Patent Document ID: 9053519
Application ID: 13371911
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for modeling a utility network, the method comprising: retrieving geographical information system (GIS) data and asset management data of one or more assets of the utility network, wherein the GIS data and asset management data do not indicate connections between the one or more assets and wherein the GIS data includes coordinate data associated with the one or more assets; generating, via a processing device, one or more mathematical graph elements from the one or more assets; creating, via the processing device, probable connections between the one or more mathematical graph elements based on the GIS and asset management data, wherein creating probable connections comprises snapping a plurality of junctions based on coordinate data; generating, via the processing device, a mathematical graph based on the probable connections, the mathematical graph including one or more asset characteristics of the one or more assets; analyzing, via the processing device, the determined junctions, wherein analyzing comprises determining if an analyzed junction appears between only two other junctions and merging the two other junctions if the analyzed junction appears between only two other junctions; identifying, via the processing device and by analyzing the mathematical graph, one or more flow monitoring zones (FMZs) in the utility network, wherein identifying one or more FMZs is based upon analyzing junction locations; and storing the mathematical graph data for use by one or more systems.