0014]    Prosumer devices  132 - 136  may report data to the higher layers  124 ,  126  in the smart grid infrastructure  102 . The data may include resource consumption rates (e.g., electricity, water, etc.), resource production rates (e.g., electricity), and so on. The data may be communicated to an information processing layer  124  or directly to an enterprise services layer  126 . The data may be encrypted or communicated over a private or otherwise secured communication channel such as illustrated by prosumer devices  136 . Household electric smart meters, for example, typically send their data in a secured way in order to preserve the privacy of the household. A prosumer device  136  may be gateway, a mediator, or any other physical or non-physical (virtual/proxy) device. Other prosumer devices  132 ,  134  may send their data in plaintext over an open communication channel such as the Internet, or may employ some intermediate level of security. 
         [0015]    The smart grid infrastructure  102  may include an information processing layer  124  to which devices in the prosumer device layer  122  communicate.  FIG. 1 , for example, shows that devices  134 ,  136  communicate with the information processing layer  124 . The information processing layer  124  may serve as a gateway for data gathered from prosumer devices  134 ,  136 , and may serve to handle proprietary protocols, to improve performance, to perform preprocessing, to accommodate infrastructure restrictions, and so on. The information processing layer  124  may include information concentrators  142 ,  144  to facilitate communications with the prosumer devices  134 ,  136 . Concentrators  142 ,  144  may aggregate, filter, or otherwise process data collected from the prosumer devices  134 ,  136 . For example, some prosumer devices  136  may employ a proprietary communication protocol. Concentrator  144  may be configured to handle the proprietary protocol. The information concentrators  142 ,  144  may aggregate the data or perform domain-specific analytics, and so on. Collected data may be pre-filtered before being passed on higher layers in the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Other such data pre-processing functions may be performed by the information processing layer  124  depending on the requirements of the higher layers in the smart grid infrastructure  102  such as the enterprise services layer  126 . 
         [0016]    The enterprise services layer  126  may provide services to various business processes  128   a ,  128   b ,  128   c  that depend on the real-world data supported by the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Business processes  128   a ,  128   b ,  128   c  may be steps within a larger process, a set of distributed processes, and so on. A system in the enterprise services layer  126  might be a metering data unification system, for example, to provide services such as billing. The enterprise services layer  126  may receive data from the information processing layer  124 . Data may be received directly from the prosumer device layer  122  as well. The enterprise services layer  126  provides services to business processes  128   a ,  128   b ,  128   c , which may be deemed consumers of data produced in the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Services provided by the enterprise service layer  126  may be distributed over a cloud infrastructure. 
         [0017]    In accordance with principles of the present disclosure, an infrastructure assessment system  100  may be integrated into the smart grid infrastructure  102 . The infrastructure assessment system  100  may collect real-time data from the smart grid infrastructure  102 . The infrastructure assessment system  100  may assess the general health of the smart grid infrastructure  102  and deploy maintenance and other management services into the smart grid infrastructure based on its assessment. In some embodiments, the integration of the infrastructure assessment system  100  into the smart grid infrastructure  102  may include one or more communication channels  112 ,  114 ,  116 . The infrastructure assessment system  100  may collect data from the enterprise services layer  126  over communication channel  112 . Data may also be collected directly from the lower layers  124 ,  122 . For example, data collected from the information processing layer  124  (e.g., via communication channel  114 ) may provide a more granular view into the health of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Data collected directly from the prosumer devices  132 - 136  (e.g., over communication channel  116 ) may deemed as being the “raw” data that feeds into the smart grid infrastructure  102 , and thus may provide the highest resolution view of the smart grid infrastructure. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , an illustrative embodiment of an infrastructure assessment system  100  in accordance with the present disclosure may comprise several components. It is noted that the components may be interconnected in many ways and that the figure highlights only some of those connections. 
         [0019]    The infrastructure assessment system  100  may include a receiver module  202  which serves as an interface to the “data sources” in the smart grid infrastructure  102  to collect data from the smart grid infrastructure. The collected data may include data collected from the enterprise services layer  122 , the information processing layer  124 , and individual prosumer devices  132 - 136  in the prosumer devices layer  126 . In some embodiments, the receiver module  202  may comprise suitable communication facilities, both hardware and software, to enable communication with the enterprise services layer  126 , the information processing layer  124 , and the prosumer devices  132 - 136  in the prosumer device layer  122 . For example, communication with the enterprise layer  126  and the information processing layer  124  may call for a suitable Internet connection. Communications may be secured, for example HTTPS may be used over a web connection. Communication with prosumer devices  132 - 136  may require specialized hardware (e.g., radio communication equipment) and/or special software (e.g., private communication protocol, encryption, etc.), depending on the prosumer device. The data collected by the receiver module  202  may be deemed real-time data because, for example, data from the prosumer devices  132 - 136  can be collected as it is being generated. 
         [0020]    The infrastructure assessment system  100  may include a cockpit module  204 , which may serve as a direct interface for users  104  of the infrastructure assessment system. The cockpit module  204  may serves as an entry point to access the data and services provided by the infrastructure assessment system  100 . In some embodiments, the various modules in the infrastructure assessment system  100  (e.g., modules  212 ,  222 ,  224 ,  232 ,  242 ,  244 , and  256 ) may be configured to operate as separate sub-systems or processes, and thus may be viewed as independent data sources in the infrastructure assessment system. Accordingly, the cockpit  204  may be a mash-up application that combines information from these different data sources to re-present the data and offer specialized services to the user. Several different instances of the cockpit module  204  may thus be customized for different business users depending on their area of interest. For instance, an energy provider may want a cockpit mash up to monitor energy consumption on the network and get an alarm when energy consumption exceeds a limit or a device has not reported any meter readings for a specific amount of time. A maintenance user may want a cockpit mash up to monitor the performance of smart meters deployed in the smart grid infrastructure  102  and be alerted when performance levels (e.g., data reporting rate) falls below a threshold. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 2A , the cockpit module  204  may an application (e.g., a mash up) executing on a mobile device  262  such as a smart phone or a computing tablet. Data sources in the infrastructure assessment system  100  (e.g., modules  212 ,  222 ,  224 ,  232 ,  242 ,  244 , and  256 ) may be configured with suitable web services interfaces, allowing the cockpit module  204  to access their data and otherwise interact with them from the mobile device. The infrastructure assessment system  100  may thus serve as a back-end system, allowing mobile users  104 ′ to access the infrastructure assessment system from their mobile devices (e.g.,  262 ) while they are in the field. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 2B , in some embodiments, the infrastructure assessment system  100  may include a cockpit services module  204 ′, such as a web services interface, to serve as a single point of access to the data sources in the infrastructure assessment system. The cockpit module  204  in the mobile devices may interface with the cockpit services module  204 ′. In some embodiments, the cockpit service module  204 ′ may be configured to communicate with the enterprise services layer  126 , giving the enterprise services layer access to the infrastructure assessment system  100 . The enterprise services layer  126  may be allowed to configure which aspects of the smart grid infrastructure  102  should be monitored, the quality of the expected information, and so on. In addition, configurations may be customized on a per business process basis. Although the cockpit service module  204 ′ may serve as a convenient access of services, in other embodiments, the individual modules of the infrastructure assessment system  100  may provide their respective services directly to the user  104 ′ instead. 
         [0023]    Returning to  FIG. 2 , a key performance index (KPI) monitor  222  manages and monitors KPI&#39;s. KPI&#39;s represent operational metrics or parameters of the smart grid infrastructure  102  and thus may reflect how well the smart grid infrastructure is behaving. The KPI&#39;s may be used to establish a minimum level of requirements for the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Typical KPI&#39;s might include communication metrics, computation statistics, load limits and balancing, network path utilization, congestion, application logic, etc. In the case of smart metering, for instance, typical considerations may include:
       impact of security: channel vs. message encryption, firewall inspections, etc.   level of meter reading aggregation   preprocessing of meter readings at meter, concentrator or network level   impact of channel communication quality e.g. latency, packet loss, throughput, retransmission   metering data system performance (application processing, data validation, DB performance etc.)   load management/balancing   cost (including lifecycle management of software and hardware)   risk analysis, resiliency   business process constraints integration   business process design-phase integration of asset management       
 
         [0034]    A user (human user, enterprise services layer  126 ) may access services provided by the KPI monitor  222  to define the KPI&#39;s of interest. The user may define how often KPI&#39;s get updated, and so on. The KPI monitor  222  may receive incoming data collected by the receiver module  202  and update the KPI&#39;s using the collected data. In this way, the KPI monitor  222  may provide a continuous monitoring of an aspect of the health of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . 
         [0035]    A historian  212  receives data collected by the receiver module  202 , and accumulates a historical record of the collected data. In some embodiments, the historian  212  may accumulate data collected from the enterprise services layer  122 , the information processing layer  124 , and data from individual prosumer devices  132 - 136 . The historian  212  may comprise any suitable data storage and management system such as a high performance database system. The historian  212  may be accessed by other components of the infrastructure assessment system  100 . The historian  212  may provide data to external systems. For example, an auditing system (not shown) may access the historical data maintained by the historian  212  to conduct audits of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . 
         [0036]    The collected data may be subject to various analytics. The monitoring of KPI&#39;s by the KPI monitor  222  may include computations performed on the incoming data received by the receiver module  202 . An analytics module  224  may provide a suite of analytical tools to allow a user to define a broader range of analyses on the data collected by the receiver module  202 . The analytics module  224  may perform the defined analytics on the incoming data (e.g., real time analytics). In addition, the analytics module may perform various analyses on the historical data maintained by the historian  212  (e.g., trend analysis). Example analytics may include technical analysis (e.g., statistics of deployed smart meters or software etc.), real-time view and statistics on energy production/consumption/estimation, data mining, business relevant aspects (e.g., a cost-benefits analysis, etc.), risk, security and fraud analytics, behavioral/social analytics, etc. 
         [0037]    A simulator  232  may run simulations and emulations of the smart grid infrastructure  102  and services provided by the smart grid infrastructure such as monitoring energy consumption and production, forecasting energy consumption and production, managing users and devices, optimizing distribution of energy, and so on. The simulator  232  may comprise tools for developing simulation models for various aspects of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Simulation models may include modeling the physical configuration of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . For example, in an electrical grid, households, businesses, and other consumers of electricity may be modeled according to the deployment of electrical distribution stations to model the delivery of electricity to end users in the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Usage models may be developed to model electricity demands under different conditions (e.g., time of year, disaster scenarios, etc.). Simulation models may include the enterprise services layer  126  and the information processing layer  124 , for example, to model the flow of data within the smart grid infrastructure  102  when services are being performed. And so on. 
         [0038]    A decision support module  242  facilitates identifying and developing action items to be performed on the smart grid infrastructure  102 . In some embodiments, the decision support module  242  may provide tools to assist the user in conducting what-if scenarios on the smart grid infrastructure  102 . The user may employ data from the KPI monitor  222 , data from the analytics module  224 , and simulation results from the simulator  232  to drive the what-if scenarios. In addition, historical data managed by the historian  212  may feed into the what-if scenarios. What-if scenarios may be used, for example, to assess new functionality to be introduced into the network, to run “experiments’ on scalability strategies for better overall performance, and so on. 
         [0039]    In some embodiments, the decision support module  242  may operate in a monitoring mode. For example, the simulator  232  may feed some of its simulation results into the decision support module  242 . The simulator  232  may generate predicted performance measures of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . The performance measures may be input to the decision support module  242  to compare against actual behavior of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . Data from the KPI monitor  222  and data from the analytics module  224  may be used to establish the actual behavior of the smart grid infrastructure  102 , for example. Based on comparing actual behavior versus simulated behavior, the decision support module  242  may trigger certain action items in order to bring simulations of the smart grid infrastructure and actual performance into alignment. Action items may be performed on the smart grid infrastructure  102  to align the performance of the smart grid infrastructure in accordance with simulations. The action items may include modifying simulation models to more closely match reality. In some embodiments, the user may provide input to guide the decision as the selection of action items. 
         [0040]    An optimization strategies module  244  may include a library of optimization strategies to optimize certain behavior in the smart grid infrastructure  102 , or to achieve certain goals set by the user. The decision support module  242  may incorporate these optimization strategies to guide the decision process of identifying action items to be taken. In some embodiments, the user may inform the decision support module  242  by selecting a desired strategy. Different strategies by different groups may apply to a given situation. Sometimes strategies from one group (e.g., a business group) may conflict with strategies from another group (e.g., a maintenance group). Accordingly, user interaction may be required to resolve conflicts when the decision support module  242  encounters conflicting strategies. As a result an “optimized” strategy may comprise action items that were negotiated among several groups in the organization or with interactions with external groups. 
         [0041]    As an example, a local utility may run a strategy to optimize the energy consumption by adjusting the tariffs in real-time (maximize benefit). However, this might be in conflict with an existing running process that tries to optimize the infrastructure for maintenance (hence minimize usage and communication). Similar conflicts might arise if contradicting policies are given within the same organization or vastly different goals among different users (which may be not be in the same domain as several instances of this system may run). Here, it is assumed that such potential conflicts and negotiations are handled by the users, in the DSS itself, or with external help (e.g. negotiation with other systems). 
         [0042]    In some embodiments, a management engine  252  may cooperate with the decision support module  242  to manage the smart grid infrastructure  102  in accordance with decisions made by the decision support module. The management engine  252  may dispatch action items decided upon by the decision support module. For example, the decision support module  242  may identify an action item to conduct an installation of smart meters in a region in order to improve data gathering capacity in that region. The decision support module  242  may communicate the action item to the management engine  252 , which may then issue a work order to a maintenance crew to initiate the installation effort. The management engine  252  may be invoked directly by a user to perform some activity in the smart grid infrastructure  102 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 3  illustrates a process flow in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the infrastructure assessment system  100  can be utilized in the decision-making and design process prior to deployment of a smart grid in order to assess cost, performance, and behavior. Thus, in a step  302  a design group may develop simulation models to model the desired behavior of the to-be-deployed smart grid using the simulator  232 . Desired KPI&#39;s may be determined (e.g., smart metering performance, scalability of the smart grid, etc.) and incorporated into the simulation models. In this step, different near real world conditions and configurations can be tried out and assessed prior to any real world deployment. The functionality exposed by the simulator  232  may be integrated into business process modeling tools to extend simulations into the business side of the smart grid. 
         [0044]    In a step  304 , the smart grid and infrastructure/systems may be deployed. This step may occur in several phases over a period of many years. In a step  306 , the infrastructure assessment system  100  may be used to monitor the smart grid and to detect deviations from expected behavior after the smart grid is built. The infrastructure assessment system  100  may predict the behavior expected from the real infrastructure using the simulator  232 . The infrastructure assessment system  100  may then subsequently measure the behavior and note any significant deviations between the simulation model and the real world. Such deviations may for instance imply unforeseen conditions, simulation model inadequacy or misbehavior at infrastructure level. A typical example might be identifying electricity loss or theft. Step  306  may include monitoring the KPI&#39;s using the KPI monitor  222  and computing additional analytics using the analytics module  224 . The simulation models developed in step  302  may be run to make predictions about expected KPI&#39;s and other performance metrics. 
         [0045]    In a step  308 , the decision support module  242  may use the collected data and the various computed data to decide upon action items to be performed on the smart grid. In a step  310 , the smart grid may be managed, for example, by one or more management engines  252  dispatching action items determined in step  308 . As an example, suppose a metering performance KPI such as “data points collected” for a given region in the smart grid has fallen below predetermined thresholds or if the quality of data coming from a device or system degrades, the decision support system  242  may initiate a predictive maintenance analysis and identify potential malfunctioning risks. A follow-up action item might be to create an action, such as “send out repair crew”. The action item may be communicated to a management engine  252 , which may then generate a work order to send out a repair crew to inspect a number of the meters in that area (e.g., using an optimized repair schedule to reduce downtime, cost, and the like). 
         [0046]    The steps  306 - 310  may be repeated to create a monitor/manage loop. It will be appreciated that this loop may be performed at each phase during the deployment of the smart grid. For example, the simulation models may be updated as each phase of the deployment is monitored and its actual behavior is measured and compared against the simulation models. Subsequent phases of the deployment may be altered to based on results of monitoring previous phases of the deployment. By supporting a closed loop of monitoring and control/management, the user can perform self-examination activities such as self-healing and self-optimizing, both of which can be important to the health of the smart grid infrastructure  102 . 
         [0047]      FIG. 4  illustrates another process flow in accordance with principles of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the infrastructure assessment system  100  may be integrated into an existing smart grid. Thus, in a step  402  the existing smart grid may be modeled using tools provided by the simulator  232 . KPI&#39;s may be defined using the KPI monitor  222 , for example, to identify a baseline of performance metrics that indicate how well the existing smart grid is behaving. 
         [0048]    In a step  404 , the infrastructure assessment system  100  may be operated to monitor the existing smart grid. The KPI monitor  222  may update the KPI&#39;s as data is collected by the receiver component  202 . The simulator  232  may perform simulations on the models developed in step  402 , and so on. In a step  406 , the decision support module  242  may use the collected data and the various computed data (including simulation results) to make decisions on action items to be performed on the existing smart grid. In a step  408 , the existing smart grid may be managed, for example, by the management engine  252  dispatching the action item determined in step  406 . An output might also be given, for example, to a recommendation system or evaluation of the specific model or algorithm so that it can optimize its behaviour in the future. The steps  404 - 408  may be repeated to create a monitor/manage loop. 
         [0049]    A particular embodiment of the infrastructure assessment system  100  in accordance with the present disclosure is illustrated in  FIG. 5 , showing a high level block diagram of a computer system  502  configured to operate in accordance with the present disclosure. The computer system  502  may include a central processing unit (CPU) or other similar data processing component, which may comprise one or multiple processing units, clusters of CPUs, etc. The computer system  502  may include various memory components. For example, the memory components may include a volatile memory  514  (e.g., random access memory, RAM, virtual memory system, etc.) and a data storage device  516 . The data storage device  516  may be distributed storage system and not necessarily collocated with the rest of the computer system  502 . One or more communication interfaces  518  may be provided to allow the computer system  502  to communicate over a wired or wireless communication network  522 , such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, and so on. In general, any protocol over the specific communication network can be used. An internal system of busses for control and communication  520  may interconnect the components comprising the computer system  502 . 
         [0050]    The data storage device  516  may comprise a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable program code  532 . The computer executable program code  532  may be executed by the CPU  512  to cause the CPU to perform steps of the present disclosure, for example, as set forth in the description of  FIG. 2 . The data storage device  516  may store data  534  such as the KPI&#39;s, simulation results from the simulator  232 , results of analytics produced by the analytics module  224 , and so on. In some embodiments, the storage device  516  may comprise several storage sub-systems. The historian  212  may accumulate historical data in a separate storage sub-system, for example. 
         [0051]    A user (e.g.,  104 ) may interact directly with the computer system  502  using suitable user interface devices  542  such as the cockpit  204 , or indirectly since the system&#39;s functionality may be part of complex functionality provided at higher levels in the system. They may include, for example, input devices such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse or other pointing device, and output devices such as a display. Alternative input and output devices are contemplated of course. The interface device  542  may be a mobile device. 
         [0052]    All systems and processes discussed herein may be embodied in program code stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. Such media may include, for example, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a Flash drive, magnetic tape, and solid state Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM) storage units. It will be appreciated that embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software. Elements described herein as communicating with one another are directly or indirectly capable of communicating over any number of different systems for transferring data, including but not limited to shared memory communication, a local area network, a wide area network, a telephone network, a cellular network, a fiber-optic network, a satellite network, an infrared network, a radio frequency network, and any other type of network that may be used to transmit information between devices. Moreover, communication between systems may proceed over any one or more transmission protocols that are or become known, such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). 
       ADVANTAGES AND TECHNICAL EFFECT 
       [0053]    The infrastructure assessment system  100  according to principles of the present disclosure can achieve:
       real-time infrastructure performance management: monitoring, assessment and control   simulation and estimation of infrastructure behavior (including services)   complexity management for end-users based on cross-layer (e.g., enterprise services layer  126 , information processing layer  124 , and prosumer devices layer  122 ) data computation and real-time analytics       
 
         [0057]    The above description illustrates various embodiments of the present disclosure along with examples of how aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented. The above examples and embodiments should not be deemed to be the only embodiments, and are presented to illustrate the flexibility and advantages of the present disclosure as defined by the following claims. Based on the above disclosure and the following claims, other arrangements, embodiments, implementations and equivalents will be evident to those skilled in the art and may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the claims.