Transmission line distance relaying using a variable window short-time Fourier transform

This paper presents a new approach for transmission line protection using a variable window short-time Fourier transform known as S-transform. The S-transform (ST) is a time–frequency spectral localization method, similar to short-time Fourier transform (STFT), but with a Gaussian window whose width scales inversely, and whose height scales linearly with the frequency. The change in spectral energy of the ST of the current and voltage signals provide the information regarding fault detection. After the fault detection, the impedance to the fault point is calculated using the estimated phasors of the faulted current and voltage signals which provide accurate results even with noisy conditions. Also, the fault location is calculated using polynomial curve fitting technique with a devised index obtained from the ratio of spectral energy of the voltage and current signals, respectively.