Patent ID: 8461847

Claim:
A method for detecting faults, reporting faults, and detecting the locations of faults in an electrical interconnect system having a main line and a plurality of device loads, comprising the steps of: selectively monitoring signals at one of the plurality of device loads, comprising: transmitting an AC signal on the main line, the AC signal having known magnitude, width, and frequency parameters; measuring reflected signals on the main line; measuring a pulse width of the reflected signal; determining whether fault conditions exist by comparing the measured pulse width with an expected pulse width; transmitting an AC signal on the main line, the AC signal having one or more sine wave signals of known amplitude, frequency, and phase parameters; measuring at least one or more parameters comprising an amplitude of a reflected signal, a time delay of the reflected signal, or a phase of the reflected signal; and determining whether the fault conditions exist by comparing the measured parameter with an expected parameter; analyzing the monitored signals and determining fault conditions at the selected device load; isolating the faulty device load from the main line; and reporting load fault conditions to a system master.