Patent ID: 8729905

Claim:
A method for detecting faults on one or more electrical power lines using a plurality of line-mounted sensors, comprising: determining, via at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, an initial impedance profile that corresponds to a first power line of the one or more electrical power lines, wherein each of the plurality of line-mounted sensors is configured to be directly fixed onto one of the electrical power lines; transmitting, via the at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, a conducted communication signal along the power line; receiving, via the at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, a reflected signal associated with the conducted communication signal from along the power line; correlating, via the at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, the reflected signal and the conducted communication signal; and determining, via the at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, the actual impedance of the power line based on the correlation; comparing, via the at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, the actual impedance of the power line with the initial impedance profile; and ascertaining, via the at least one of the plurality of line-mounted sensors, whether a fault exists on the power line based on a comparison between the actual impedance and the initial impedance profile.