Electronic electric meter for networked meter reading
First Claim
1. A device for measuring commodity utilization, the device comprising:
- a transducer operable to sense a physical characteristic of the commodity and generate commodity utilization data based on the physical characteristic;
a controller operable to be coupled to the transducer to process the commodity utilization data; and
a network communication section operatively coupled to the controller, and having a plurality of network modules including a local area network module, and a wide area network module, and wherein the network communication section is configured to communicate data comprising the processed commodity utilization data with either one or both of the network modules.
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Abstract
An electronic electric meter for use in a networked automatic meter reading environment. The electric meter retrofits into existing meter sockets and is available for new meter installations for both single phase and three phase electric power connections. The meter utilizes an all electronic design including a meter microcontroller, a measurement microcontroller, a communication microcontroller and spread spectrum processor, and a plurality of other communication interface modules for communicating commodity utilization and power quality data to a utility. The electric meter utilizes a modular design which allows the interface modules to be changed depending upon the desired communication network interface. The meter measures electricity usage and monitors power quality parameters for transmission to the utility over a two-way 900 MHz spread spectrum local area network (LAN) to a remotely located gateway node. The gateway node transmits this data to the utility over a commercially available fixed wide area network (WAN). The meter also provides direct communication to the utility over a commercially available network interface that plugs into the meter'"'"'s backplane or bus system bypassing the local area network communication link and gateway node.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A device for measuring commodity utilization, the device comprising:
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a transducer operable to sense a physical characteristic of the commodity and generate commodity utilization data based on the physical characteristic;
a controller operable to be coupled to the transducer to process the commodity utilization data; and
a network communication section operatively coupled to the controller, and having a plurality of network modules including a local area network module, and a wide area network module, and wherein the network communication section is configured to communicate data comprising the processed commodity utilization data with either one or both of the network modules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A measuring device comprising:
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a transducer for sensing a physical characteristic of a commodity and generate therefrom commodity utilization data;
a controller for processing the commodity utilization data; and
a network communication section for communicating data comprising the processed commodity utilization data with either one or both of a local area network module and a wide area network module, and being operatively coupled to the controller. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of measuring commodity utilization, the method comprising the acts of:
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sensing a physical characteristic of a commodity;
processing commodity utilization data based on the sensed physical characteristic;
selecting from a network communication section either one or both of a local area network module and a wide area network module; and
communicating data comprising the processed commodity utilization data with either one or both of the local area network module and the wide area network module. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification