Intelligent two-way telemetry

• US 20060111796A1
• Filed: 11/28/2005
• Published: 05/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Landis+Gyr Innovations Incorporated (Landis+Gyr Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Cellnet Innovations, Inc. (Landis+Gyr Group AG)
• Inventors: Van Heteren, John Gerald
• Granted Patent: US 7,230,544 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/20
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 2204/45 Utility meters networked together within a single building
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/004 Remote reading of utility meters to a fixed location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for intelligent two-way telemetry. A telemetry system in accordance with the invention includes one or more telemetry units that can receive and send data The system further includes one or more controllers that includes intelligence for processing data from the one or more telemetry units and for autonomously communicating with the one or more telemetry units. The controllers are separately located from a data processing center of the telemetry system such that the controllers alleviate data congestion going to and coming from the data processing center.

Claims

1. A telemetry system, comprising:

one or more telemetry units that can receive and send data; and

one or more controllers that includes intelligence for processing data from the one or more telemetry units and for autonomously communicating with the one or more telemetry units, the controllers being separately located from a data processing center of the telemetry system, the controllers alleviating data congestion going to and coming from the data processing center.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more controllers further includes intelligence for autonomously making a decision and sending a command to the one or more telemetry units based on the decision.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the decision includes a selection of endpoints in a metering system; and

the command includes a command for controlling a device at the selected endpoints.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein:

the metering system meters consumption of a utility; and

the device includes a smart thermostat.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein:

the command is a curtailment command.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the one or more controllers includes intelligence for receiving information from the data processing center; and

the decision includes one that is based on the information received from the data processing center.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein:

the information received from the data processing center includes utility pricing tables;

the decision includes one that determines whether to adjust a setting of a device connected to one of the one or more telemetry units; and

the command includes a command that adjusts the setting of the device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more controllers further include intelligence for sending the processed data to the data processing center and for communicating with the data processing center.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more controllers includes intelligence for expanding a message from the data processing center into separate messages, each separate message being addressed to a terminal unit.

10. A computer program product, tangibly stored on machine readable medium, for reducing traffic congestion between a data processing center and end points in a metering system, the product including instructions to cause a controller to:

receive telemetry from one or more end points, the telemetry including a measure of utility consumption;

receive utility pricing data and a user preference; and

autonomously control a device at an end point in accordance with the user preference and based on the utility data received and the telemetry received.

11. The product of claim 10, wherein the instructions to receive utility pricing data includes instructions to:

receive utility pricing tables from one or more utility companies; and

determine which of the received utility pricing tables is associated with a particular end point.

12. The product of claim 11, wherein the instructions to control the device at the end point includes instructions to:

control a smart thermostat.

13. The product of claim 10, further comprising instructions to cause the controller to:

receive a curtailment command;

in response to receiving the curtailment command, select end points of the metering system; and

sending the curtailment command to the selected end points of the metering system.

14. The product of claim 13, wherein the instructions to select end points include instructions to:

select an end point based on information specifying a type of utility service associated with the end point.

15. The product of claim 13, further comprising instructions to cause the controller to:

receive an override from an end point that was selected to receive a curtailment command; and

restoring the end point to the end point'"'"'s pre-curtailment operations.

16. The product of claim 13, further comprising instructions to cause the controller to:

maintain statistics of a number end points that accepted the curtailment command and a number of end points that overridden the curtailment command.

17. The product of claim 13, further comprising instructions to cause the controller to:

autonomously determine whether responses to the curtailment command is satisfactory; and

when the responses are unsatisfactory, send an another curtailment command specifying a higher level of curtailment to the selected end points that accepted the curtailment command.

18. The product of claim 10, further comprising instructions to cause the controller to:

receive a message from the data processing center addresses to two or more end points;

expand the received message into separate messages, each of separate messages being addressed to a respective end point in accordance with the received message; and

send the separate message to the respective end points.