Lan/wan automatic sensor reading system
First Claim
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1. A data acquisition unit for the collection and transmission of data received from a sensor, said data acquisition unit having:
- a sensor interface;
said sensor interface receiving signals from said sensor and converting said signals to data signals readable by a microprocessor;
said sensor interface sending said data signals to said microprocessor;
a microprocessor;
said microprocessor having storage to store said data signals and a transmitter to transmit said data signals to a remote receiver based upon a predetermined schedule;
a power supply;
said power supply providing power to said sensor interface and said microprocessor;
an antenna.
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Abstract
The invention combines multiple technologies to create a low-cost, self-powering local area network (LAN) for the collection of data from water, electric, and natural gas meters and the wireless transfer of the meter readings to a solar powered, wide area network (WAN). The WAN collects the data and re-transmits the readings to the secure server via satellite, cellular, or radio frequency in bulk data transmission. The utilities can view, download to billing software, and manage the meter readings in a much more cost efficient and less labor-intensive manner that any system currently available.
39 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A data acquisition unit for the collection and transmission of data received from a sensor, said data acquisition unit having:
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a sensor interface;
said sensor interface receiving signals from said sensor and converting said signals to data signals readable by a microprocessor;
said sensor interface sending said data signals to said microprocessor;
a microprocessor;
said microprocessor having storage to store said data signals and a transmitter to transmit said data signals to a remote receiver based upon a predetermined schedule;
a power supply;
said power supply providing power to said sensor interface and said microprocessor;
an antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A data collection and transmission system for the collection of sensor data from multiple remote sensors having:
at least one data acquisition unit for the collection and transmission of data received from a sensor, said data acquisition unit having;
a unique ID, a sensor interface;
said sensor interface being adjacent to and receiving signals from said sensor, tracking the number of signals received from said sensor, converting said signals to data signals readable by a microprocessor and forwarding said data signals to a microprocessor;
a microprocessor;
said microprocessor transmitting said data signals and ID, based upon a predetermined schedule, to a remote receiver;
a power supply;
said power supply providing power to said sensor interface and said microprocessor;
an antenna, a collection unit, said collection unit being remote from said data acquisition unit and having an antenna a data collector, said data collector having a transceiver to receive and transmit said data signals and ID from said microprocessor, a microcontroller to process said data signals and ID, and storage to store said data signals and ID for subsequent analysis, wherein said each of said at least one data acquisition unit transmits said data signals and ID to said collection unit base on a predetermined schedule.- View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. The method of avoiding multiple transmissions within the same time domain from multiple transmitters to a single collection unit by using deterministic timing, randomization and duplicate transmission, comprising the steps of:
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a. determining a data cycle;
b. determining multiple transmission cycles within said data cycle;
c. determining multiple time slots within said transmission cycle;
d. assigning a time slot to each transmitting unit;
e. assigning each of said transmitting units a unified start time, each of said transmitting units logging time based on said start time;
f. selecting a random transmission period within said time slot to transmit wherein each of said transmitting units transmits within a randomly selected transmission period within said time slot within each of said transmission cycles within said data cycle. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An multi-element phase collinear horizontally polarized array antenna for horizontal transmission having:
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a. at least two driven elements, each of said at least two driven elements being etched into a base, each of said driven elements having;
a phasing and feed system, said phasing and feed system being etched into said base;
a gamma match, said gamma match being etched into said base;
b. an impedance matching network c. a signal feed wherein horizontal polarization increases transmission reliability by increasing gain. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification